Trumpf will be breaking a record. Starting at the end of October, standard machines in the TruLaser Series 5000 will be able to cut through stainless steel up to 50 millimeters thick. What’s more, the 2D laser cutting units, when fitted with the BrightLine option, considerably improve the quality of the edge on stainless steel sheet at gauges of between 20 and 25 millimeters. These new qualities are made possible with the TruFlow 8000, a C02 laser that develops 8 kilowatts of power, and a mirror cutting head. The machine with its newly increased laser output is especially suitable for companies that work a large amount of thick-gauge stainless steel. Potential applications are making blanks for later machining. It can also be used for parts that in the past had been cut with plasma or water jet equipment.

Cutting even thicker material more quickly
The higher laser output is intended especially for shops that work stainless steel and aluminum. A machine with an 8 kilowatt laser can slice through aluminum sheet up to 25 millimeters thick. That is 5 millimeters more than the same machine with 6 kilowatts of laser power. Moreover, with materials thicker than 10 millimeters it is up to 33 percent faster during fusion cutting. The machines with 8 kilowatt lasers achieve the same increase in velocity in stainless steel. Here they can cut sheet metal up to 50 millimeters thick, which is twice the maximum thickness that the 6 kilowatt laser can work.
Sure cutting through thick sheet with mirror cutting head
To make full use of the laser’s high output, the machines with 8 kilowatts of laser power are equipped with a mirror cutting head. The mirror-based optical system is reliable even if a considerable amount of grime has collected, since the heat-related effects are less than with lenses. As a consequence, cleaning is required less frequently. In addition, the wear rate at the mirror is markedly less.
In the combination of enhanced laser power and the BrightLine function a further advantage is to be found. In this case a special mirror cutting head with a 350 millimeter focal length is used. Thus the machines produce clean and smooth edges, even in stainless steel up to 25 millimeters thick.
Thanks to the capability to cut stainless steel up to 50 millimeter thick, the machine can also prepare blanks for subsequent machining operations. Instead of milling the part from bar material, with a great deal of waste, the laser cuts the contour out of a plate of sheet metal. Here several different shapes can be efficiently nested one with another. This kind of strategy saves lots of material, and machining time, too.

More information at http://www.trumpf.com/