Drilling and Thermal Processing with Plasma and Oxy Fuel - Valiant and Flex

ficepgroup.com...
The CNC beam drilling line with robotic thermal processing uses unique steel fabrication technology to achieve industry-leading productivity. This complete integration of structural steel drilling, scribing and milling with thermal cutting using plasma and oxy-fuel delivers capabilities not available on typical CNC drilling lines for steel.
The systems drilling capability starts with an innovative “Direct Drive” spindle design each with sub-axis positioning that enables three surfaces with offset holes, scribing or milling processes to be processed simultaneously. The “Direct Drive” spindles features a 31 KW (42 HP) motor for speeds up to 5,000 RPM. This unique “Direct Drive” spindle design delivers 100% of the motors power to the tool.
Steel fabrication technology is the theme of FICEP’s innovative spirit and thermal cutting of structural shapes is just one example. Starting in the late 80’s FICEP employed robotics to thermally generate copes, mechanical opening, rat holes, weld prep, cut off and more.
Not only was FICEP the first European firm to introduce robotics for thermal cutting of structural steel shapes they quickly realized that probing of the section was a time- consuming process. In view of the mill tolerance deviations of structural steel shapes the ability to find the different material surfaces and edges is critical to establish the accuracy of location and reliable torch ignition. FICEP was the first firm to develop non-contact laser probing into the thermal cutting process of structural steel.
As an alternative to integrating a band saw into the line, a robotic thermal cutting system can be implemented. The ability of the robot to use plasma and oxy-fuel thermal cutting technologies expands the productivity and versatility that can be achieved by placing a thermal robot in tandem with structural steel drilling.
FICEP invented and has received numerous patents for the automatic importation of the locations of the intersecting members from the 3-D model. These innovative patents eliminate any manual programming to establish not just holes but all the required layout locations for thermal marking.