The future of laser manufacturing arrives in September

The future application of laser technology in both scientific and industrial applications will be the focus of activity at a prestigious conference in September.

LANE 2014 is the 8^th International Conference on Photonic Technologies. It takes place in Furth, Germany between 8-11^th September. It aims to “offer a platform for an international exchange of ideas, opinions, perspectives, results and solutions concerning photonic technologies.” In fact over 180 talks will consider the scientific and industrial aspects of conventional laser processes like welding and laser cutting. The conference will also present the latest research and development results on emerging technologies such as ultrashort pulse processing, additive manufacturing, laser-assisted processes and simulation and modelling.

For example, ultra-short laser pulses provide a fast and precise way of processing a wide range of materials without excessive heat input and are providing opportunities to deliver the benefits of laser technology where it was previously thought not possible because controlling the properties of melted materials was extremely difficult.

This conference will present an opportunity to get up-to-date on the latest research and development, recent applications and future trends in the given topics. Amongst the most anticipated sessions are “Trends and developments in macro material processing” and “Optical systems for high-power laser applications”. There are five rooms dedicated to:

• Additive Manufacturing – LDMD and Cladding
• Additive Manufacturing – Simulation and Modelling
• Welding Metals – Hybrid
• Laser Cutting
• Surface Treatment

and each room has up to 10 plenary sessions each day as the Conference prides itself on an active programme that could uncover major developments in the use of laser technology across a wide range of sectors.

The future industrial applications of laser technology has recently been addressed by Hongqiang Chen, who leads new developments for GE in laser technology “As manufacturing becomes more advanced, we’re beginning to see laser technologies in manufacturing move from specialty applications to common tools used by manufacturing workers on the plant floor.”

Chen noted that the integration of laser tools and processes into manufacturing is all about going faster, greater efficiency, and improved performance. The global environment for manufacturing is becoming more and more competitive. With product cycle times getting shorter and labour costs rising in developing world, the premium today is on technology to be competitive. In manufacturing, companies are looking for ways to increase the speed and efficiency of production on their plant floors. Laser devices are key tools being used to help them achieve these goals. This should provide food for thought for LANE 2014.

Use of Nd: YAG lasers in surgery

To the non-specialist, the best know use of Nd:YAG lasers is in its variety of medical uses. Nd:YAG lasers were invented by Joseph E. Geusic and Richard G. Smith at Bell Labs in 1964 and it was not long before their use in surgery and medical practice was recognised, allowing for new procedures to be developed or making previous procedure faster, safer and more widespread.

Nd:YAG lasers have proved ideal for a wide rang of cosmetic surgery, and the growth in cosmetic surgery as something available to all and affordable to many is linked in part to the continual development of Nd: YAG laser technology.

Their use in such as LASIK vision correction is well known but there are also many other uses in ophthalmic surgery including:

• Correcting conditions that may occur after cataract surgery
• Surgery following acute glaucoma
• Treating eye diseases caused by diabetes

Perhaps Nd:YAG lasers most popular use is for ‘skin rejuvenation’ procedures where the laser is used to:

• Remove fine lines and wrinkles and significantly improves medium to deep wrinkles
• Remove and reduces acne and all forms of scarring
• Remove warts, moles, and pigmented lesions
• Remove age-spots and sun-spots, freckles
• Improve skin texture and tone
• Causes significant skin tightening
• Improve complexion
• Reduce Stretch Marks

The Nd:YAG laser is also used for hair removal procedures. Its adoption in dentistry began as early as 1977, and it is used today largely to remove oral soft tissue.

Aside from cosmetic surgery uses, the Nd:YAG laser has also had an important effect on treatment of skin and prostrate cancers.

Laser angioplasty is also increasingly common. Angioplasty is procedure to unblock restricted blood vessels. In Nd:YAG laser assisted angioplasty, a laser-tipped catheter is used instead of a balloon catheter. The laser will be guided to the blockage that is the source of all problems and then used to eliminate the plaque by vaporizing it into particles. One recent report has concluded that:

Laser angioplasty can reduce the number of patients requiring bypass surgery and improvements in the device and access methods may reduce the number of untreatable cases.

In nearly half a century, industrial lasers have had a real impact of the health and happiness of people word wide through the medical sector.

