TRUMPF boosts 3D cutting speed

High-tech company TRUMPF has developed a new technology that increases the speed and efficiency of sheet-metal cutting. Known as BrightLine Speed, this innovative solution offers particularly striking benefits for the 3D cutting of hot-formed parts – for example, those used to produce B-pillars and door frames in auto manufacturing. “BrightLine Speed allows us to increase cutting speed by up to 60 percent for sheets up to four millimeters thick,” says TRUMPF product manager Ralf Kohllöffel. But that’s not all: BrightLine Speed also consumes around 50 percent less cutting gas per part than conventional laser cutting. What’s more, it makes the cutting process up to 15 percent more productive with the same laser power, so each part requires correspondingly less energy to fabricate. “Our new cutting technology is faster and uses less gas – and that translates into tangible cost savings and a real boost in productivity for our customers,” says Kohllöffel.

Two fibers in a single cable

At the heart of BrightLine Speed is a new, TRUMPF patented laser light cable (LLK), a special “2-in-1” innovation with an inner and an outer fiber core. A TruDisk disk laser couples the laser light into the LLK and distributes the laser power to the inner and outer cores using a device known as a wedge switch. This allows users to adapt the laser power and beam profile more precisely and flexibly to the thickness of the sheet currently being processed.