Companies that work as job shops, especially within sectors for agricultural machinery frame production and the construction of light structures, commonly work with a very wide variety of tubes and profiles in terms of diameter, thickness and material that often requires creative solutions.
Typically, the choice is limited to two types of systems: large-diameter tube and profile laser cutting systems capable of handling very heavy tubes, beams and profiles, or specific systems for smaller-diameter tubes and profiles where maximizing performance and productivity is what matters.
When the size and weight of the bars processed vary greatly, such as in the production of agricultural machinery or light structures, the optimal solution may be a laser cutting machine that offers high performance even on a range of medium-large tubes, paving the way to increased competitiveness in these sectors.
In application sectors such as the production of components for agricultural and heavy machinery, industrial vehicles and in general in light construction, choosing a system with intermediate characteristics can offer considerable advantages:
However, the search for an ideal system should not be limited to the range of workable diameters alone, there are several characteristics that we recommend you take into consideration which you can discover below.
Lasertubes for large diameter tubes and profiles, predominantly used in the structural field, and systems for small to medium diameters, used for many sectors including furniture and automotive, have very different characteristics.
The first ones are designed to ensure a safe and reliable handling of very heavy bars, while the latter, working with lighter and thinner tubes, offers greater dynamism and process speed. These are therefore two substantially different products.
The production of agricultural machinery, earthmoving machinery and industrial vehicles uses tubes with diameters up to 300 mm and includes standard sections such as square, rectangle, as well as "C," "L" and "H". Furthermore, unlike heavy fabrication, where construction steel is preferred, light construction and industrial vehicles often use stainless steel and aluminum tubes.
Recently introduced, the LT12 fiber laser cutting system offers optimal performance for this type of product, being able to process tubes up to 300 mm in diameter and 62 kg/m in weight. The LT12 is equipped with a 3D cutting head that manages the entire loading, cutting and unloading process of the finished part completely automatically. View the video below to see the machine in action.
The LT12 is ideal for chassis component production for agricultural machinery, trucks, earthmoving machinery, components of light structures such as sheds, pergolas, shelters including structures for modern solar installations and for renewable energy in general.
Special high-strength steel is often used in the manufacturing of components for agricultural machinery frames. The high cost of these profiles, due to both the type of steel and their thickness and diameter, requires specific solutions to minimize waste at the end of the bar.
In laser cutting systems for large-sized tubes and profiles, the use of three independent spindles eliminates the scrap at the end of the bar, since the cutting head can work on both ends of the part.
For smaller diameters, however, the spindle-steady solution is the best choice because it is slimmer. However, it does not allow the terminal end of the tube to be processed leaving small scrap where part of the tube cannot be cut due to the spindle grip.
In the Lasertube LT12 system, the spindle fits into the chuck, reducing the end-of-bar waste to just the portion of tube blocked by the gripping jaws. This solution results in significant material savings.
This video shows the insertion of the mandrel into the LT12 bezel.
When processing medium-large tubes and profiles, it is important to be able to handle bars of considerable length, up to 12 m, not only because of the size of the part that may be required, but also because a greater length allows for a material usage optimization. In fact, longer bars improve nesting efficiency.
However, as the length of the bar increases, the accuracy tends to decrease due to the deformations introduced by the production process of the profile.
The LT12 relies on an automatic chain loading system for tubes up to 12.5 m and it can be equipped with Active Scan to guarantee precision and quality even on tubes with imperfections like twist and bow.
Active Scan is the feature developed by BLM GROUP that corrects the positioning of cutting geometries on deformed tubes or tubes with shape errors. Deviations are measured using laser sensors and corrected in real time; the necessary compensations are immediately applied to the part program, to guarantee the expected precision, reducing scrap.
SDiscover in detail this feature and the other Active Tools of the BLM GROUP Lasertube systems
Performing 3D laser cutting on tubes and profiles intended for welding is essential to obtain precise sections and chamfers with the appropriate angle to allow full penetration of the filler material.
Thanks to the 3D laser cutting head, equipped with a long focal length, LT12 is capable of working on very thick tubes and reaching inclinations of up to 50° from the vertical. The Active Piercing and Active Focus functions complete a system that ensures precision, speed and flexibility.
The possibility of adding extra processes such as drilling and threading to the cut tube with the same system is a highly appreciated quality especially in sectors such as the production of agricultural machinery or light construction, as it avoids carrying out separate processes on different systems, eliminates secondary processes, reduces cycle time and improves final precision.
LT12 can be equipped with a drilling and threading unit, capable of making threaded holes from M3 to M12. The 16-tool magazine is equipped with a tool integrity control system and allows for fully automatic tip changes.
This process, like all other laser processes, can be easily programmed using the Lasertube CAD/CAM programming software: ArTube.
The ability to manage frames and structures from 3D models of different formats is a significant advantage. The 3D model of the component must be easily identifiable and separable from the structure or frame and must be able to be modified and reworked parametrically through an intuitive interface.
Likewise, the programming of the part from scratch must have specific features that simplify the operator's work, such as libraries with different types of joints and the ability to easily replicate objects such as geometries or 3D parts.
Within BLMelements, the software suite common to all Lasertube systems, two packages are particularly important for LT12 in the construction and profile sector: Assembler and Composer.
Assembler is the package that allows complex structures to be imported and reworked parametrically. It has the fundamental ability to import files in IFC format, providing essential support for all structural construction suppliers who use this standard. After import, the project can be modified and managed as an internal ArTube file.
Composer is the application that allows parts with a high number of processes using “prefabricated” modules to be created that can be automatically replicated even in a parametric and transparent way from ERP systems. Finally, the processing of open profiles is greatly simplified by the availability of complete libraries of standard European, American, English, Australian etc. profile sections.