DSU and Amada intro new kilowatt fiber laser

MILPITAS,USA: JDSU announced that it has collaborated with Amada, a leading manufacturer of machine tools for metal fabrication, to develop a new and high-power fiber laser that provides up to 4 kilowatts of output power.

The fiber laser has been integrated into a new sheet metal cutting system from Amada called the ENSIS-3015AJ that is being demonstrated at the FABTECH event at Chicago.

For the first time in the metal fabrication industry, ENSIS provides the flexibility to cut both thick and thin metals simply by changing the beam configuration electronically, dramatically saving time, costs and increasing productivity for metal manufacturers.

With previous cutting systems, a condenser lens had to be manually changed in order to adjust the beam configuration to cut different types of metals. This versatility is the result of the advanced fiber laser design co-developed by JDSU and Amada.

New fiber lasers continue to gain momentum for metal processing over the use of CO2-based cutting systems because of their high performance and ability to cut metal at speeds 2.5 to 3 times faster than traditional systems.

According to analyst firm Strategies Unlimited, kilowatt class fiber lasers are growing rapidly to replace traditional C02 lasers and are projected to represent almost a third of all kilowatt class lasers by 2015.

Benefits of the the new fiber laser:

* Flexibility to cut both thick and thin metals.
* Optimized performance and enhanced beam quality.
* Reduced size and power.

"Around-the-clock productivity is extremely important to Amada's metal manufacturing customers;" said Mitsuo Okamoto, president and CEO of Amada. "Our newest fiber laser innovation with JDSU provides our customers with a major advantage because the flexibility of ENISIS allows for virtually no down time during the manufacturing process, regardless of what type of metal needs to be cut."

"For more than six years, JDSU and Amada have collaborated to design the industry's most innovative fiber laser solutions;" said Tom Waechter, president and CEO of JDSU. "Our combined efforts on this second-generation fiber laser provides a highly differentiated solution and we look forward to continue transforming the fiber laser market with Amada for years to come."

Metal manufacturers use high power fiber laser cutting systems to quickly and efficiently create metal parts that go into a wide variety of products. Examples include cutting thin sheets of metal for automobiles or refrigerators or cutting thick metal for structures such as beams used in construction.