Solid performers

With built-in intelligence, they include optimum hardware features for a digitalised future and Industry 4.0, performing condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and trend analysis which is a prerequisite for successfully implementing lasers in digitalised and connected manufacturing environments.

“The new TruDisk is not just the smartest, most advanced generation of disk lasers we’ve ever developed, it’s also the most compact and energy efficient,” says Klaus Löffler, managing director and head of sales at Trumpf Lasertechnik GmbH. “Combined with our Condition Based Services, the new TruDisk lasers are the perfect production tool for Industry 4.0 production lines.”

Condition Based Services are modular components of TruConnect, the Trumpf technology for connected manufacturing. They increase the availability and productivity of connected laser systems while identifying potential cost savings.

The critical hub of the smart TruDisk beam source is the built-in control system known as CPX. This is the laser’s brain, where all the condition data and process parameters are collected. During processing, a broad array of sensors measure multiple parameters, including the actual laser output at microsecond intervals, all internal and external signal characteristics, the utilisation rate of the beam source and the condition of additional components.

The new generation TruDisk lasers also incorporate a clever new feature that significantly enhances the quality of the data obtained from the readings. Known as Precision Time Protocol, it synchronises all the sensors and provides them with an identical time stamp. But perhaps the most impressive development of all is how Trumpf is planning to use Condition Based Services in the future.

With the customer’s prior approval, the services will be used to analyse data parameters, carry out algorithm-based trend analysis and take targeted measures to determine the risk of potential laser failure in advance to prevent unscheduled downtime.

The second major improvement can be found in the new laser diodes which Trumpf develops and produces at it US plant in Princeton, New Jersey. The diodes are both compact and energy efficient – characteristics which keep running costs down while reducing the laser’s footprint (0.85m²).

There is even room in this small space for the laser’s smart cooling system which enables the use of cooling water at feed temperatures of up to 26° C. This eliminates the need for an external cooling unit in most cases.

To boost the energy efficiency of the new lasers, Trumpf has equipped them with a new pulse function. This makes it possible to ramp the current of the pump diodes down to zero Amps even during very short laser-off times between two processing steps.

The lasers also come with a smart energy management system that switches the laser between different power-saving modes for each operation, reducing energy consumption to a minimum. Additionally, the laser’s optics have been redesigned to ensure optimum use of the diode pump light.

The Trumpf TruDisk laser has proven its worth in many practical applications. Real-time power regulation ensures the power applied to the workpiece remains stable from one operation to the next and throughout the system’s entire service life. TruDisk technology is also built to withstand laser radiation reflected from the workpiece making it an extremely robust disk laser that is ideally suited to tough industrial environments.

Modular design makes it easy to upgrade the machines with individual components and functions, allowing them to be optimised for a wide range of applications. From vehicle making, aerospace engineering, medical devices and electronics through to the supply sector and heavy industry, the high beam quality of a TruDisk laser make it a reliable tool for joining, coating, additive manufacturing, hardening and cutting, with high quality and reproducibility.

The new generation of TruDisk laser is available for laser output of between 3-5kW with fibre core diameters between 100 and 600µm. Further models are also being developed.

Trumpf www.trumpf.com/en_GB/products/laser/disk-lasers/trudisk