NEWS In brief


Optics manufacturer PowerPhotonic has signed a partnership with laser material processing specialist Precitec to supply beam shaping optics for high-power industrial laser cutting applications. The optics have been co-developed by the two companies to improve the cutting performance of Precitec’s high-power industrial processing machines.


Professor Johannes Schleifenbaum has been appointed to the Digital Additive Production (DAP) chair of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. He took up his post at the beginning of August, and has since then taken over management of Fraunhofer ILT’s Additive Manufacturing and Functional Layers department at the start of November. In the posts, Schleifenbaum will aim to make application-oriented research available to industry, namely Fraunhofer ILT’s additive manufacturing network of industrial and academic partners.


TRUMPF LAUNCHES AUTONOMOUS LASER CUTTING MACHINE AT EUROBLECH


Trumpf has launched a 2D laser cutting machine that it says ‘takes care of production largely autonomously’. The TruLaser Center 7030 was premiered at the sheet metal working trade fair Euroblech in Hannover at the end of October. The company has also entered a


Appolo project lasers improve solar cell scribing


The Appolo project, which aims to foster connections within the industrial laser community and speed validation of new laser equipment, is set to enter its fourth and final year after accumulating a number of achievements in a successful third year. In its third year, the project has


seen the integration of new lasers and a polygon scanner into a system for the assessment and validation of thin film scribing in CIGS solar cells. Developments have also been made in the handling procedures of perovskite-based solar cells in laser scribing experiments, with knowledge from the CIGS cells being transferred to the new material. The Appolo project, with a


consortium of 36 partners from 10 different countries, is set to run for four years, finishing at the end of August 2017.


partnership with Siemens to develop software for Trumpf’s powder-bed- based laser metal fusion additive manufacturing machines. Trumpf’s TruLaser Center 7030


– the result of two and a half years of development, with 100 employees working on the project – is able to increase throughput by 53 per cent and reduce processing costs by 30 per cent compared to standard 2D laser cutting systems, according to the company. One of the big innovations is the


machine’s hybrid drive system that moves the sheet and the cutting head simultaneously.


The list of automation built into the


machine includes its ability to eject and sort small parts; dispose of residue and slag; sort and stack larger parts during machining; load itself with blank sheets; stack scrap skeletons; and the programming is also largely automatic. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, head of


development and procurement in the Trumpf Machine Tools division, commented: ‘We were gradually having to face more and more calls for help from our customers, asking us for solutions that would create a secure overall process. It turned out that this wasn’t possible with the machine concepts we already had, so a complete re-think was required.’ The TruLaser Center 7030 uses a


6kW TruDisk solid-state laser. It is as productive as other high-end machines with flying optics, according to Trumpf, even though the sheet (maximum format of 3 x 1.5


metres), with its relatively high mass, is moved over a brush table in the Y direction. The sheet is moved across the short side of the table, while the cutting optic, which moves mainly in the X direction, has an additional axis in the Y direction with travel of ±55mm. This means that with smaller contours, only small masses need to be accelerated, enabling high dynamics. To prevent sheet contours from


getting caught in the hybrid machine and to enable a far more efficient exhaust system, Trumpf invented the SmartGate: two slides that move synchronously with the cutting head. They can also change their distance from each other, to create different- sized gaps. This results in two major benefits: the sheet is supported securely during the cutting process, and small parts measuring up to 160 x 160mm can be ejected downward simultaneously.


Coherent completes $942m acquisition of Rofin-Sinar Technologies The transaction, which will see


Coherent has completed the $942 million acquisition of Rofin-Sinar Technologies for $32.50 per share in a deal announced earlier this year. The combined company is likely to


generate annual sales of around $1.3 billion, serving more than 20,000 customers and employing 5,000 staff. ‘Coherent and Rofin are highly


6 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE ISSUE 33 • WINTER 2016


complementary, both technologically and geographically,’ said Rofin CEO Thomas Merk on the acquisition. ‘Together, we will significantly increase the value we can bring to our customers by creating a better-positioned, highly diversified company with a greater breadth of product offerings and innovation, and a comprehensive technology portfolio.’


Coherent move further into the industrial materials processing market, was funded by Coherent through a combination of cash and proceeds from a seven-year €670 million secured term loan. As a result of the acquisition, Rofin common stock will no longer trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.


@lasersystemsmag | www.lasersystemseurope.com


Trumpf


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