FEATURE: AEROSPACE
“For aviation in particular, the drilling of CFRP has an enormous market potential”
gyour fingers in a flame – if you do it too fast there is no problem, but if you leave your fingers there they will get burned. So in fact we repeat the process many times, with a short break in between each time to allow the material to cool down. As with many industrial processes, we have had to find a compromise between speeding up the process time and ensuring that the material is not damaged.’ He explained that one particular
advantage to laser drilling derives from the fact that there is no physical contact between the tool and the material: ‘Because we are not putting physical pressure on the CFRP, the material does not need to be secured in the same way as if it was machined with conventional tools. But you have to weigh everything up. There are some issues around emissions using laser machining – CFRP dust is not the sort of thing that should be inhaled. The process also causes the vaporisation of small quantities of plastic, so we have to use an exhaust system to remove the emissions.’
Whether in a sparrow hawk or an aircraft, lightweight components are essential
Long road to commercialisation The three-year LaBoKomp project is coming to an end in July. Demonstration samples of support struts for aircraft holds have been produced – and one of the project partners, Premium Aerotec, will soon begin to look at the lengthy process of commercialisation. But, Staehr warned, progress is slow in an industry where safety and reliability are paramount. Before any consideration of commercial use, the process must be certified by the relevant authorities – not just the parts that are produced, but also the machines that are used for the process – and this is likely to take a couple of years.
Dittmar concluded: ‘Industry will only
consider a new technique on a new product – they generally will not even think about introducing a new process on a part that is already made in another way. But when the time comes to introduce a part or component, aerospace companies are increasingly looking at the use of lasers in the manufacturing process.’ There is clearly a lot of promise for machining CFRP in aerospace – and, with increasing use of the material in high-end automotive manufacture and in the wind- energy industry, many in the laser industry will be watching developments like hawks. l
SHARK-LIKE STREAMLINING
The particular qualities of shark skin have inspired a German company using lasers to increase fuel efficiency in aircraft. Laser specialist 4JET and the leading aircraft paint supplier Mankiewicz have introduced a laser process for the creation of fuel-saving ‘riblets’ – like small ridges – lasered directly onto painted aircraft surfaces. The technology, dubbed
‘Leaf’ (Laser Enhanced Air Flow), uses the principle of laser interference patterning to quickly create fine lateral grooves in the uppermost layer of aircraft paint. Such riblets have been proven to reduce drag by up to 10 per cent, which can result in fuel savings of one per cent for commercial long-haul airlines. Clearly, this has the potential to produce savings across the aerospace industry. The process – while still in the development stage – already
20 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE SUMMER 2019
yields industrial throughput levels and has passed initial qualifications for durability. Removing paint by lasers is a
well-known technology but has so far proved to be too slow to create the high density of riblets required to achieve ‘shark skin’ effects. Instead of creating the riblet grooves with one focused laser spot ‘line by line’, 4JET says it has now found a way to speed up the process by a factor of about 500 using the principle of laser interference patterning. The laser beam is split up
and recombined on the surface in such a way that the electric field oscillations of the light waves superpose in a controlled manner. This superposition creates a distinct pattern of dozens of alternating equidistant lines of high and almost no intensity in one single laser spot. This enables the creation of 15 kilometres of riblets – equal to about a square metre of riblet
or printing operations in aircraft maintenance. ‘We are looking forward
Shark skin provided the inspiration for 4JET’s riblet technology
surface – in less than one minute. 4JET says that, to add even
more benefits; Leaf works without any consumables. It allows riblet geometries to be adjusted depending on their location on the aircraft. The paint dust and vapour created during the process is evacuated and the process does not require post processing. The technology also enables
the processing of curved or riveted surfaces and – thanks to its long focal distance – can be integrated with existing robotics used for paint removal
to actively writing another chapter in the history of aviation coatings and shaping the future of sustainable aircraft. With 4JET we are glad to have such a competent partner at our side, and look forward to the future cooperation and commercialisation of this ground-breaking new method to save fuel, and thus contribute to a greener future,’ said Andreas Ossenkopf, head of aviation at Mankiewicz. 4JET’s CEO Jorg Jetter
added: ‘We are excited about the progress so far and the tremendous opportunities of our new partnership with Mankiewicz. Leaf could not only be opening up an entirely new market for our company, but deliver a significant contribution to cut down CO2 emissions in the aviation sector.’
@lasersystemsmag |
www.lasersystemseurope.com
Jesus Cobaleda/
Shutterstock.com
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