Laser Blanking at Higher Speeds on Less Than Perfectly Flat Material

LaserCoil Technologies LLC (Napoleon, OH) increased the cutting speed and power of their laser blanking systems by introducing 8 kW fiber lasers that feature a proprietary Z-axis design integrated directly into the laser blanking system to allow the laser head to more rapidly adjust to height variations in the material, maintaining consistent stand-off. As cutting speeds increase with the higher power laser, it is imperative the performance of the Z-axis increases accordingly to realize the system’s full potential. In the past, when reaching higher cutting speeds, especially in the range of 1,000 mm/sec to 2,200 mm/sec, the system’s ability to adjust to variations in material height with less than perfectly flat material lagged behind the laser’s potential cutting speed, essentially keeping the system from reaching its full throughput potential. This was, in part, due to this Z-axis adjustment being tied into a separate controller, functioning through a separate HMI. But the new integrated Z-axis offers the ability to maintain the higher speeds with a wider range of less than perfectly flat material.

“We’re proud of our continuing enhancements of these blanking systems and really excited to unleash the power of these machines,” said Jay Finn, the general manager and chief technical officer of the company. “With the speed capability of an 8 kW laser, any fabricator should be seriously looking at laser blanking as an alternative to mechanical blanking operations, if they haven’t been already.” These systems can be sold with a single laser 8 kW head or with multiple heads that allow a shared balancing of the cutting workload to decrease processing time and improve productivity. Additionally, these systems offer multi-mode capability where users can choose either Feed Index Mode (stop/start) or Continuous Mode for optimizing cutting parameters for each part configuration, increasing processing rates and enhancing quality.

By laser cutting direct from coil stock, LaserCoil systems provide a fast and flexible approach to blanking that is well-suited for production environments running multiple blank profiles and mixed material types. The systems can handle coil stock up to 2.1 m wide in any length and can process aluminum, mild steel, advanced high-strength steels, materials for surface sensitive panels, as well as structural components. With 8 kW systems, simple shapes in material thicknesses from 0.5 mm to 0.75 mm can be cut with speeds approaching 2.2 m/sec, making laser blanking a viable and competitive manufacturing choice for volumes of less than 100,000 parts per year. Prior to this, upgrading these systems from a 4 kW to 6 kW laser produced a 10 percent to 25 percent increase in speed so that the systems could cut 0.5 mm to 0.75 mm thick materials at 1.5 m/sec. Since then, multiple-head systems have improved throughput by up to 85 percent.

LaserCoil Technologies LLC, 476 East Riverview, Napoleon, OH 43545, 419-592-0050, www.lasercoil.com.