ORLANDO, Fla.—A precision metal cutting system from Fonon Corporation is reported to provide a high-performance, cost-effective way to cut metals, including highly reflective metals used in the defense industry.
The defense industry uses highly reflective metals across numerous applications, from transport and ballistics to protective gear components. Common metals used in military applications include titanium, aluminum, stainless steel, and nickel.
Titanium alloys are used for structural components and protective panels on armored vehicles, aircraft engines, pressure tanks, and missiles because of their exceptional strength, light weight, anticorrosive properties, and high impact resistance. Due to its significant reflectivity in the infrared spectrum, titanium can be difficult to process with a laser.
The use of laser cutting to manufacture components made of highly reflective metals—which reflect most of the light rather than absorbing it—presents certain challenges. Fonon’s Titan FX Laser Cutting System is a flatbed, multipurpose fiber laser cutting system, available in several sizes, that reportedly offers an effective solution to the problem. Titanium is among the numerous metals and materials that the Titan laser cutting series can “process seamlessly,” according to a release from Fonon.
The Titan systems incorporate a back-reflection isolator that protects the source from the light reflected from the workpiece. Features of the Titan FX include CleanCut technology, which is said to lead to a smaller heat-affected zone for minimized material property alteration around the cut area. They also include an advanced direct drive motion control platform for smoother motion and reduced vibration; and low power consumption for its class of industrial laser cutters, the company said in the release.
Titan FX requires no optical system alignment or laser delivery system maintenance. It comes with software-controlled mechanical geometry alignment, eliminating special installation requirements. It’s also a fully enclosed Class I laser, so no harmful radiation can escape the enclosure of the laser system, according to Fonon.
Due to its ability to cut metals, including highly reflective metals, the Titan FX can also be used in naval applications, such as for processing marine-grade aluminum and copper alloys. It can also be used in aircraft and rocket production because of its ability to effectively work with lightweight specialty metal components. The Titan FX systems are operator- and regulation- friendly, while ensuring “operational excellence,” the company said.
Fonon is an R&D center, equipment designer, and manufacturer of advanced laser material processing systems for subtractive and additive manufacturing. The company said it is “dedicated to advancing industrial technology and designing specialized 3D metal printing systems for manufacturing purposes, representing the fastest path to Manufacturing Readiness Level 10.”