LasWink

Glass tubes are used in glass apparatus construction when the special properties of glass such as high resistance to temperature changes, to water, acids or alkalis are required. Glass tubes are usually cut by blasting, mainly perpendicular to the tube axis. Here, fully automated laser-based blasting has been established and proven in the industry for many years. However, the generation of angular cuts and complex contours on tubes has so far still been carried out conventionally by cold machining with complex CNC technology. The contours must then be reworked by grinding and polishing.

The project therefore aims to develop an automatable process strategy for laser cutting of borosilicate or soda-lime glass tubes at a defined angle to the tube axis. The final contour is to be generated directly during cutting in order to avoid post-processing. At the end of the project, the aim is to develop a process for cutting glass tubes at a specified angle using laser beams in a way that saves resources and time.