The Trulaser Tube 3000 suits
both new and existing users
Virtual
metalworking news
Andrew Allcock ‘attended’ Trumpf’s recent virtual press call, during which the company outlined its
response to Covid-19 and also highlighted latest technology developments
Trumpf’s regular Intec exhibition event
held in Germany was held as a virtual
event for the rst time. It drew around
1,600 ‘visitors’ from 56 countries. Trumpf
UK’s follow-on Open House has been
postponed, so the Intec news for the UK
came via a virtual brie ng this year on
15 June.
Trumpf’s nancial year ends on 30 June,
so managing director for the UK operation,
Lee Moakes, gave an update on business
activity, noting that last year ended on a
high, with revenues 29% above the previous
year at £60 million. Moving into this year,
the company had a strong order book, but
the nancial plan was adjusted to a
moderate £61 million, for which the
company was on track, until March. “In the
nal month of our nancial year, we are
unlikely to complete our remaining deliveries
fully. To date, we still have around 10% of
our customers closed, and 1/3 working
reduced time. In reality we expect to end the
year 15 % below the plan,” he revealed (see
box item for details of the Covid-19 impact
on Trumpf UK – www.is.gd/tuxuwa ).
Two new products were unveiled – the
TruPrint 2000 additive manufacturing unit
and the TruLaser Tube 3000 bre. The rst
is aimed at the medical industry. With its
focal diameter to 55 micrometers, it delivers
smoother surfaces, enhanced quality and
intricate grid structures. Also boosting
quality, inert gas now ows through it back
to front, while printing powder is now
processed in an inert gas environment,
which prevents contaminants from in ltrating
the powder circuit. Automated powder bed
and melt pool quality monitoring see
operators noti ed of any error, while end-toend
documentation corroborates the quality
of the printing process. Trumpf has already
used the new machine to print spinal
interbody cages, placeholders between two
vertebrae to restore the vertebral segment’s
natural height, adding stability. Healthy bone
tissue adheres well to these structures.
It takes just 24 hours to produce 19 such
spinal implants.
Productivity is enhanced via two 300 W
lasers working in tandem and which
illuminate the 3D-printer’s entire build
chamber, while on ease of use, operators
can now remove excess powder from the
component within the system, rather than
having to remove it and unpack at a
separate station.
The TruLaser Tube 3000 ber is a “costeffective
choice even at low to medium
capacity utilisation” and is “equally suitable
for companies that are entering this
technology as it is for companies seeking to
expand their production capacity”. The 2 kW
machine replaces conventional tube
processing steps, such as sawing, drilling
and milling, and can cut tubes of 152 mm
diameter and pro les having an outer
circumference of up to 170 mm, but it can
process pro les, round tubes, at steel bars
and, optionally, L and U pro les, cutting mild
steel, stainless steel, aluminium, and nonferrous
metals such as copper and brass.
An integrated materials store known as
the “bundle space” provides a buffer store
that can hold up to 4 tonnes of raw material,
or up to 5 tonnes with the machine version
Built-in powder removal is just one of
the novelties that the TruPrint 2000
additive manufacturing unit boasts
22 September 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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