CONTENTS LASERSYSTEMS EUROPE CONTENTS Lasers in action
GE buys Concept Laser l the up l
Laser tool developed for car wrecks l Coherent completes Rofin acquisition
Report: Laser processing in Lithuania 8 Matthew Dale attends a laser material processing meeting in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius
Feature: Diode lasers
Greg Blackman asks whether direct diode systems can compete with fibre lasers
Feature: Aerospace Feature: Beam delivery 14
Matthew Dale looks at treating carbon fibre wing skins and 3D printing lightweight aircraft brackets
18
Rachel Berkowitz on the new fibre delivery options and scanning solutions for ultrafast lasers
Show preview: SPIE Photonics West 22
A look at some of the industrial laser processing solutions on display at the photonics show in San Francisco at the end of January 2017
AILU news 24
Updates on the fifth Industrial Laser Applications Symposium, to be held 22-23 March 2017 in Grantham, UK
Products
Laser systems and equipment for material processing
LIA news Suppliers’ directory Find the suppliers you need, quickly and easily 30
The Laser Institute of America’s regular section, with a report from the 35th ICALEO event
34 Editorial and administrative team
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Technical writer: Matthew Dale
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Laser Systems Europe is published by Europa Science Ltd, 4 Signet Court, Cambridge, CB5 8LA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 221035 Fax: +44 (0)1223 213385 Web:
www.europascience.com ISSN: 1759-0752
ISSUE 33 • WINTER 2016 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE 3 27 18 14 10 4 Chinese laser firms on
ISSUE 33 • WINTER 2016 10
ADDITIVE TAKES FLIGHT
Te news that GE has bought a 75 per cent stake in metal additive manufacturing company Concept Laser should really come as no surprise. GE has invested heavily in 3D printing technologies. Its Aviation business has received 11,000 orders for the new Leap jet engine, set to enter service in 2017, with each engine containing 19 3D-printed fuel nozzles. Te additively made nozzles are five times more durable, two thirds lighter, and can operate at temperatures 20 per cent higher than the previous nozzle design. All in all, the fuel efficiency of the jet engine could save airlines $1.6 million per airplane per year in fuel costs. With 11,000 engines on order and 19 nozzles in each
engine, GE Aviation will need to ramp up its additive manufacturing capacity, and so it makes sense to bring Concept Laser’s technology in-house. Tere’s more on the GE acquisition in the news section starting on page 4, while Matthew Dale on page 14 investigates some of the additive and other production techniques using lasers for building the next generation of aircraſt. Additive manufacturing is also a promising market for
diode lasers, which could potentially make the machines run faster by incorporating multiple laser sources. Te article on page 10 covers the latest developments in fabricating high brightness diode lasers, which could one day compete with fibre lasers for metal cutting. Te Spring issue ofLaser Systems Europe will have
more on additive manufacturing, so it just leaves me to wish all our readers a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Greg Blackman, editor
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