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News on laser paint stripping, blank welding, and more [2010-02-08] |
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INDUSTRY NEWS
:: Laser paint stripping
It’s one of those interesting industrial laser applications that, for one reason or other, never seem to make the market impact that it should. I’m talking about the use of high-energy lasers to remove paint from structural materials, such as aircraft fuselages. This application dates to the early 1970s when preliminary work was done to successfully remove anti-fouling paint (and barnacles) from submarine hulls. Incipient interest from the off-shore drill rig companies, where salt water (and those ubiquitous barnacles) damages paint, offered some unfulfilled promise.
:: Laser blank welding extends use of stainless steel in car exhaust systems
ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks GmbH has developed a new production process that makes parts by joining together different materials with different thicknesses or coatings by laser welding. This principle of tailoring has also been extended to round parts, so-called tailored orbitals. Now stainless steel can also be used in these tubes – particularly for areas of the vehicle subject to corrosive attack. For this reason tailored orbitals are ideal for pipes in car exhaust systems.
:: Laser welding metal fins
Heliodyne Corporation has entered into an agreement whereby Alanod-Solar Inc. (Ennepetal, Germany) will become the sublicensee of Heliodyne’s rights to use a patent owned by Sandia Corporation for the laser welding of metal fins to metal tubes. The financial terms of the agreement are confidential. Heliodyne uses the technology in the manufacturing of collectors for solar hot water systems.
:: IPG Photonics acquires Photonics Innovations Inc.
IPG Photonics Corporation, the world leader in high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers, has acquired the outstanding shares of privately held, Birmingham, Alabama-based Photonics Innovations Inc. (PII), a maker of active and passive laser materials and tunable lasers for scientific, biomedical, technological, and eye-safe range-finding applications.
:: Multiple solar cell tool orders for Coherent
Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) (Nasdaq: COHR) has secured multiple orders totaling in excess of $20M from crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturers for laser-based process tools – just three months after releasing the Coherent Equinoxâ„¢ and Aethonâ„¢ products at the EUPVSEC exhibition in Hamburg.
:: Dual laser and blade cutting system
Eastman Machine Company, a manufacturer of cutting machines, automated cutting systems, material handling equipment, and software solutions, has released its latest generation laser cutting system applicable to customers in the aerospace, automotive, composite, and industrial fabrics industries.
:: Laser materials processing symposium
The ASM International's Emerging Technologies Awareness Committee (ETAC) and Joining Critical Technologies Sector (JCTS) have scheduled the Materials Science & Technology 2010 Conference & Exhibition (MS&T ‘10), for October 17-21, in Houston, Texas.
:: Laser processing of plastics for automotive
Jenoptik Automatisierungstechnik GmbH announces a cooperation agreement with Frimo Viersen GmbH a company it has worked with since 2007. Frimo Viersen is the technology center for punching and flexible cutting within the Frimo Group, a worldwide systems provider of tool and plant technologies for processing plastics, primarily in the automotive industry.
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