Laser technology and the battle against terrorism

Terrorism is still a major international concern and governments across the globe are constantly attempting to develop new technologies that will help them protect citizens at home and defeat terrorist activity at home and abroad.

It is no surprise that laser technology is playing an increasingly important enabling role in defence and security. Applications include perimeter security, range-finding, target designation, monitoring of hazardous gases, and illumination.

Laser technology can help with a number of aspects of defence and security. For example in detection applications can combine long range with reflectorless technology and a constant rapid fire read-out. In mapping terrain, laser-based GPS technology will provide up-to-date mapping and offer effective co-ordinates from raw data. Additionally height co-ordinates and measurements can be made precisely through laser technology – even in difficult weather conditions such as fog or high winds and allowing troops to land safely.

In battleground conditions laser technology is helping to develop devices that will support soldiers. For example a rangefinder measures the distance from the observer to a target for the purposes of surveying, auto-focusing or accurately aiming a weapon. Lasers can help accurately assess the situation. Illumination is another critical aspect of battlefield conditions. If natural light is not present, searchlights and flares usually at near IR wavelengths, can be used both, directly and from the air.

Industrial Laser Technology

UV lasers have wide applications in defence. They can be used for detecting chemical and biological agents in the field (increasingly important as the use of chemical weaponry by State and terrorists has become increasingly prevalent) but they can also be used in field situations to provide point-of-need medical diagnostics, advanced manufacturing, and compact atomic clocks for example.

Recent security alerts in the UK have indicated that terrorists are developing increasingly sophisticated bombs and laser technology is being used to detect these bombs. A recent report suggested bomb detecting lasers might be implemented in the fight against terrorism claiming “the laser-based technique could have substantial applications in monitoring packages and luggage, as they are passing through security checkpoints at airports. Ultimately, researchers believe it could radically improve our ability to detect and address explosive devices, thereby improving homeland security.”

When it comes to protecting house and home it looks like industrial laser applications will play an important role.

What Is Photonics?

Photonics is the technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon – the fundamental particle of light. Photonics involves cutting-edge lasers, optics, fiber-optics, and electro-optical technology and devices in a wide range of fields.

Why Is Photonics Important?

Lasers and other light beams are the “preferred carriers” of energy and information for many applications. Lasers are used for a wide range of tasks such as laser welding, drilling, and laser cutting of metals and non-metals such as fabrics, human tissue, and other materials. Lasers have a high bandwidth and can carry far more information than previous technology used such as radio frequency and microwave signals. Fiber optics allow light to be “piped” through cables as many people wh are reading this via fiber optic broadband at high download speeds will already know and value. Additionally, spectral analyses of gases and solid substances provide positive identification and quantifiable concentrations.

This means that photonics has a wide range of “enabling” uses across many sectors. The applications of photonics as an “enabling” technology are extremely broad. This includes areas where laser technology has already had a strong track record of use – such as medicine and aerospace – as well as fast developing sectors such as IT and communications.

Photonics-Enabled Fields include:

• Aerospace technology where laser RADAR systems and laser altimeters have a long-established use and newer technology includes imaging systems for test and analysis of aircraft, holographic heads-up displays, and optical pattern recognition systems for navigation.
• Agriculture – Here again new technology is helping farmers and producers around the world to become more efficient and more productive. This will impact on us all as more and more food is required to feed a growing global population. Satellite remote sensing detects large-scale crop effects, scanning technology and infrared imaging monitors food production and quality.
• Biomedicine – Lasers for surgery are now commonplace and helping to make surgery more precise, more effective and less expansive, again with worldwide consequences.
• Construction – Scanning site topography, laser bar-code readers, laser distance measuring and alignment, and 3D analysis are all aiding construction services.
• Engineering, microtechnology, and nanotechnology – Uses lasers in the manufacture of electrical devices, motors, engines, semiconductor chips, circuits, and computers; via photolithography, photonics is central to mems production.
• Environmental technology – In just one example ultraviolet Doppler optical absorption spectroscopy (UV-DOAS) can monitor air quality.
• Geographic information systems and GPS have again become almost day-to-day technology for the benefit of many.
• Information technology – Uses optics for data storage, ultrafast data switching, and (especially) transmission of data across fiber-optic networks.
• Transportation – Again GPS is helping make transportation faster and optics for monitoring exhaust emissions will help protect the environment throughout the world.
• Manufacturing – Laser welding, drilling, and cutting and precision measurements through photonic technology continues to enable manufacturers to work smartly and effectively develop new products and services.

