idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will be presenting innovative developments in laser beam sources and laser applications at the LASER 2007 fair in Munich from June 18 to 21, 2007. This year, the spotlight will be on the current status and future prospects for the use of laser cladding in the repair of aero engine components.
The technical and economic advantages of laser cladding will be demonstrated with the help of a 4 meter long Rolls-Royce aero engine weighing 2.5 metric tons. As an OEM certified repair shop for engine components, working in close collaboration with its industrial partner Rolls-Royce, the Fraunhofer ILT has succeeded in repairing even complex highly integrated components such as Blade Integrated Disks (also known as BLISKs) employing a laser cladding process which does not require a processing gas chamber. This was achieved by qualifying certain processes developed at the Fraunhofer ILT and developing special coating nozzles with an optimized feeder system for powder and protective gas. Because the processed components are primarily made of nickel- or titanium-based alloys, it is vital to avoid chemical reactions with atmospheric elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. The use of the special coating nozzles makes the repair process much more flexible. In contrast to processes requiring gas chambers, there are no longer any size restrictions on the components that can be repaired. Furthermore, the technique eliminates the cost and effort of filling and emptying the processing chamber with inert gas. This offers new prospects for OEM suppliers and providers of maintenance and repair services for aero engines. Visitors to the Fraunhofer stand will be able to find out more about this new repair technique, the equipment required, and the aircraft components that have already been successfully repaired using this process.
The standards set by the Fraunhofer ILT and its industrial partners in the repair of aero engine components over the last few years also benefit the FANTASIA project. This is a joint European project in which 11 companies from the fields of aerospace and laser technology and 8 research and development centers are taking part. Launched in June 2006, the 6.5-million-euro project is coordinated by the Fraunhofer ILT and receives funding from the European Commission. It has ambitious objectives: a decrease of at least 40% in repair costs and a 40% reduction in the repair turn around time for parts. Some components which previously had to be discarded due to the lack of a suitable repair technique can now be repaired with the help of laser cladding. Six-figure savings are anticipated. It is realistic to expect a reduction of up to 50% in raw material and up to 25% in post processing.
In the field of laser beam sources, the Fraunhofer ILT will be presenting practical diode lasers with a wavelength of 2 micrometer for applications in medicine and materials processing - the first time these have been shown at a fair. The Fraunhofer ILT team has succeeded in producing 20W of cw diode laser power at a wavelength of 2 micrometer from a 600 micrometer fiber. This laser is ideal for use in microsurgery, for example in ENT medicine. The special wavelength is also particularly useful for joining plastics, allowing overlapping transparent plastics to be joined without undue effort. With previous diode laser systems, this could only be achieved with the use of special pigmentation. In all of these applications, compact and inexpensive diode lasers replace Tm:YAG and Ho:YAG solid state lasers which are at least ten times larger and five times more expensive. The first prototypes of these innovative fiber-coupled diode lasers were developed in close collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF in Freiburg and are now available to interested users.
Alongside these two highlights, the Fraunhofer ILT will also be presenting current research results in the following areas at its joint stand B131 in Hall B3:
- the development of diode, fiber and YAG lasers for applications in materials processing, satellite communications and medical engineering
- rapid manufacturing of components for aircraft, tools and medicine using the selective laser melting (SLM) process
- modeling and simulation software to optimize precision drilling processes
- micro-drilling of silicon components for the production of solar cells
- micro-structuring and micro-generating
- joining transparent plastic parts
- combined laser cutting and welding without the need of retooling
- online process control systems for laser materials processing
Your contacts at Fraunhofer ILT:
If you have questions regarding the repair of aero engine components, please contact our expert in this field, Dr. Ingomar Kelbassa:
Dr. Ingomar Kelbassa, Akademischer Rat
Vice director of the Chair for Laser Technology
Chair for Laser Technology RWTH Aachen University
Phone: +49 (0)241/8906-356
Fax: +49 (0)241/8906-121
ingomar.kelbassa@llt.rwth-aachen.de
If you have any questions concerning the development of diode lasers, please contact our expert in this field, Dr. Konstantin Boucke:
Dr. Konstantin Boucke
Head of department, laser components
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT Aachen
Phone: +49 (0)241/8906-132
Fax: +49 (0)241/8906-121
konstantin.boucke@ilt.fraunhofer.de
If you have any further questions or would like to talk to someone from a particular area of expertise, please contact:
Dipl.-Phys. Axel Bauer
Head of marketing and communications
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT Aachen
Phone: +49 (0)241/8906-194
Fax: +49 (0)241/8906-121
Mobile: +49 (0)170/3309769
axel.bauer@ilt.fraunhofer.de
http://www.ilt.fraunhofer.de/eng/100031.html
Development of special coating nozzles for laser cladding by Fraunhofer ILT
copyrights by Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Aachen, Germany
None
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Elektrotechnik, Energie, Maschinenbau, Verkehr / Transport, Werkstoffwissenschaften
überregional
Forschungsergebnisse, Forschungsprojekte
Englisch
Development of special coating nozzles for laser cladding by Fraunhofer ILT
copyrights by Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Aachen, Germany
None
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