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Laserline is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-power diode lasers. The company’s products are used for welding, surface machining, research, additive manufacturing, and for many other industrial areas
Теги: additive manufacturing industrial diode laser laser cladding аддитивное производство диодные лазеры для индустрии лазерная наплавка
Laserline is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-power diode lasers. The company’s products are used for welding, surface treatment, research, additive manufacturing, as well and many other industrial areas. We are talking with Dr. Christoph Ullmann – managing director of Laserline.
Dr. Ullmann, please, could you tell us about the history of your company?
Our company was founded in 1997 by my colleague Volker Krause and me in the Koblenz Technological Center. Prior to that I worked in the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, and my colleague – in the Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology. Our idea was the development of high power diode lasers for industrial material processing. Today the company has 240 employees.
What products does the company produce? What are the fields of their application?
The main Laserline products are diode lasers with output powers ranging from 700–900 W up to 50 kW. We develop products with good beam quality which are unmatched in the high power laser market. Today there are a lot of applications for high power lasers. For example, in the automotive industry where lasers are used to weld car body elements, which are made of aluminum alloy. This method of welding began to develop 12–13 years ago. In 70–80% of all cases the welding of aluminum car body elements is performed with diode lasers. Another area of application is cladding of protective coatings for tools in the mining as well as in the oil and gas industry. Furthermore the heat treatment of materials is a typical field of application for our products. Anytime new applications appear, we flexibly respond to customer requests and changing requirement profiles. An example, is our participation in the production of a combined system where laser processing is coupled with milling. The cost of the equipment is always a key question. In some cases it actually makes sense to integrate a laser in the processing machine. I think that in the future the use of diode lasers will spread in even more integrated solutions and these systems will be a common an convenient tool as, for instance, mill-turning machines.
Does the company structure change in connection with the development and changes in demand for products?
Historically we have so far achieved the doubling of product performance every two years. Doubled laser output power at a given diameter of the fiber or increased beam quality for a given maximum laser power. The company develops equally rapid and consistently. In 2006 Laserline opened its first branch in Silicon Valley (California) and in 2014 – a new sales office in Detroit (US). In addition we have several subsidiaries for sales and service in Korea, China and Japan. The development department is also growing up. We regularly look for students with technical expertise (preference is given to students related to electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, optics, laser technology, etc.) as well as students in the field of business management (procurement, logistics, materials management). We give them the opportunity to work in the company as trainees or assistants.
What can you tell about inventions made in the company?
We are developing all sub-systems of the diode laser. The diode modules, associated control electronics as well as the optics to transport and focus the laser radiation which are required and tailored to the respective process. There is also a laboratory to produce custom-made products or carry out application tests for our customers. We produce lasers in the multi-kilowatt range. We obtain high power by combining multiple stacks. Not surprising, that the cooling devices cover much more space than the diode laser itself. Every two years, we review the product portfolio and develop new technology to improve our systems. It can be both a moderate adaptation or a complete change of design.
What are the advantages of diode lasers over other solid state laser sources in industrial applications?
The main advantages of diode lasers in industrial applications are the high uniformity of the process results, the possibility for process optimization, the ease of adaptation of laser spot geometries to the topology of processing surface, as well as the high reproducibility of parameters for example in laser cladding. Cladding using diode lasers has a wide application field. Refurbishment of parts or protection against corrosion and wear. The principle of the technology can be described as follows: Powder and auxiliary gas are supplied coaxially to the laser beam or at a slight angle to its axis. The laser beam melts the powder and the melted layer covers the base material. Alloy addition or powder coating of the base material is produced at one or more layers. Thus, in one process we can see refurbishment and creation of coating. The geometry of the laser beam is adapted to the processing surface or the coated product.
Will you produce diode lasers with more power?
We have not yet reached the end of the technology development in terms of generated power. Even last year, the maximum value was 40 kW, today it is 50 kW, and this is not the limit.
What is your forecast for the market development of diode lasers?
The Market for diode lasers continues to grow: Over the last decade the annual growth was about 10–15%. The diode laser market is still growing faster than other laser segments. Ten years ago diode laser represented about 1% of the total laser market, currently we are at 10%. Diode lasers will be a core driver of laser equipment market development. Key aspect of this development is the operation characteristics of all three types of lasers commonly used in the industry – diode, fiber and disk – all of them are based on diode-pumping technology. Diode lasers can be characterized by simplicity, efficiency and low cost. It should be noted that the diode laser has the highest efficiency in comparison with other systems – about 50%. The other 50% are converted into heat which is drained via water. Compared with Laserline lasers, outdated Nd: YaG lamp-pumped lasers have an efficiency of only 3%. Diode lasers have a long service life – about thirty thousand hours.
