overview


for mobile devices. In the auto industry, Jenoptik earned an innovation award in December for a process of robotic laser cutting and welding of bumpers that replaced tradi- tional punching and ultrasonic welding. Jenoptik’s Votan systems, used to produce front and rear fascias for the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, are not limited on punch or die sizes, allow hole sizes to be changed on the fly, cut one hole per second and allow welding of dissimilar materials.


lasers, longtime industry workhorses for cutting thick materials, remain viable, said Allen Nogee, president


Laser Types and Applications CO2


of Laser Markets Research (Scottsdale, AZ). “The [CO2 systems] that are taking the hit are the big high-power ones,” he said, noting that fiber systems are not a 100% replacement option given a factor of 10 wavelength differ- ence, as well as differences in absorption and processing with thicker metals. “I don’t ever foresee CO2


lasers disappearing,” Nogee


said. “Maybe two-thirds of them will be displaced by fiber lasers in the long term. Plus, CO2


lasers used to be kind of clunky; they’ve been getting a lot better in the last few


years, a lot easier to maintain. And when you get to the lower-power ones, companies that make them have been reporting pretty good sales this past year.” While fiber laser sales keep growing, he said, with rev- in 2015,


enue from kilowatt fiber lasers surpassing CO2 “there are still far more CO2


lasers being used every day


to cut things.” The growing popularity of fiber lasers, which are smaller, cheaper and easier to use and maintain, is illustrated by UK subcontractor Accurate Laser Cutting. In November the company spent nearly $1 million to replace its second and last CO2


system with a 10-kW Bystronic fiber system believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. The system cuts aluminum and stainless steel up to 30-mm thick, mild steel up to 25 mm, brass to 15 mm and copper to 12 mm. “Our ability to clean cut mild steel was limited to 3 mm using our CO2


equipment,” said company director Jon Till.


“To now have the capability of five times that thickness is an incredible improvement.” Another UK subcontractor, Grenville Engineering, in- vested about $600,000 in its first fiber laser cutter, a 3-kW Bystronic system, to replace a CO2


system in November.


LF4 AdvancedManufacturing.org Á The optical arrangement of a Trumpf TruDisk laser.


Photo courtesy Trumpf


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