Trumpf TruLaser 2D fiber lasers get bigger, more powerful

This higher power not only increases the maximum thickness of sheet that they can handle, it also speeds up their already impressive feed rates. "Employing the TruDisk 5001 solid-state laser is an important innovation in these machines," says Mathias Kammüller, head of Trumpf's machine tool division. "Thanks to the higher laser output, they can now process material up to five times faster, while using much less power than similarly performing CO2 laser machines." Depending on the geometry, this brings down table time by up to 50% and sharply reduces the cost per part. At the same time, the machines are a cost-effective cutting option not only for stainless steel and aluminium, but also for non-ferrous metals, such as copper and brass, or even titanium and titanium alloys. An additional development relates to the cutting of coated materials. Thin sheet metal is often coated with protective film and, up to now, solid-state laser cutting heads have had to make two passes over the sheet, once to cut through the film and again to cut the metal. The company Novacel has developed a protective film that does not require this additional processing step. And with Trumpf offering the appropriate cutting data, from now on there will be almost no difference between cutting coated and uncoated thin sheet metal. The new film poses no processing problems for CO2 machines, either.