Page 48 - MetalForming February 2013

FABTECH Draws Thousands to Vegas
Water Mist Makes for Cool Laser Cutting
Trumpf debuted the TruLaser 5030 cutting machine at FABTECH outfitted with a 5-kW solid-state TruDisk 5001 resonator, capable of cutting mild steel to 1 in. thick and nonferrous alloys to 0.4 in.
Also introduced at the show was the new CoolLine option for 2D laser-cutting machines, which sends a water mist toward the workpiece during cutting to cool the material. CoolLine, which includes a specially designed cutting head, varying nozzles and a water supply tank, allows fabricators to achieve higher quality cuts with smaller contours or greater complexity, and the ability to nest parts more close- ly together, according to Trumpf officials.
While processing, the CoolLine nozzle directs a water mist around the laser beam as it reaches the workpiece. In doing so, it reduces the amount of heat transferred in the immediate cutting zone and achieves contours that would otherwise be dif- ficult or impossible to process. With this new option the user can cut small side- walls and difficult geometries more efficiently, especially in thick material. It also achieves a considerable increase in process reliability when laser processing low-grade material or material of varying composition.
Better Beveling When Plasma-Arc Cutting
Hypertherm announced the release of new edge-profiling technology designed to help fabricators more eas-
ily achieve accurate bevel cuts during automated plasma-arc cutting. Its new True Bevel technology includes facto- ry-tested mild-steel cutting-parame- ter charts for all Hypertherm HyPer- formance HPRXD plasma systems.
“These charts contain meticulously developed parameters to significantly reduce the amount of time and effort required to produce quality bevels using plasma,” says Hypertherm engi- neer Aaron Brandt. “We also know that most fabricators spend a considerable amount of time setting up their systems (for bevel cutting) through trial and error, and even then the outcome is inconsistent. True Bevel enables fabri- cators to perform accurate and con- sistent bevels without that lengthy setup time.”
In addition to True Bevel, Hyper- therm announced several other advancements to its HyPerformance HPRXD product line, including new HDi technology that delivers optimum performance on thin (less than 1⁄4 in. thick) stainless steel. Additionally, pierce performance on thick stainless has been significantly improved, say company officials, thanks to patented PowerPierce technology and a new controlled-motion pierce process that enables piercing on stainless as thick as 4 in. www.hypertherm.com
www.us.trumpf.com
Multiprocess Weld Power
Esab Welding & Cutting Products introduced FABTECH attendees to War- rior, a new multiprocess welding-power source and wire feeder designed for gen- eral fabrication and for the shipbuild- ing, railcar, energy generation and other industries. Capable of providing power for the GMAW (mig), FCAW (flux-cored), SMAW (stick) and GTAW (tig) processes, as well as arc gouging, Warrior is rated to 500 A at 60-percent duty cycle.
Designed with input from welders,
Warrior carbon-arc gouges with elec-
trodes to 3⁄8-in. dia., welds with solid and
flux-cored wires from 0.030- to 5⁄64-in. dia., and offers a full range of SMAW capa- bilities with excellent 7018 and 6010 performance. Its user-friendly design places all controls on the front panel, including the power switch, and knobs are designed for use when wearing welding gloves.
The Warrior Feed 304 wire feeder features a high-torque four-roll drive, which reportedly gives superior feed even with long GMAW guns. www.esab.com
46 MetalForming/February 2013
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