LIA NEWS
NEWS FROM LIA A
s laser technology has progressed, fast-paced advances in computers and sensor technologies have enabled the development of improved process monitoring devices,
which has further enhanced the performance, reliability and ease of use of industrial laser systems. In 2014, the total global market for laser systems
for material processing, which include both the source and the components, was $9.2 billion, according to data from Optech Consulting and the VDMA. Although, the largest market share for laser sources has been, and continues to be (61 per cent in 2015), in laser cutting and laser marking and engraving, the laser source’s percentage year-on- year growth has been limited to less than 5 per cent. More interestingly, the higher percentage year-on-year growth areas are laser welding (17 per cent), laser surface treatment (31 per cent) and laser additive manufacturing (71 per cent). Manufacturers in many
industries have long used laser welding to tackle traditional welding challenges, but laser welding technologies are evolving for even greater utility. Hybrid welding, where laser welding is combined with other conventional arc welding methods such as GMAW (MIG) and GTAW (TIG), laser welding with filler wire, and part pre-heating have been successfully implemented in industry. Tis has been possible thanks to the availability of higher power
ABOUT LIA
Laser Institute of America (LIA), founded in 1968, is the professional society for laser applications and safety. Its mission is to foster lasers, laser applications and laser safety worldwide.
www.lia.org
13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1 407.380.1553
www.lasersystemseurope.com | @lasersystemsmag
smaller footprint sources has lead to much wider industrial adoption of laser technology
Lower cost and
High growth areas in industrial laser
processing and monitoring By Rahul Patwa and Craig Bratt, Fraunhofer USA, Center for Laser Applications
lasers at lower cost. In turn, materials that were considered difficult to weld until now, such as higher carbon steels and cast iron, can now be laser welded successfully. Te additional filler material changes the composition of the weld, preventing the formation of hard and brittle microstructures. Likewise, induction preheating can be used to help prevent cracking due to martensite formation by slowing down the cooling rate aſter welding. For instance, in an automotive transmission part, a bolting process was replaced with laser welding, cost savings were achieved through reduced material and processing costs (drilling operations and bolting operations, and the bolts themselves), and an overall part weight reduction was accomplished with a more efficient production method using laser technology. Remote laser welding is
another laser welding process that dramatically reduces welding process cycle times compared to conventional
welding, and is now possible thanks to the availability of higher beam quality lasers and high speed scanners. It involves the use of moving optics in order to rapidly scan the laser beam across the workpiece over large distances both for high speed and for high precision point-to-point movement. To capture the higher potential of laser welding,
there has been substantial yet continuous development in laser welding head technology, which includes the welding optics themselves and also the sensor optics. Some of these process monitoring technologies have been in development for some time. Some are not yet ready for application at scale. But camera-based laser monitoring is now at a point where its greater reliability and lower cost is starting to make sense for high power welding applications. Fraunhofer CLA has developed a high-speed
camera vision system that can record the welding process in high clarity in real-time, and provide both image and video data from the process. Tis
Laser remote welding
information is processed and calibrated with reference data based on pre-determined actual ‘good’ weld measurements using reinforcement learning. Using customised image processing soſtware algorithms, it is possible to detect many of the most common weld defects. One laser processing technology that has recently
been moving up to the forefront of innovative, or even disruptive technologies, is laser additive manufacturing (LAM). Tis process uses the laser beam as a heat source and is primarily divided in two processes: selective laser melting (SLM) and laser metal deposition (LMD). In the SLM process, a layer of powder is deposited
on a build platform and then a rapidly scanned laser beam fuses powder together in the right shape, and multiple thin powder layers are deposited to create complex 3D parts. In the LMD process – also known as direct
energy deposition or laser cladding – the laser is used to melt metal powder fed through the nozzle, which is then deposited in layers onto a substrate.
DIARY
Laser Additive Manufacturing Conference (LAM): 27-28 March 2018, Schaumburg, IL, USA
Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME): 28-29 March 2018, Schaumburg, IL, USA
Industrial Laser Conference: 12 September 2018, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show, Chicago, USA
ISSUE 37 • WINTER 2017 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE 31
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
