The new Trumpf TruLaser 3080 fiber laser cutting machine available from Luton-based Trumpf Ltd, accommodates sheets up to 8m long and weighing up to 7,850kg, allowing the machine to cut substantial components for trailers, trucks and cranes; the TruLaser 3080 fiber can also be used for cutting small and medium-size parts.

Moreover, the machine can handle sheet thicknesses up to 50mm, and processes a variety of materials, including mild steel, stainless steel, copper, brass and aluminium. Laser powers from 4kW to 12kW can be specified.

The TruLaser 3080 can be used in multi-shift operation without requiring complex automation, as it comes with an automatic pallet changer that automatically inserts a second sheet as soon as the laser has completed its first cutting pass. This results in an overall machining area of 40m² of sheet metal, allowing the machine to ‘cut parts for several hours without the operator having to add any additional raw material’; and with optimised nesting, users can utilise almost all the raw material.

Furthermore, the machine features a ‘universal cutting unit with a fully adaptive lens system’ that allows the focus diameter of the laser beam to be selected as required, thereby allowing the TruLaser 3080 fiber to undertake a wide variety of applications while achieving high levels of quality and productivity.

This machine also features Trumpf’s new ‘nano joints’ technology, which boosts process reliability on the shopfloor by eliminating the need for through-thickness tabs, or ‘micro joints’, the latter being commonly used to ensure that cut parts do not ‘break out’ while the rest of the sheet is being cut.

However, these joints remain in place until they are broken by a production worker, and the breakage points on the cut edge need to be smoothed, which leads to additional finishing work. Trumpf’s nano joints produce only tiny retaining tabs that allow parts to be easily removed from the nest — and post-processing work is kept to a minimum.