Lasers

Lasers
Lasercoil has seen fiber lasers improve
so much in the past five years they are
now offering laser blanking systems
producing volumes of 50,000–70,000
parts per year economically.
Laser Manufacturing
Expands Its Reach
Long known for versatility in material
processing, lasers are moving out of
prototype and specialty applications into
mainstream production, including both
older CO2 and newer solid-state lasers
T
here are at least two factors that are
making lasers more attractive than
ever for cutting, welding, and other
material processing tasks. One is
increasing power and the other is their
improved ruggedness, according to
Jim Rogowski, director of machine & power tool
sales for Trumpf (Farmington, CT).
Bruce Morey
Contributing Editor
More power means more productivity, cutting
thicker materials or cutting the same materials
faster. “Power will always continue to grow, especially in cutting applications,” he said. Just a couple
of years ago customers were primarily cutting up
to 1" (25.4-mm) thicknesses, but now he is seeing
applications cutting up to 2" (50-mm) thicknesses
of materials like stainless steel.
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Lasers
More reliability means these once delicate systems can live
only practical choice for heavy-duty laser processing applica-
in work-a-day shops and challenging environments. “Lasers
tions like cutting and welding, these newer solid-state lasers
that process plate metal and sheetmetal could be sitting
offer advantages in power, efficiency, and materials they
next to doors that open to winter weather and run automati-
can cut. “Like the old Nd:YAG solid-state lasers, their light
cally,” explained Rogowski. “This is enabled by reliability
is roughly 1 µm in wavelength,” he said, as compared to the
enhancements that have improved in just the last two years.”
10.6-m wavelength light of CO2 lasers. One-micron beams can
Enhanced automation features are growing as well. He listed
be delivered via fiber-optic cables, a convenient way to move
options from Trumpf that automatically center beams of CO2
and mount laser energy compared to the optics and mirrors
lasers using sonic waves, nozzle changers that automatically
required of the far infrared CO2. The 1-µm wavelength is also
change nozzles, and single cutting heads for all sheet ranges
absorbed better by more materials, especially nonferrous met-
in different applications.
als like copper and brass, expanding utility.
While he believes CO2 lasers will remain in the market,
“the big advancement in just the last few years is the introduction of solid-state lasers,” said Rogowski.
Rise of Solid State
Tom Kugler, fiber systems manager for Laser Mechanisms
(Novi, MI) agrees about the importance of the rise of solidstate disk and fiber lasers. While CO2 lasers were once the
Solid-state lasers delivered through optical fibers are
cutting in 3D and in nonferrous metals.
He also notes that these newer solid-state lasers boast
efficiencies of 30% or more. While this helps with electricity
costs, there are other practical advantages. “For lasers up
to 500 watts, you can buy air-cooled lasers, which simplifies
their use and lowers their cost. There are a lot of processes
done in that 100–500-watt range,” he said.
What applications could benefit the most from these newer
solid-state lasers? He reports seeing more instances of lasers
performing 3D cutting, equipped on multiaxis robots and CNCguided machine tools. “[Solid-state lasers] are also definitely
making their mark in the flat sheetmetal market,” he added.
“These used to be all mounted with CO2 lasers. In the last
three–four years, solid-state 1-µm lasers are showing they are
faster in thin metal, up to three times faster in 1–2-mm-thick
metal sheets, especially in aluminum or polished stainless.”
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Lasers
Short-pulse lasers are ideal for precise, small
holes such as those needed for today’s
gasoline direct-injectors that measure a few
hundred microns in width. An example is
shown in magnification here.
He also observes that CO2 lasers still dominate cutting thicker materials, about 3/8" thick
or thicker (>9.5 mm). This is because of the
complicated physics of how materials absorb
different wavelengths, with better absorption
from a 10.6-m beam at the low angle the laser
strikes the cut front, according to Kugler.
Automation Keeps Up with
High Mix and Low Volume
Jason Hillenbrand, product manager for Ama3054-4088-ME_1114-4.56x4.88-2C.eps 1 9/29/2014 7:14:14 AM
da America (Schaumburg, IL) notes that lasers
have another fundamental advantage to
offer—versatility. “Lasers material processing is always adopted by addressing the
most common problem in manufacturing—the high-mix/low-volume scenario,”
he said. He sees the entire spectrum of
manufacturing and fabrication adopting
more laser material processing because
of this. “Our customers need to address
quick turnover in rush jobs, which is why
C
programmable laser equipment is so
M
important to them,” he said. “They cannot
wait a week to get parts to potential cus-
Y
tomers, they will lose the business.”
CM
There is also the continuing push to
MY
reduce inventory and work-in-progress,
CY
just as important to large OEMs as to
small job shops. “OEMs also assemble
CMY
parts into kits [for later assembly]. They
K
need to put together an entire assembly that contains mixed materials and
thicknesses.” A single laser system
programmed for all the parts of a kit,
suitable for all of its materials, is ideal.
That's because it requires no special
tooling, just some new programming—
as long as the material is suitable.
