Innovations in Tube Processing

Tube Innovation Week, presented by the BLM Group USA, revealed a variety of new tube-processing equipment to its customers, representatives and members of the trade press June 6-10 in Wixom, Michigan. More than 100 guests attended to learn about BLM’s latest technologies.

They included the LT8.10 fully automated 3D fiber laser tube cutting system for workpieces made of brass, copper and aluminum up to 9.5 inchs in diameter. The system can process round, square, rectangular, flat oval and D-shaped tubes, as well as open profiles such as C- and U-shaped channel bar. The 3D cutting head provides the necessary agility for producing these shapes, including tilt cutting of thick-walled steel. The LT8.10 is available in a number of load/unload configurations and includes features such as Active Marking for part marking and tracking and Active Scan, which detects material variations.

Also on display was the LT Free, a five-axis fiber laser machine for cutting 3D formed or shaped parts such as bent tubes and welded assemblies. The machine allows traditional cutting, drilling, punching and milling to be performed on one machine instead of sequentially. Other equipment on view included the LC5 laser machine, which is capable of switching from tube to flat sheet and features automatic loading and unloading, and the E-Turn all-electric tube bender. The E-Turn series can bend tubes that are round, square, rectangular, flat-sided, oval or elliptical, and it is available in four models: the E-Turn 32 (up to 1.18 inch in diameter); the E-Turn 35 (1.38 inch); the E-Turn 40 (1.63 inch); and the E-Turn 52, for tubes up to 2.0 inch in diameter.

During the event, BLM marked 15 years in the U.S. market and also announced that it will be moving into a new 75,000 square-foot facility—basically doubling its size—in 2017.