Precise and flexible bevel cutting

Rapidly increasing laser power, different bevel shapes, new cutting gases – innovative solutions are required for laser cutting machines to meet today’s demands for productivity and dynamics. Messer Cutting Systems is responding to these developments with the innovative Element 400 L laser cutting machine. At the heart of the machine is the Bevel-U bevel unit, which was specially developed for the laser process and scores highly in terms of precision, flexibility and automation.

“Our Element 400 L laser machine provides a leap in performance in laser technology and combines uniform piercing and faster cuts in laser precision cutting. It cuts mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum in working widths between 1,600 mm and 5,100 mm and in a working length of up to 25,000 mm with O2 and N2 as well as an optional automatic gas mixing unit. A central component of the machine concept is the Bevel-U bevel unit,” says Fabian Tenzer, Head of Laser Application at Messer Cutting Systems.

The Bevel-U enables bevel angles between -50° and +50° on the workpiece as well as different edge shapes (I, V, Y, X, K) for a subsequent welding process. The bevel angle is continuously adjusted during the laser cutting process. Magnetic collision protection for the cutting head is just as much a part of the design of the innovative chamfering unit as a manual control panel for all drives, allowing adjustment work to be carried out directly on the machine. Even with material thicknesses of 50 mm, Bevel-U can produce precise and repeatable bevel parts with a wide variety of bevel contours in the best cutting quality thanks to its unique design – a major advantage in edge preparation for automated robot welding. An automatic testing and calibration routine ensures consistently high quality even after a nozzle change. Combined with the automatic nozzle changer Laser Nozzle Control (LNC), productivity reaches a new level thanks to the fully automatic management of the cutting nozzles. Fabian Tenzer: “High-performance components such as the Bevel-U bevel unit form the basis of our cutting machines such as the Element 400 L. As automated processes are essential for economical and precise production nowadays, the focus during development was not only on automatic nozzle management using LNC, but also on the material flow and permanent data exchange across the entire workflow. Everything can be combined. The Element machine platform gives metalworking companies unprecedented flexibility to configure their system precisely according to their requirements.” Web: www.messer-cutting.com