Amada enhances LBC technology for higher performance and lower consumption

In order to keep customers profitable in the increasingly competitive laser cutting market, Amada exhibited the new 6kW Ventis fibre laser featuring the company’s unique Locus Beam Control (LBC) technology at EuroBlech 2022, highlighting its ability to perform like an 8 to 10kW machine but with lower running costs.

Following on from the success gained since the revolutionary 4kW Ventis was launched at EuroBlech 2018, providing productivity usually associated with 6kW lasers, this higher power variant will be especially relevant considering energy costs are rapidly increasing. So far, almost 200 orders have been received for the 4kW version in Europe.

The reasons behind this higher cutting efficiency are Amada’s unique LBC technology and the company’s single diode module, high brightness, fibre laser engines. This combination provides highly efficient material removal and therefore higher cutting speeds vs a standard fibre laser of equivalent power.

Many customers have seen the advantages of Amada’s LBC technology and its 3 main processing modes. Productivity Mode provides cutting speeds usually associated with higher power lasers when processing with nitrogen, Quality Mode can provide dross free stainless steel up to 15mm (4kW) and 20mm (6kW) to reduce secondary processes and Kerf Control mode is particularly useful when combined with Amada’s TK part picking systems, allowing the cutting kerf to be widened up to 1mm to ensure reliable automatic removal of components from the cut sheet.

LBC Flash Cut
LBC technology allows the laser beam to be moved dynamically in predetermined patterns independent of the laser cutting head. This removes the need to defocus the laser beam, as is the case with all other fibre laser cutting systems, and retains the superior power density of the laser beam, thereby providing faster cutting speeds and higher quality parts. In particular, thick mild steel cutting is a simple process with LBC technology as a very wide range of different material qualities can be processed without adapting the cutting data.

This means higher productivity and quality is achievable as machine setup is drastically reduced. This technology processes the shape by moving only the laser beam without moving the axis, so it can process at an unprecedented speed that surpasses conventional laser machines. Depending on the industry, it has the potential to become an innovative processing method that overturns concepts.

Amada’s 4kW and 6kW, single diode module, fibre laser engines used in the Ventis series machines achieve very high laser beam density due to the elimination of the combiner module. All multi-module fibre laser engines lose some power density, and therefore performance, when the modules are combined.

The new 6kW Ventis was shown with an all-electric pallet changer, allowing customers to experience the benefits of this fibre laser close-up. A 4kW Ventis was also exhibited in a fully automated cell in order to highlight the ‘Productivity, not power’ theme. Consisting of the new double tower ASF-EU II Twin load/unload system and TK3015EU part picker, this cell is capable of higher productivity over a 24-hour period than a 15kW standalone laser, with significantly lower average cost-per-part.

The new ASF-EU II Twin load/unload tower, consisting of 18 load and 7 unload shelves, has a revolutionary pallet change cycle that ensures the new sheet of raw material is always kept above the previously cut sheet of parts. This stops the problem of small pieces of scrap falling onto the new raw material sheet before it is sent into the laser, thereby reducing possible cutting defects and machine stoppages. In common with the 1000+ automated Amada storage systems installed around Europe, the ASF-EU II Twin is retrofittable.

The TK3015EU has proven very popular, with over 100 units being installed in Europe so far. With an individual part picking time of approximately 10 seconds, parts can be removed quickly and reliably in preparation for the next stage of the manufacturing process.

The Ventis series fibre laser cutting machine is available in 3015 and 4020 sizes, with 4kW or 6kW power sources.

For further details contact Amada Johannesburg on TEL: 011 453 5459 or visit www.amada.co.jp