 

Some advantages of laser welding

During laser welding a laser beam provides a variety of ways in which to join metals. It can join work pieces at the surface or produce deep welds. It can be combined with conventional welding methods and can also be used for soldering.

So what are the benefits of laser welding?

Perhaps the most obvious benefit is precise working with exact placing of the energy spot. Laser drilling technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated as the technology develops and becomes a regular process in many different sectors. The accuracy created by the manipulation of the beam wavelength helps ensure complete precision – vital in a wide range of welding needs.

The accuracy of the beam and the development of supporting software mean that welding of complicated joint geometry is much simpler using laser welding. Complicated welding becomes much easier with laser welding. Another advantage of lasers being used for welding is the heat source used is much lower than in conventional welding. Therefore there is much less chance that the heat energy will have an effect on the structure being welded. Laser welding is a low heat application therefore there are minor changes in microstructure.

In many welding projects there is the issue of weld distortion – i.e. the warping of the base plate caused by heat from the welding arc. Distortion is troublesome for a number of reasons, but one of the most critical is the potential creation of a weld that is structurally unsound. Distortion in a weld results from the expansion and contraction of the weld metal and adjacent base metal during the heating and cooling cycle of the welding process. With laser drilling the low thermal level means thermal expansion is reduced, thereby decreasing the chances of thermal distortion and structural instability.

Another advantage from a process point of view is that laser welding offers low post weld operation times minimising the delays to any work that needs be carried out after the welding has been completed. And a final advantage is one of distance. A large working distance is possible (welding up to 500 mm distance) it is also much easier to weld into parts that are inaccessible through other methods.

Developing technology and increased competition is helping to increase the accessibility and affordability of laser welding in many sectors and ensuring the benefits of laser welding become more widely understood.

Economic recovery supporting laser cutting growth

A recent report suggests that the laser cutting sector is set for continued growth – driven by a rise in world wide economic growth and new technology.

The research report “Laser Cutting Machines: A Global Strategic Business Report” from Global Industry Analysts, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of market trends, growth drivers, regulations, issues, challenges, mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic industry activities of major players worldwide. The report provides market estimates and projections in dollars for all major geographic markets, including the Americas, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.

In the machine tools industry, industrial lasers are being widely used for precision micromachining, Laser cutting machines are an increasingly important part of many industrial processes as many sectors increasingly rely on their precision, flexibility, and accuracy. Rapid economic development, industrialisation and expansion in manufacturing bases in many developing countries machinery were largely responsible for the market’s strong evolution over the years.

However the world economic recession weakened sales of laser cutting machines during 2008 and 2009 before a recovery in the year 2010. This recovery was largely driven by a recovery in sectors such as aerospace and automotive.

The report sees future growth driven by continued improvement in these sectors as well as the development of new markets created through world wide demand for smartphones and tablet PCs. Laser cutting machines are increasingly used for the production of integrated circuits, displays, and printed circuit boards (PCBs). The As market research report on laser cutting machines forecasts Asia-Pacific becoming the largest market worldwide, growing at around 11% percent over the period 2013 -2020.

 

CIM aims to promote laser technology support UK manufacturing

Get ready for some acronyms. The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) runs the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes (CIM) with the aim of “open(ing) the door to a diverse range of new laser-based production processes and technologies, helping UK industry to take maximum advantage of these advances by bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of leading UK researchers and key industry partners.”

The Centre is located at world renowned Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland and is headed by Prof. Duncan Hand. It runs a wide-ranging programme of research and network building activities with the aim of “enabling significant business growth opportunities, stimulating the broader UK community, providing leadership in the development of UK public policy, providing access to infrastructure for SMEs, and education and training for industry” and has been boosted by funding from the EPSRC and the laser industry multi-million pound worth £10m.

Research projects included Laser Based Production Process Research including fusion process based laser fundamentals and laser ablative micro-processing of engineering materials; Machine Technologies for Laser Based Processing research; research into laser precision machining and structuring and valuable research into joining and additive manufacture. CIM also runs seedcorn projects in partnership with SMEs and researchers.

