Manufacturing is moving into an era where these are beginning to count. So, small differences can impact product quality, cost, and reliability. Those differences can be controlled by precision lasers, which deliver energy precisely where it is needed to aid work in a factory’s production process.
The change is particularly evident in the field of joining operations, where the narrowness and precision of the welds are achieved with Industrial Laser Welding.
Compared with contact tools, during laser processing the laser does not necessarily need to be pressed against the workpiece. This provides increased control over sensitive components, close tolerances, and even materials which are difficult to process with traditional processes.
Precision laser easily integrates into an automated factory of the modern era. Collaborating components, such as robotic arms, motion systems, sensors, cameras, and software, can be used to place parts and direct the laser in programmed movements.
This enables the same operation to be performed over and over again, and process data to be used for quality checks and changes. These are some of the reasons that prompt a change in the industrial manufacturing environment with precision lasers:
Greater Precision with Less Material Damage
Control is one of the largest advantages of laser processing. A focused beam can direct its energy to a small cross-section, enabling smaller mechanical tools to be used to do tasks like cutting, drilling, marking, or welding features that would be difficult with larger mechanical tools. This can produce better edges, smaller features, and eliminate unwanted heat around the processed area.
Small sections, narrow joints, or complex shapes may occur in medical devices, electronics, automotive parts, or aerospace applications, with minimal tolerances for errors. Depending on the material and intended use, various laser power, beam size, wavelength, and pulse duration settings may be used.
Faster Production without Sacrificing Consistency
Another driver for manufacturers’ decisions to use precision lasers is speed. These laser techniques could travel at high speeds on pre-programmed paths without touching in laser cutting and could also perform laser welding connections quickly without using a tool to contact the workpiece.
The process is amenable to a degree of automation, so that even after going from one production set to another, there is less variation.
According to experts at Micro Weld, Inc. precision is especially valuable when manufacturers have to deliver on sensitive or small parts. Not only does the ultimate aim of the process need to be faster, but the energy delivered to each part needs to be controlled.
If the process is properly developed with better control, then this can lead to a reduction in defects, rework, and unnecessary finishing.
Lower Heat Can Mean Better Parts
Based on traditional processes, great heat can be bestowed upon a component, which can result in distortion or damage to the neighboring material.
When a welding machine is configured appropriately, the laser can be focused on the spot to be welded, and the heat-affected zone generated through the laser welding process is limited. This is particularly important for the control of thin materials and parts which are required to keep their form upon joining.
Better Material Efficiency
Production companies can obtain more use from materials with a laser processing system. When it comes to cutting parts precisely, it’s when the material isn’t removed in bulk from a solid block of material.
And when it comes to precision additive laser processes, parts can be built up layer by layer without having to remove most of the material. The true amount of savings can vary by part, material, machine setup, and production process.
Supporting More Difficult Materials
Today’s product designs are increasingly engineered from a mix of materials and challenging shapes. Under proper selection of the laser characteristics and the process parameters, many metals and polymers, ceramics, glasses, and other materials are suitable for laser processing.
A few dissimilar material combinations are compatible for laser welding if each combination is carefully tested.
This flexibility becomes attractive in electric motor vehicles, medical devices, aerospace, electronics, and general manufacturing.
Where controlled joints and repeatable processes are critical, precision laser welding is applied in battery manufacturing. The efficiency of directing power to a specific area becomes increasingly valuable as product designs get smaller.
The bottom line is that precision lasers are revolutionizing a variety of manufacturing operations in industry. This provides engineers with greater control over the interaction of energy with material(s).
They can be used in diverse industries for accurate cutting, welding, marking, drilling, cleaning, and additive processes. Lasers can aid manufacturer create complex parts more predictably and efficiently. This is true, especially when coupled with automation and good process control.
Not all technologies are suitable replacements for all manufacturing processes. They also have the best reputation where precision, repeatability, speed, low thermal input, and/or geometry limits are important to the job.
Precision laser systems might continue to play a major role in current manufacturing, as factories are increasingly using smarter machines and more automated manufacturing techniques.
