Laser welding technology conference in Ukraine
Katsively, Crimea, Ukraine -The 6th International Conference on Laser Technology in Welding and Material Processing (LTWMP-2013) took place here on May 27 to 31. Papers were contributed from nine countries: Belorussia, China, Georgia, Germany, Finland, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, and Ukraine.
The first plenary paper, "Laser Technology as a Key Factor in Further Development of Modern Sustainable Manufacturing," was presented by Prof. Volodymyr Kovalenko, conference co-chair and director of the Laser Technology Research Institute (LTRI) from the National Technical University of Ukraine (KPI). Considering the global shortage of natural resources and the increased challenges in society caused by the global economic crisis, Kovalenko stressed the importance of switching from extensive economic development to a more rational sustainable economy.
Concerning sustainable manufacturing, its successful development in new conditions may be possible only based on advanced technologies. In this respect, laser technology is the most suitable because of its universality, great potential, and possibility to be used at any stage in the product life cycle development. Prof. Kovalenko said he sees great prospects in microprocessing and nanoprocessing.
Another plenary paper from China was presented by Prof. J. Yao of the Laser Center of Zhejiang University of Technology. The article was devoted to "Research and Applications of Laser Surface Modification and Repairing on Turbine Blades." Chinese researchers are paying increased attention to the development of laser surface processing featuring laser technology as a prospective "green technology," which is very friendly to the environment. Prof. J. Yao also presented on "Laser Cladding FeCrNiCiMn High-Entropy Alloy Coating" and Dr. Q. Zhang and colleagues presented a paper on "Laser Cladding Process Expert System based on BP Neural Network Algorithm."
Papers from researchers from the Paton Welding Institute (PWI) and other research institutes in Russia focused on laser welding topics. These included:
- "Charging of Particles of Condensed Phase in Vapor-gas Jet at Deep Penetration Laser Welding" by Prof. Krivtsun and Dr. Semenov;
- "Investigation of Evaporation Processes in Laser Welding of Steel and Alloys" by Dr. Shelyagin and colleagues from PWI; and
- "Modeling, Synthesis and Nano/Microstructuring of Surface of Materials by Laser Irradiation" by Prof. Ilyashov from Don State Technical University Russia.
Nanolevel laser welding was the subject of Dr. Drozdov (Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Russia) in his paper, "Effect of Nanopowder Inoculation on Joint Quality in Laser Welding of Different Metals."
Dr. M. Bachman and colleagues from the BAM Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing, Berlin, demonstrated the efficiency increase of laser welding in a presentation, "High Power Laser Beam Welding of Austenitic Stainless Steel with Electromagnetic Weld Pool Support."
Ricardo Lorenzo (Laser Welding Department of Hydracorte S. I., Spain) presented an interesting paper, "Implementation of Laser Welding Technology for the Manufacture of Metal Equipment for the Commercial Sector," that drew great interest and initiated an energetic discussion.
To address the problem of laser-welding quality improvement, Dr. O. Sokolov (Laboratory of Laser Processing of Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland) described "Edge Surface Preparation in Laser Welding of Low-Alloyed Steels."
Papers discussing hybrid welding were offered by I. Krivtsun (PWI) in "Plasma Welding of Stainless Steels" and "Laser Microplasma Combined Alloying of Surface of Steel Specimen" by A. Bernatsky (PWI). Some problems of micromachining were described in "Laser Milling of Super-Hard Materials" by a joint team from LTRI (Ukraine) and from LC of Zhenjiang University of Technology (China).
Prof. Kovalenko commented that the conference once again demonstrated that despite the global crisis and many challenges in new advanced technologies development, laser technology has great potential for further development. Also, new applications are being successfully implemented into industry and that such promising technology can be considered a key factor in further development of modern sustainable manufacturing.
The 6th International Conference on Laser Technology in Welding and Material Processing was organized by PWI of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, the LTRI of KPI, and by the Laser Center (LC) of Zhenjiang University of Technology (China). Co-Chairmen were Prof. Borys Paton, director of PWI, and Prof. Kovalenko.
Since 2003, this conference has become a tradition. It was established so that there could be an international conference on laser technology in this part of the world every two years.
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