There are over 30 industry partners including industrial laser manufacturer, JK Lasers. The core industry partners of the Centre form the Industrial Advisory Group – an active body created to advise on many aspects of industrial requirements, emerging markets, technology opportunities and future research directions.

Director Professor Hand has been at Heriot-Watt University since 1991 and in 1997 was appointed Lecturer in Physics and subsequently promoted to Reader (2001) and Professor of Applied Photonics (2003). His acclaimed work on manufacturing includes laser precision machining. He has further research activity on the delivery of high peak power laser light through novel optical fibres (with applications in manufacturing and medicine), including a collaboration with the University of Bath on photonic bandgap fibres. On the importance of the sector to UK manufacturing Professor Hand says “Industrial laser processes are high quality, high precision, easily automated manufacturing solutions that provide repeatable and flexibility. Lasers have a major role in high value production and are essential tools for the UK economy to compete on the world stage.”

More details can be found at the website http://www.cim-laser.ac.uk.

The wide wide world of laser manufacturers

The industrial laser sector continues to grow despite slowdowns in Europea and China, with estimate of the market value around $9 billion. The number of applications for industrial lasers is growing and this is perhaps reflected in the number of Fairs, Exhibitions and Trade Shows that aim to bring manufacturers and clients together. In fact, like Formula1 Motor Racing, there is a year long worldwide circuit of shows that can take the manufacturer from Birmingham to Chicago, from Taipei to Telford.

Currently (June 2014) many manufacturers, suppliers and clients will be jetting off to China for the internationally recognised Laserfair2014. This is the 8^th year of the conference which is centred around six core popular themes: Laser micro processing zone; metal processing zone; flexible processing zone; the (splendidly-named) Splendid zone (specialising in Advanced laser processing equipment, including laser cutting machine, laser engraving machine, laser welding machine, laser marking machine, laser repair equipment, all kinds of advanced industrial lasers, fiber lasers, CO2 lasers, disk lasers, YAG pulsed lasers etc;) and, almost inevitably, a 3D zone.

Asia is awash with conferences (and acronyms) as events for 2014 also include OPTO2014, World 3D Technology 2014, ACMEE 2014, JIMTOF 2014, TMTS 2014, DMP2014

Europe has prestige events in Poland, Spain, UK, Switzerland, Portugal and lots and lots in Germany. In the UK, one of the most important events is Advanced Engineering UK 2014 taking part in Birmingham in Nov. Last year there was a record level of attendance as multiple sectors within the UK’s advanced engineering and high value manufacturing community converged in record numbers to Advanced Engineering UK 2013 group of events, comprising: Aero Engineering Show 2013, Composites Engineering Show 2013, Automotive Engineering Show 2013, Auto Electronics 2013 & Printable Electronics for Industry. Boasting a record total attendance of some 12,000, coming from all tiers and parts of the advanced engineering supply chain the ‘Advanced Engineering UK group of events’, achieved an impressive year on year growth, recording a massive 30% attendance increase on its successful 2012 event. According to its organisers “already one of Europe’s most important annual advanced engineering sector showcases for technology innovation, processes and industry supply chain capability, the Advanced Engineering UK 2013 group of events brought together five interlinked shows representing priority UK high value engineering and technology sectors, and combining to create a hugely exciting integrated UK technology transfer and business development opportunity.”

For manufacturers there are world wide year round opportunities to develop new clients and keep up to date with the latest news.

50 years on what is the future of industrial lasers?

OVER Fifty years have passed since the laser was invented. Now they can be found everywhere, as industrial laser applications have spreads from the auto industry to CD players. In a joint project, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Economics are helping to trace the laser’s economic development – and in the process, they are challenging some common assumptions about how new technologies come to be established.

The name of the project is LASSSIE: “Lasers: A Spatial-Sectoral System of Innovation and its Evolution.” It explores the evolution of the laser innovation system whilst also including the regional dimensions involved in the development of laser manufacture and as seen from a scientific, economic and political perspective. In addition to the Bergakademie Freiberg, the project, financed by the Volkswagen Foundation also includes researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Economics and Friedrich Schiller University both in Jena.

