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High-powered fiber translates into a more versatile tool

The fiber laser cutting machine continues to evolve at a pace that may make it the dominant method of cutting sheet metal of all thicknesses in only a few years.

That’s the message shared with fabricators who attended the debut of Bystronic’s 6-kW BySprint fiber laser cutting machine at its North American headquarters in Elgin, Ill. The high-powered device opens up a new range of cutting speed and production efficiency.

Frank Arteaga, Bystronic’s head of product marketing, called the economics supporting the ownership of this kind of laser “fibernomics.” The machine’s lower operating costs help to reduce cost per part and increase margins for fabricators, he said, and its faster cutting speeds increase part throughput and cutting capacity.

The lower operating cost for this type of laser cutting device is related to the fact that it doesn’t require as much electricity to generate its laser beam and doesn’t require consumables such as laser gases and mirrors. Fabricators don’t have to worry about turbines and vacuum pumps found on CO2 laser cutting devices. In fact, Arteaga said the life expectancy for a diode-pumped power source that creates the laser can be up to 80,000 hours of use.

Because of the fiber laser’s ability to focus the beam on a much tighter spot when compared to CO2 technology, a high-power fiber laser can cut at faster speeds. At 6 kW, the BySprint 3015 Fiber cuts 0.040-in. steel at 1,772 inches per minute. Bystronic officials report that this 6-kW device is 70 percent faster than a 4-kW fiber laser.

This improvement in speed is not limited to cutting thin-gauge sheet metal, which many machine tool builders try to link to the technology. Arteaga said a 6-kW power source helps the fiber laser to close the cutting speed gap with CO2 technology. In aluminum, however, that gap is even closer, as this high-powered fiber laser is adept at cutting softer metals.

“When the fiber first came out, everyone said it was really good only for thin material—and that was correct,” Arteaga said. “But with the introduction of 6 kW, this type of power opens up a new range of cutting.”

The new fiber laser has a maximum positioning speed of 4,000 IPM and a maximum axis acceleration of 1.2 g, according to operating specifications. Manufacturer recommendations suggest the machine can accommodate a maximum cutting thickness for mild steel of 0.75 in., stainless steel 0.625 in., and aluminum 0.625 in.

Arteaga said an option called PowerCut, which will be available in April 2015, will enable a fabricator to cut up to 1-in. mild steel and stainless steel and 1.25-in. aluminum with this same fiber laser cutting machine. The option would call for some hardware and software changes on the equipment.

These types of technology advancements have helped to speed up the adoption curve for the fiber laser, Arteaga said. Bystronic officials once saw 2015 as the year that fiber lasers would achieve parity with CO2 laser sales, but that actually came in 2014. Looking five years into the future, Arteaga said fiber lasers could account for 75 percent of all laser sales in the cutting market.

As long as people are interested in cutting nonmetal material, fabricators will require CO2 devices, but in the not-so-distant future, it will be the fiber laser that emerges as the new workhorse of the industry. High-powered equipment offerings will help to speed up this evolution.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Dan Davis

Editor-in-Chief

2135 Point Blvd.

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8281

Dan Davis is editor-in-chief of The Fabricator, the industry's most widely circulated metal fabricating magazine, and its sister publications, The Tube & Pipe Journal and The Welder. He has been with the publications since April 2002.