Thanks to the work carried out in its laboratories, Alphanov, an optical and laser technical center, is now able to polish large-scale additively manufactured parts in almost any type of material.
In recent years, the development of laser additive manufacturing has led to changes in the use of laser micromachining processes. Indeed, laser polishing is now a process increasingly used by manufacturers. This process offers a number of advantages: no material removal, no scratching, reduced part processing times and the ability to treat hard-to-reach areas.
Despite the many advantages of laser polishing, the Alphanov team has tried to further reduce processing times on large surfaces or parts.
The time required for surface treatment by laser polishing can be improved thanks to the following elements:
- a high-power continuous laser
- a large spot diameter
These first two elements enable a larger surface area to be covered, while maintaining a power density that enables controlled surface fusion, thus considerably reducing polishing times.
- a synchronized robotic arm and scanner
The robotic arm, combined with the scanner's mirror movements, overcomes the limited treatment area of today's laser polishing systems. The robotic arm not only processes larger parts or surfaces, but also heavier ones, in excess of 100 kg.
The Alphanov team took these factors into account and used a 10 kW, 1070 nm YLR 10000 continuous laser from IPG, together with an IntelliWeld FT galvanometric scanner from Scanlab, which was mounted on a robotic arm from Fanuc. The movements of the robot and scanner mirrors are synchronized by BlackBird's Scanner Control Unit. Thanks to this new combination, Alphanov has succeeded in improving laser polishing processing times. In fact, large surfaces were processed continuously without the need for stitching.
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www.alphanov.com