September 20, 2012
Amada offers the FOL3015AJ fiber laser, which the company says is the first 4,000-W production fiber laser designed specifically for cutting. A 2,000-W model also is available.
According to the manufacturer, the 5- by 10-ft. machine cuts thin material two to three times faster than a comparable 4,000-W CO2 laser. The fiber laser cuts material thicknesses up to 0.875 in., and process range expansion (PRE) allows laser cutting of copper, brass, titanium, and other difficult-to-process materials.
The resonator generates a laser beam with a wavelength that is about one-tenth of that emitted by a conventional gas laser, allowing the system to cut materials that a CO2 laser cannot process. The machine also cuts thin-gauge materials at high speeds, with no optics or space inside the cavity of the laser source. With solid-state technology, no laser gas is required to generate the laser beam.
Maximum cutting speed is 9,449 IPM. With all three axes driven by linear drives, the machine features a traverse speed of 13,380 IPM and a 5G acceleration speed for the work envelope.