With the introduction of higher power fibre lasers, users are increasingly focusing on the overall running costs in order to remain competitive in the market. One big advantage these higher powers have is the ability to process thicker mild steel with nitrogen. However, the cost of this nitrogen can be prohibitive. The compressed air cutting feature, standard on all AMADA ENSIS, VENTIS and REGIUS fibre lasers, can reduce the overall processing cost by a significant amount, whilst retaining the high processing speeds that nitrogen cutting offers.
Over recent years, the power level of fibre lasers introduced to the market has increased exponentially. After introducing the world’s first 4kW fibre laser (the FOL-AJ) at EuroBlech in 2010, AMADA has continued to push developments that benefit its customers, such as the innovative and unique ENSIS and LBC (Locus Beam Control) technologies, along with 6, 9 and 12kW power options. Combining existing cutting knowledge with these new laser advancements has proven to be vital in keeping AMADA users at the forefront of the market.
One major advantage is that of compressed air cutting, which has been used by AMADA customers for over 20 years. Although not new technology, it is providing the added extra benefit to allow customers to reap the advantages of cutting speeds that are the same as nitrogen (depending on the material quality and environmental conditions) but with extremely low running costs.
Of course, cutting with air is not completely free. A suitable compressor and dryer system will be required and there is the associated electrical consumption to consider when comparing air cutting to nitrogen cutting. However, if this system cost is considered over a 5-year payback period, substantial savings can be seen, even if only run over a 1-shift pattern.
Cutting mild steel with oxygen often requires the resulting scale to be removed. This requirement can be drastically reduced, or possibly eliminated depending on the application, when cutting with compressed air.
Compressed air cutting is a standard feature on the whole range of AMADA fibre lasers, which consists of the ENSIS-AJ (3 to 12kW), REGIUS-AJ full linear drive laser (6 & 9kW) and the revolutionary VENTIS-AJ featuring AMADA’s innovative LBC (Locus Beam Control) cutting technology. It is also standard on all AMADA C1-AJ, EML-AJ and ACIES-AJ punch/fibre laser combination machines.
Following extensive European cutting trials, AMADA has developed new cutting data for processing mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium with compressed air, allowing users to take advantage of the benefits without having to pay for extra options when purchasing the machine. The machines are supplied with cutting data to start processing with compressed air immediately.
Compressed air cutting can be demonstrated in any of AMADAs numerous European Technical and Solution Centres, which also show the complete range of automation systems, press brake technologies, punch press cells, software solutions and tooling innovations.
