As fiber lasers claim more and more market share in industrial applications, particularly by matching or surpassing the capabilities of more established CO2 machines, Amada is offering an innovative new player in the field.

Amada’s latest fiber laser boasts a very special feature, namely the ability to continuously adjust the beam to match the material thickness. What in the past could only be achieved through manual lens changes is now performed automatically by the system itself.

The principle underpinning these capabilities is based on the use of two different fiber diameters. Depending on the thickness of the material, the beam is modulated in such a way that it is injected into either the inner or the outer fiber. In the case of thin sheets, the laser beam is restricted to the inner core of the fiber. As the material thickness increases, so too does the diameter of the laser beam. As a result, the kerf grows slightly wider as the sheet thickness increases and the finished parts can therefore be removed without difficulty. The technical implementation of this function is based on the expertise bundled in the Amada beam source that was developed in-house. Users benefit from long, unattended production runs, almost without any setup operations and optionally equipped with significant automation capabilities.

Practically interruption-free production
The elimination of the need to change lenses is not the only crucial advantage offered by the innovative Ensis-3015 AJ. A second is the 2000 Watt output which is enough to cut sheets of as much as 25mm in thickness while still providing outstanding quality. In other words thanks to the beam modulation described above, the Ensis achieves performance with a laser output of 2000 Watts that conventional solid-state lasers can only offer with significantly higher power ratings. The result is practically interruption-free, high speed, high quality production with all system components performing with outstanding energy efficiency.

Even nozzle changes are automatically changed to provide optimum cutting results. The Ensis-3015 AJ is ideally suited for ferrous steels as well as for nonferrous metals such as copper, brass or titanium and has an extremely compact footprint.

The Ensis advantage
The major hurdle the Ensis 3015AJ overcomes is satisfying the requirements of job shops and contract manufacturers that deal with a high volume of various materials. In environments in which a broad “material mix” and material thicknesses might be processed in low volumes, “a lot of job shops want that capability to do the heavier plate. That’s been the hang-up against fiber technology. Companies are willing to invest in fiber technology, but a lot of them want to have or keep CO2 on their floor as well so they can do the thick stuff.”

With the proprietary technology built into the ENSIS, “we can change the properties of the beam on the fly. When we switch to cutting the thick mild steel and have to switch to oxygen as an assist gas, I can now automatically change the properties of that beam to emulate how a CO2 machine will perform on that material.”

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