There are various types of laser cutting machines for processing tubes and structures. Among them, the most common ones use chucks to hold long tube lengths, handling the most common pipe types and sizes, with a maximum diameter of about 4 inches. However, TUBE EXHIBITION 2024 has learned that different manufacturing methods of tubes lead to different industry uses and tolerances. Therefore, precision laser cutting has become a technical challenge.

Common large-scale laser cutting machines such as BLM GROUP's LT24 can cut up to 24 inches in diameter; Bystronic's M4 series, including FL400 and FL600, can also cut up to 24 inches in diameter; Mazak's Fabri Gear 400 II can handle up to 16 inches in diameter; and TRUMPF's TruLaser Tube 7000 can cut up to 10 inches in diameter.

There are also machines designed to cut short tubes, such as bent tubular components, hydroformed tubular components, and other 3D shapes. Two typical instruments are Mazak's VCL-T100, BLM GROUP's LT-Free, and TRUMPF's TruLaser Cell series machines.

Adaptation to Tubing

TUBE EXHIBITION 2024 has found that in early industrial applications, lasers were commonly used to cut sheet metal, but when the torch moved from one end to the standard size sheet metal's other end, the distance between the torch and the work surface changed too much, the sheet metal was not flat enough, and the cutting process could not be optimized. Later, the steel industry adapted to this change, laser cutting accuracy improved, and commercial standard sheet metal flatness improved.

The Vice President of Marketing at LVD Strippit noted: The size specifications in the tube industry are more relaxed than those in the sheet metal sector. However, the challenge of processing tubes lies in the laser having to handle a large variety of product sizes.

Pre-set cutting programs generally have fixed sizes, but tubes and pipe products rarely have straight lines, and non-circular products often have irregular changes. To cut accurately and prevent collisions, instruments must be built into the machine to determine the actual shape of the tube and its position relative to the cutting head, then compare it with the expected shape to compensate for size changes.

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