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He also notes that as lasers are getting more rugged and
process, that are typically produced in mechanical shearing,”
cutting faster, the integrated, automatic systems they live in
Finn said. This is especially important as the automotive indus-
must improve as well. “It puts a major strain on automation
try begins using more high-strength steels (HSS) and advanced
because the new lasers, especially fiber lasers, are so much
high-strength steels (AHSS) to reduce weight and improve fuel
faster. As a result, the downstream
process has really been challenged,”
he said. “We have increased speeds
and new features on our material handling automation to address the faster
process time of lasers.”
Laser Moves to Automotive Production
High-speed laser blanking from
LaserCoil (Toledo, OH) is a case in point
where laser is encroaching into a field
dominated by a traditional process, in
this case die blanking. “Originally we
were looking at using a 1–2-kW laser
to cut sheets that were 0.5–2.5-mm
thick,” explained Jay Finn, applications
engineer for LaserCoil. “Cutting speeds
then were 20–30 meters per minute.”
This was suitable for a system that
could perform limited special service or
prototype work.
However, their plans were overtaken
by developments. Over the past five
• Servo Cutoff Lathes
• CNC Cutoff Lathes
• Laser/Plasma Cutoff Lathes
years, costs have gone down and cutting speeds have grown exponentially.
They could purchase a 4-kW laser
today for the price of a 2-kW fiber laser
five years ago. Their vision to create
a device for a coil-fed, laser-blanking
system quickly changed. “We are
looking at production today,” said Finn,
“with a system producing significant
volumes of 50,000–70,000 parts per
year economically.”
It is not just speed or cut quality
where laser offers an advantage, though
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both matter. “For the material that we
cut, lasers certainly offer better quality ...
Since you are not mechanically shearing
the edge, there are none of the microfractures produced in the laser-cutting
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Here’s a great idea for:
High-speed
reaming
DIHART REAMAX TS
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®
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Why it’s great:
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Lasers
economy. Laser die-blanking is solving the problem of micro-fractures often seen in
these harder materials when cut with die-blanking presses. “These micro-fractures increase the likelihood of a split during the subsequent draw process and this potential
for defect is simply not present with laser cutting,” he explained. Aluminum is another
material automakers are looking at adopting that a 1-µm fiber laser can easily cut.
The TruLaser 5030 fiber, a 2D laser cutting machine with a 5-kW solid-state laser,
uses the new BrightLine fiber function to cut stainless steel up to 1” thick, along
with other materials as shown in this test piece.
While Finn is pleased with the current speed and capabilities, he sees future
improvement. He anticipates the day when laser power will be even more economical. “Our laser gantry system is designed for the integration of a 10-kW laser. We
are serious about someday building a laser-cutting system that will go faster than a
mechanical press,” said Finn.
Expanding Power, Precision, and Speed
Learn more about this and
other great ideas.
Go to www.komet.com/greatideas
or scan this QR code.
Companies like Amada are still improving the 1-µm fiber laser. Its ENSIS fiber
technology, for example, not only processes thin materials very fast—which has
been the strength of fiber lasers—but it also processes thick plate with the same
speed and quality that higher wattage CO2 machines can do. Hillenbrand from
Amada believes this is revolutionary. “We are now cutting plates as thick as 1" mild
steel with a 2-kW fiber laser with quality comparable to a 4-kW CO2 laser,” he said.
The first installation in the ENSIS-3015AJ system adjusts the beam configuration
automatically to cut different types and thicknesses.
Trumpf is also improving the capabilities of its solid-state lasers. The company
is now offering its TruLaser 5030 fiber with its new BrightLine fiber function that
www.komet.com
800-656-6381
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November 2014
cuts stainless steel up to 1" thick. The BrightLine fiber also
The other trend to watch is the short and extremely short-
enables the laser to produce small holes and tight contours
pulsed lasers. These are in contrast to continuous-wave lasers
in thick sheet metal with better exceptional cut quality
in that they concentrate high power in very short bursts of
Grinder General
M.E._Layout
1 10/1/14
11:57 PM Page
and productivity in mild steel in the ½–1" (12.7–25.4
mm)Island Ad
energy,
which has
many advantages.
ME 1
thickness range, according to Trumpf.
For the future, there are two
developments in lasers that bear
watching, according to Rogowski
from Trumpf: direct-diodes and
short-pulse lasers. “We use 0.96µm diode lasers to pump resonator
material in our disk and fiber lasers,
which produce beams more useful
Feature Machines of the Month
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for cutting and other applications,”
he explained. Skipping the resonator
device and using the diode directly
would be an even more efficient laser
beam, greater than 50%, with an even
smaller footprint. Currently, beam
quality of direct diodes is 8–10 times
worse than that from solid-state lasers,
which limits their utility in cutting. But
each year brings improvements and
they have produced excellent quality
and speed for applications in welding
and cladding operations.
Want More Information?
Amada America
Ph: 877-262-3287
Web site: www.amada.com
LaserCoil
Ph: 419-592-0050
Web site: www.lasercoil.com
Laser Mechanisms
Ph: 248-474-9480
Web site: www.lasermech.com/
Raydiance
Ph: 707-559-2100
Web site: www.raydiance.com
Trumpf
Ph: 860-255-6000
Web site: www.us.trumpf.com/
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Celebrating A Century in the Machine Tool Business
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