CONTENTS LASERSYSTEMS EUROPE CONTENTS Lasers in action
Automotive welding boosted by OCT l improves welding high-strength steel l buys Amphos l
revenue News from Photonics West
Greg Blackman reports from a metal 3D printing panel discussion at the show in San Francisco
Additive manufacturing 10
Gemma Church on how 3D printing is transforming lives through advanced implants and guides for surgeons
Robot-assisted processing 14
Matthew Dale looks at what can be achieved by combining robots with lasers, including a novel tool for repairing jet engines from Rolls-Royce
Diode lasers 18
Blue diode lasers are becoming available that are more efficient than infrared sources at machining metals. Greg Blackman investigates
AILU news 22
Dave MacLellan writes about the International Symposium on Laser Precision Microfabrication, which will be held in Edinburgh in June
Products
Laser equipment for material processing LIA news
24 29
An introduction to the Laser Institute of America’s new executive director, Nat Quick, as well as a preview of the Laser Additive Manufacturing conference at the end of March
Suppliers’ directory Find the suppliers you need 34 18 14 IPG exceeds $1.4bn annual 8 4
Research Trumpf
ISSUE 38 • SPRING 2018 10
MADE TO MACHINE
Welding copper with a blue laser can be 10 times faster than with an infrared beam, according to feasibility studies conducted with industrial blue diode lasers that are now being released. Two companies were exhibiting blue direct diode lasers operating at power levels of hundreds of watts at the trade fair Photonics West in San Francisco earlier in the year, while other laser firms gave scientific presentations on work they were doing building high-power blue laser sources. Te rise of the blue diode laser for material
processing has come about because of improvements in gallium nitride wafers from which the diodes are made. Te benefit for material processing is that metals absorb blue wavelengths better than they do infrared; in the case of copper, 13 times higher absorption. Te article on page 18 examines the new blue diode laser technology and where it will first be used. Photonics West also hosted a round-table
discussion on metal additive manufacturing, with panellists from Trumpf and GE Additive, among others, giving their views on how the technology is progressing. A report can be found on page 8. Gemma Church, in her article on page 10, explores the medical uses for 3D printing for making surgical implants, while this issue also has additive manufacturing updates from the Laser Institute of America, in its regular section starting on page 29.
Greg Blackman, editor @lasersystemsmag
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