What do you think about Russian market of diode lasers?
It’s a quite interesting growing market, and in the long term we see great opportunities in Russia for our company.
Thank you for the interesting interview!
Dr. Ullmann, please, could you tell us about the history of your company?
Our company was founded in 1997 by my colleague Volker Krause and me in the Koblenz Technological Center. Prior to that I worked in the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, and my colleague – in the Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology. Our idea was the development of high power diode lasers for industrial material processing. Today the company has 240 employees.
What products does the company produce? What are the fields of their application?
The main Laserline products are diode lasers with output powers ranging from 700–900 W up to 50 kW. We develop products with good beam quality which are unmatched in the high power laser market. Today there are a lot of applications for high power lasers. For example, in the automotive industry where lasers are used to weld car body elements, which are made of aluminum alloy. This method of welding began to develop 12–13 years ago. In 70–80% of all cases the welding of aluminum car body elements is performed with diode lasers. Another area of application is cladding of protective coatings for tools in the mining as well as in the oil and gas industry. Furthermore the heat treatment of materials is a typical field of application for our products. Anytime new applications appear, we flexibly respond to customer requests and changing requirement profiles. An example, is our participation in the production of a combined system where laser processing is coupled with milling. The cost of the equipment is always a key question. In some cases it actually makes sense to integrate a laser in the processing machine. I think that in the future the use of diode lasers will spread in even more integrated solutions and these systems will be a common an convenient tool as, for instance, mill-turning machines.
Does the company structure change in connection with the development and changes in demand for products?
Historically we have so far achieved the doubling of product performance every two years. Doubled laser output power at a given diameter of the fiber or increased beam quality for a given maximum laser power. The company develops equally rapid and consistently. In 2006 Laserline opened its first branch in Silicon Valley (California) and in 2014 – a new sales office in Detroit (US). In addition we have several subsidiaries for sales and service in Korea, China and Japan. The development department is also growing up. We regularly look for students with technical expertise (preference is given to students related to electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, optics, laser technology, etc.) as well as students in the field of business management (procurement, logistics, materials management). We give them the opportunity to work in the company as trainees or assistants.
What can you tell about inventions made in the company?
We are developing all sub-systems of the diode laser. The diode modules, associated control electronics as well as the optics to transport and focus the laser radiation which are required and tailored to the respective process. There is also a laboratory to produce custom-made products or carry out application tests for our customers. We produce lasers in the multi-kilowatt range. We obtain high power by combining multiple stacks. Not surprising, that the cooling devices cover much more space than the diode laser itself. Every two years, we review the product portfolio and develop new technology to improve our systems. It can be both a moderate adaptation or a complete change of design.
What are the advantages of diode lasers over other solid state laser sources in industrial applications?
The main advantages of diode lasers in industrial applications are the high uniformity of the process results, the possibility for process optimization, the ease of adaptation of laser spot geometries to the topology of processing surface, as well as the high reproducibility of parameters for example in laser cladding. Cladding using diode lasers has a wide application field. Refurbishment of parts or protection against corrosion and wear. The principle of the technology can be described as follows: Powder and auxiliary gas are supplied coaxially to the laser beam or at a slight angle to its axis. The laser beam melts the powder and the melted layer covers the base material. Alloy addition or powder coating of the base material is produced at one or more layers. Thus, in one process we can see refurbishment and creation of coating. The geometry of the laser beam is adapted to the processing surface or the coated product.
Will you produce diode lasers with more power?
We have not yet reached the end of the technology development in terms of generated power. Even last year, the maximum value was 40 kW, today it is 50 kW, and this is not the limit.
What is your forecast for the market development of diode lasers?
The Market for diode lasers continues to grow: Over the last decade the annual growth was about 10–15%. The diode laser market is still growing faster than other laser segments. Ten years ago diode laser represented about 1% of the total laser market, currently we are at 10%. Diode lasers will be a core driver of laser equipment market development. Key aspect of this development is the operation characteristics of all three types of lasers commonly used in the industry – diode, fiber and disk – all of them are based on diode-pumping technology. Diode lasers can be characterized by simplicity, efficiency and low cost. It should be noted that the diode laser has the highest efficiency in comparison with other systems – about 50%. The other 50% are converted into heat which is drained via water. Compared with Laserline lasers, outdated Nd: YaG lamp-pumped lasers have an efficiency of only 3%. Diode lasers have a long service life – about thirty thousand hours.
What do you think about Russian market of diode lasers?
It’s a quite interesting growing market, and in the long term we see great opportunities in Russia for our company.
Thank you for the interesting interview!
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