How Power Density Impacts Fiber Laser Cutting Speed and Quality
Problem: Power ≠ Performance In 2022, a fabrication lab in São Paulo upgraded from a 3kW to a 12kW fiber laser cutter, expecting speed to triple. It didn’t. They ran 8mm mild steel at 1.5 m/min with nitrogen assist—but above 6kW, dross and edge oxidation returned. At 12kW, performance dropped. Turns out, beam quality and power density mattered far more than wattage alone. Technical Grounding: What Power Density Really Means Power density = Laser Power ÷ Beam Area Measured in W/cm², it governs how fast and clean a laser can cut through material. The shop had unknowingly used a multi-mode fiber with a 100μm core diameter, resulting in a spot size over 300μm—diluting power density. That meant: Slower material penetration Broader kerf width Higher heat-affected zone (HAZ) When they switched to a Raytu RT-S Series 6kW system using single-mode beam delivery , the effective power density increased from ~150kW/cm² to over 500kW/cm² , despite using half the power. Result: Sp...