LASERSYSTEMS EUROPE News: 4
Deep learning augments laser cutting l Efficient bifacial solar cells produced l New hybrid cladding process developed l 3D-printed components installed in nuclear reactor l Bosch supplying equipment for battery production l Laser structuring increases hydrogen production efficiency
Feature: CO2 lasers
Greg Blackman on where CO2 lasers excel in materials processing
Analysis: Dissimilar metal welding 12
Jennifer Heßmann, Marcel Bachmann and Kai Hilgenberg explain a promising joining process that could help reduce the weight of vehicles
Feature: Shipbuilding Analysis: Micromachining
Daniel Holder shares how new USP laser technologies could facilitate the rapid micromachining of silicon wafers
Analysis: Steel welding
Rabi Lahdo and Stefan Kaierle describe a process that promises big benefits for heavy industry
Analysis: Beam shaping Analysis: E-mobility
Christian Geiger and Tony Weiss evaluate the readiness of current laser technologies for the mass-production of electric vehicles
Supported by the LIA 22
Joerg Volpp and Adrien da Silva investigate new beam shaping possibilities for high-power laser materials processing
24 20 14
Keely Portway looks at how laser technologies are optimising welding and cutting for shipbuilding
18 8 Analysis: Investment 28
Andrew May describes how ES Precision’s recent investment in new laser technology will unlock exciting application sectors
Analysis: Additive manufacturing 30
Manuel Henn, Matthias Buser and Volkher Onuseit combine additive and subtractive laser processes to unlock manufacturing possibilities
News from AILU
Dave MacLellan on how laser materials processing will help achieve 2050 carbon emission goals
LIA News
Application focus: Process monitoring
Florian Furger, Markus Danner and Roland Mayerhofer discuss how combining real-time readings from multiple sensors enables better control of high precision welding
Products
The latest equipment for industrial laser processing
Suppliers’ directory Find the suppliers you need
42 39 34
Eliana Fu, of Trumpf and formerly SpaceX, shares how additive manufacturing can aid humanity’s cosmological journey
36 32
Lasers continue forging a path towards a greener future
Matthew Dale, editor
The continual mention of green topics in our industry’s news and conference proceedings reveal that materials processing lasers show no signs of slowing down in helping realise a carbon-neutral future. Such topics include e-mobility, vehicle lightweighting, hydrogen production/ storage and increasing solar cell efficiency, all of which are covered within the folds of our Autumn issue. In the news section on page 4, half
the featured stories cover battery manufacturing for e-mobility, the development of highly-efficient solar cells, and improved hydrogen production. On page 12 we see batteries will be powering electric vehicles with lighter chassis, thanks to dissimilar metal joining enabled by a new welding process. On page 24 we are given a comprehensive overview of laser technologies in e-mobility production, with TUM researchers having evaluated their readiness for serial manufacturing. Battery technology is not the only
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contender for providing electrical energy however, with hydrogen also showing great promise. In addition to the improved hydrogen production we learn of in the news, on page 28 Andrew May shares with us his ambitions to put ES Precision’s newest investment to work in cutting components for hydrogen fuel cells. The new 100W fibre laser was purchased using a government grant following slowed business during the pandemic, so May is keen to get the laser involved in new projects. In June, AILU delivered a webinar on
many of the above topics, highlighting their importance on the approach to the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in November. On page 32 Dave MacLellan shares the highlights. It’s been a privilege as LSE editor to
see lasers help address the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions, and I look forward to how they develop as we approach the net-zero deadline of 2050.
WWW.LASERSYSTEMSEUROPE.COM | @LASERSYSTEMSMAG AUTUMN 2021 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE 3
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