This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
The benefi ts of speed and repeatability make lasers an excellent choice for high production parts that demand quality welds.


Laser Marking


Laser marking or engraving remains one of the largest laser application segments in terms of units sold and revenue. Almost all items manufactured today need to be marked for traceability or branding, and the process is used for medical devices, automo- tive, aerospace, defense, electronics, semiconductor, industrial tools, fi rearms and jewelry. Lasers used for marking can range in the


wavelength spectrum from UV (355 nm) to far infrared (10,600 nm), depending on the material and application requirements. The majority of lasers used for marking in manufacturing fall in the infrared 1 micron (1064 nm) or the far infrared (10,600 nm). The choice is mainly material driven. One micron infrared (1064-nm) lasers, either DPSS (diode-pumped solid state) or fi ber laser technology, are used to mark mainly metals and many plastics, whereas far infrared (10,600 nm) CO2


lasers are used to process mainly organic


materials such as wood, leather, glass, foam, stone and plastic engraving.


Additive Manufacturing With Lasers One of the fastest-growing manufacturing tech- nologies is additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing. This process is capable of creating three-dimensional objects of virtually any shape and level of complexity directly from digital data. AM can produce components virtually impossible to create with conventional techniques in terms of geometrical complexity and overall part performance. While many additive processes are used in this


manner, the laser-based processes are recognized as the leaders with regard to industrial manufacturing capabilities, superior detail resolution and as-built material properties. The primary laser-based process- es are laser metal deposition (LMD) and the powder bed processes of direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and selective laser sintering (SLS) for polymers. The LMD process uses solid-state or CO2


lasers


The primary laser-based processes are laser metal deposition (LMD) and the powder bed processes of direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and selective laser sintering (SLS) for polymers.


The shorter wavelengths such as Green (532 nm) and UV (355 nm) are reserved for applications requiring high material absorption and low impact on the material. Short wavelength marking applications include solar panels, computer hard disk components, semiconductor components and medical device implants. In addition, short wavelength lasers have a smaller focused spot size allowing for very small marking in certain micro applications. CO2


lasers are the most mature marking laser


technology. They are used for awards and gifts and high- speed packaging across many industries. The architec- ture has remained relatively stable.


LF10 AdvancedManufacturing.org


up to several kilowatts, to deliver sprayed metal powder to a base component via laser melting. Most recently, the availability of high-power fi ber delivered solid-state lasers has expanded the use of robotics in this fi eld. High-defi nition AM is possible when combined with precision power nozzles and small laser spot sizes. The powder bed processes are capable of processing most weldable engineering metals, as well as a number of high-performance polymers. The move of this technology from rapid prototyping to true manufacturing applications is accelerating. The developments in robust Yb:YAG


fi ber lasers has advanced the capabilities of DMLS. Single-mode fi ber lasers rang-


ing from 200 W to 1 kW combined with highspeed digital scanners are critical for the success of this technology. With layer thicknesses commonly as small as 20 microns, small laser spot sizes, precise laser power control and accurate high-speed scanner trajectories are critical. SLS is powered by sealed CO2


lasers for optimum


laser absorption in the polymer materials. These maintenance-free lasers in the 50-100-W range are the perfect power source for precision melting of polymer powders used in the SLS process. SME’s Industrial Laser Community contributed to this report. For more information, visit sme.org.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150