At the forefront of the project is the issue of the systemic nature of laser development. “In the 1950s, the naive belief still persisted that technology and enterprise developed along the lines laid down by the relevant institutions: first comes basic research, then applied research, and finally, the technology is taken over by industry,” explains Jena-based regional economist Michael Fritsch, who is also doing entrepreneurship research. “Today, however, we recognize the existence of what are called innovation systems – actors who are dependent on one another and interact with one another, but are spatially separated and spread across the fields of enterprise, politics and research.”

Between 1961 and 2005, there were 3,369 laser-related patent applications and the research analysed the stories and innovation behind these patents to explore questions such as: were patents registered more frequently by inventors working together in the same team combination? In comparison, how often were patents registered by inventors working alone? The answers to these questions provide insight into the system character of the industry.

An important part of the LASSSIE project lies in gathering data,” says Guido Bünstorf. Company registers, patent applications, publication statistics, dissertations, trade fair catalogues and trade journals are all grist to the mill. And then there are also interviews with the principal participants in industry and research.

The research concludes that the heady of laser development and application may have already reached a peak. “We haven’t been able to discern any further increase in the number of publications in recent years,” reports Bünstorf. The initial phase of technical development and the associated increase in research activity seems to have already reached an end. “With the whole world describing the 21st century as the age of optical technology, that’s not what we would have expected.”

Is laser drilling the latest weapon in the search for oil?

Recent posts from respected sources have opened the possibility that precision laser drilling will play an increasingly important role in the search for oil and minerals. Fuel remains a hot topic in almost every nation. Here in the UK, debate surrounding fracking of shale gas has kept energy policy to the forefront. Increased energy prices have also had the effect of concentrating debate on the balance between renewables and fossil fuels in the UK energy mix.

The ongoing dispute in the Ukraine has also reminded the world (did it ever forget?) that energy policy is a political policy first. Not only the Ukrainians but much of the Western Europe has realised that the over reliance on one fuel supplier might not be the best policy.

Anything that can help deliver more oil or more oil economically will attract attention and laser drilling may have an increased role here according to some reports.

A report on The Voice of Russia website has reported that Russian scientists have invented a new oil-and-gas extraction method. The report claims that the laser-based extraction method ” makes it possible to extract up to 90 per cent of minerals. The new method provides for the use of a laser instead of a drill because a laser beam can penetrate into the almost inaccessible areas. The use of the new method will make it possible to revive closed deposits as well as the deposits where oil drilling with the use of old methods is impossible.”

The new method has been invented by Russian scientist from the Scientific-Production Association Bereg. They claim that using this latest technology will make it possible to extract practically all oil- and- gas from the layers compared with current methods, used today that enable around 30 to 40% of oil and gas to be extracted despite enhanced recovery techniques such as thermal recovery, gas injection or chemical flooding. The report quotes Head of the Energy Department at the Foundation “Institute for Energy and Finance” Alexei Gromov as stating “All possible innovations and technical novelties, which will enable us to raise oil extraction, will be in great demand in Russia.”

On the other side of the world there have also been reported developments in the development of high-power fiber lasers for geothermal, oil, and gas industries. Mark Zediker Foro Energy has reported just this month (April 2014) on the latest field tests. The aim has been to develop a laser drilling process capable of creating a commercial grade borehole, along with the supporting technology necessary to field a laser drilling system. He reports that in the latest tests a newly developed drill bit was capable of penetrating the same rock at 2–3× the rate of penetration, but with less then 1500lbs of weight on bit while being rotated with less than 100ft-lbs of torque and using less than 10hp during the drilling process. This compares with a conventional tri-cone bit requires over 25,000lbs of weight on the bit to penetrate rock with >30ksi compressive strength. His team have successfully drilled through all of the rocks found in oil, gas, and geothermal applications with 4, 6, and 8.5” diameter bits. We have also successfully integrated the laser drill into a drilling rig and demonstrated boring a 12′ hole through dolomite with a compressive strength of 30ks. Mark concludes “The goal of this work was to demonstrate improved speeds for drilling through ultra-hard crystalline rock compared to a conventional drilling system, which in turn reduces the cost of drilling geothermal wells.”

Hopefully the effects of both developments will be increase the amount of oil and gas that can be extracted and lower the cost base, too.