SME SPEAKS
piece complex aero-engine components, fast component prototyping, parts with graded material compositions. Part repair is targeted at expensive components or tooling that wear over time; two key examples of this are molds and aero-engine turbine blades. Metal layers are deposited in the region of repair with the slight excess machined back to specification. The key to the success of laser additive manufacturing, particularly for part creation, will be contin- ued reduction in cycle times.
Ultrashort, Pulse Laser Micromachining With pulse durations of 10-12s and 10-15s, the picosecond and femtosecond lasers are defining a new regime in laser micromachining—the ability to process metals, with no or negligible heat-affected zones, machine plastics, brittle materials, such as glass and ceramics, and virtually any material. The laser removes material by a sublimation method, solid to vapor. The machined edges are of the highest quality; clean, precise with no burring. This provides extreme precision with feature tolerances down to micron levels, which is being leveraged in production using femtosecond lasers to drill holes into gas injectors that must have a precise geometry to maximize efficiency. The medical device industry has many requirements for plastic and metal machining that align with the ultrashort-pulse laser capabilities. Even by laser cost standards, these lasers are not cheap, but prices are now coming down from demand and can provide either a means to create unique part design or dramatically reduce postprocessing operations.
Flatbed Laser Cutting Coming full circle to what started the laser processing
industry, and what is still by far the highest revenue sector, laser cutting continues to move forward. The latest step change occurred with the development of the fiber and disk lasers that have significantly pushed the envelope for cutting speeds. A 2-kW fiber or disk laser can now cut faster than
a 4-kW CO2 laser. To keep up, motion systems require 5G accelerations with cutting speeds through the roof. More recently, these lasers can be externally controlled to optimally cut both thin and thick sections on the fly. The diode laser is newer to the scene and is starting to create a lot of interest for aluminum cutting.
Summary
The future is bright for lasers, and if you haven’t already done so, take a close look at laser technology and what it might be able to do for you. There is still work to be done. One of the primary obstacles for laser technology uptake is a lack of knowledge and education in the manufacturing workforce, particularly away from laser cutting. Organizations like SME’s Industrial Laser Community, a Technical Commu- nity with its Technical Community Network (TCN), is address- ing this workforce issue with online webinars and conference sessions at events. As a plug, look out for the laser sessions at FABTECH (
fabtechexpo.com/education) this year! You can also learn more about the community, its advisors and cor- porate endorsers, like Trumpf, SPI Lasers, VIRTEK, Miyachi Unitek, LaserLine, LASAG, Laserline GmbH and more, by visiting
i.sme.org/ilc.
2015 SME Officers and Directors
PRESIDENT Wayne F. Frost, CMfgE John Deere Waterloo Works (retired)
PRESIDENT-ELECT Dean L. Bartles, PhD, FSME
Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute UI Labs
VICE PRESIDENT Sandra L. Bouckley GKN Driveline Americas
TREASURER
Thomas R. Kurfess, PhD, FSME, CMfgT, PE Georgia Institute of Technology
SECRETARY
Mark L. Michalski MKS Instruments
Greg M. Morris GE Aviation
Robert R. Nesbitt, CMfgE AbbVie
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO Jeffrey M. Krause
Contact SME
sme.org /
service@sme.org (800) 733-4763 / (313) 425-3000
16
AdvancedManufacturing.org | June 2015
Dianne Chong, PhD, FSME The Boeing Company
Matt L. Hilgendorf, CMfgT Caterpillar, Inc.
Michael F. Molnar, FSME, CMfgE, PE National Institute of Standards and Technology
Ralph L. Resnick, FSME
National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining
America Makes – National Additive Manufacturing Institute
Susan M. Smyth, PhD, FSME General Motors Corporation
DIRECTORS Edye S. Buchanan, CMfgT Fives North American Combustion Inc.
Michael D. Packer, FSME Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
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