3D LASER CUTTING

Today laser cutting is one of the most widespread material processing techniques, particularly for flat (2D) or bended and formed (3D) sheet metal.

Compared to mechanical tools (shearing, punching, milling, etc.), the laser has many benefits:

  • maximum application flexibility: any material can be virtually processed (all kinds of steel, aluminium and its alloys, titanium and many other metallic materials, but also the greatest part of plastic materials);
  • no limit to the shapes which can be obtained: any path, also the most complex one and the most sharp corners, can be cut, since the laser tool is punctiform;
  • superior accuracy and no part distorsion caused by heat and mechanical stress of the tool;
  • no tool wear.

In the three-dimensional sector (stamped, bended, or pre-assembled parts), laser cutting has opened new application horizons which would have been otherwise inconceivable:

  • cutting profiles can be easily changed;
  • there’s no need of complex and costly fixtures;
  • hardened materials (hot stamped steel, for instance) or materials which would otherwise cause a rapid wear of the conventional tools can be well processed;
  • highly accurate holes and contours can be performed (up to few hundreadths of millimeter) even on inaccurate or dimensionally changeable 3D parts (due to spring back effects or inaccuracies caused by bending or assembly defects): 3D laser cutting conveys precision to the workpiece, in a stable and repeatable way.

In order to grant the widest application flexibility, the highest performances and safety standards, PRIMA INDUSTRIE 3D machines use CO2 lasers, mostly manufactured within the Group, and PRIMA ELECTRONICS numerical controls. Unique responsibility and total control of the technology are thus granted.

Firstly, 3D laser cutting was successfully introduced in car body: prototypes and small series immediately exploited its programmability, quality and repeatability. These features allowed then laser cutting to enter the demanding aerospace sector (special materials and alloys), the stainless steel and aluminium world (white goods, medical, food) and generally the high-quality subcontracting.

In the last ten years the dynamics and reliability of the 3D laser machines have been enormously enhanced. Today more and more machines are used for mass production (hydroformed tubes and parts and special hardened steel, for instance). PRIMA INDUSTRIE is the undisputed leader in this sector: dozens of its machines are currently at work 24/7 (up to 8000 hours per year) in Europe and all over the world.


For 3D cutting PRIMA INDUSTRIE offers:

RAPIDO
OPTIMO