CBBC Speaks at the World Laser Industry Conference in Jinan
Kiran Patel, Senior Director, CBBC
The vision for UK manufacturing is for laser processing to be embedded as the norm and not the extraordinary - to ensure firms of all sizes have the skills, finance, knowledge and confidence to deploy laser processing rapidly and effectively. Laser processing already provides crucial benefits to a wide range of industries in the UK including:
- Automotive, enabling lighter weight, stronger more fuel-efficient vehicles.
- Healthcare, especially in 3D printed medical implants and low-cost health monitoring.
- Aerospace, producing lighter weight stronger parts and 3D printed solutions.
- Energy, particularly recycling in offshore oil and gas and both nuclear power infrastructure construction and decommissioning.
Laser processing already provides crucial benefits to a wide range of industries in the UK.
The following are examples of best practice industrial application in action:
Cooling Holes in Jet Engine Blades
Operating above the melting point of the metal, each nozzle guide vane in the jet engine must be continually cooled by gas flowing through thousands of micro holes.
Cost pressures and design requirements (e.g. smaller and more complex hole shapes) for these critical parts have pushed the process demand beyond the capability of the previous non-laser solution (electric discharge machining).
High peak power lasers and machine tools were specifically developed in the UK by Rolls-Royce to process these “difficult to machine” super alloys and are now standard for drilling turbine blades throughout the world.
Food Packaging for Increased Shelf Life
Laser-perforated food packaging has been proven to increase shelf life of fruits and vegetables by several days, when compared with unperforated or mechanically perforated films as well as preserving colour, taste and nutrient content in the food.
Lasers, including those made by Rofin-Sinar, are used to achieve flexible long-lived food packaging by high-speed perforation of holes at predetermined intervals across the packaging film.
Automotive Fuel Injector Drilling
One of the original drivers for volume production of lasers for micro-machining, laser drilling of fuel injection nozzles remains an essential part of the drive to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions in the automotive sector.
Laser drilled petrol spray holes are now deployed extensively by companies.
Enabling this application for more than 25 years, Oxford Lasers (Didcot) has provided customers in Europe, USA and Asia, multiple production and R&D laser systems for drilling both diesel and petrol fuel injectors.
Future Market Impact
The impact laser processing delivers and the drivers for adoption vary between different vertical market sectors. By 2035 more than 60% of the UK economy will directly depend on photonics to maintain it’s competitiveness. Laser technology in the photonic sector is a key factor and photonics will also be essential for delivering a net zero economy with the adoption of laser processing, including 3D printing of metals driving productivity and reducing waste across all manufacturing sectors.
In the healthcare and medical equipment sector, the greatest impact is seen by industry to be in improved quality, reliability, and durability in products from medical implants to diagnostics instruments. Currently, every one of the 700,000 daily PCR tests the UK has the capability to process are digitally read with lasers. By 2035 advances in integrated photonics will enable the level of testing to be undertaken on miniature chips, bringing testing to the bedside, the operating theatre and General Practitioner surgeries.
In the aerospace, transportation, and aerospace sectors, it is in the ability of laser manufacturing to enable new features and functionality that is seen as having greatest impact across the manufacturing processes. It is also laser’s contribution to flexibility and decreasing costs that drive further adoption.
In the Nuclear, Oil and Gas industries, the laser’s ability to cut concrete and metal remotely will be crucial in the decommissioning of power stations and off-shore oil rigs.