Champlin, MN - Prima Power Laserdyne, has released access to its initial report on the use of fiber lasers for hole drilling. The presentation on the company's web site summarizes its fiber laser drilling development and experiments conducted over the past two years.
The 45-minute presentation with original audio has been converted to a video format. It was first presented at an invitation-only technical conference for Laserdyne system users in October 2012. The presentation details the results of tests when employing a fiber laser for laser drilling of holes that previously had only been drilled with an Nd:YAG laser.
The Prima Power Laserdyne video goes in depth to clarify the difference between fiber lasers and Nd:YAG lasers with fiber delivery, and continues with structural explanations, comparisons and technical specifications of both lasers. The report gives visual and technical examples of the outcomes of testing with fiber lasers for both trepan drilling and percussion drilling. Also featured is video of a sample part being processed with fiber laser drilling techniques described in the presentation.
Laser drilling is extremely important in the turbine engine industry for production of both land-based turbine engines and aero engines. It is critical to the effective design of modern engines because of laser drilling’s ability to cost effectively produce small holes at angles as low as 10º to the surface in heat-resistant materials. Fiber lasers can address a portion of these needs, and in certain applications, achieve superior results. The cost to operate over the life of the laser is also often significantly less than Nd:YAG lasers, says the company, leading to lower fabricating costs and potentially higher quality components.
Fiber lasers are now available on the Laserdyne 795 BeamDirector, Laserdyne 430, and Laserdyne 430 BeamDirector systems. The Laserdyne 795 is a 5-axis laser machining system designed to drill, cut, and weld medium-to-large 3D parts with a unique moving beam motion system.
The presentation is available in both PowerPoint and video format in English at http://www.primapowerinterface.com/fldp/index.html.