Laser Ablation - A New Highly Efficient Technology for Precise Parts and Molds in the Automotive Industry

摘要

LASERTEC GmbH has developed a new highly efficient technology to generate data a mold for automotive parts with a high accuracy directly from CAD. A focused laser beam, spot size typically 30μm, can vaporize the material in slices of 1pm. Slice by slice a mold is generated. No eroding process with electrodes is necessary. The surface roughness R{sub}A and R{sub}Z in accordance to the feed rate will be shown. The erosion rate, the attainable surface roughness and shape accuracy are compared. The physical interaction of the evaporation erosion, the treatment strategies and the necessary sensor technology and controlling are described in detail. The applied tool are Q-switched YAG laser. That is why the influence of the mean is the pulse power and the pulse frequency on the erosion quality are discussed. The treatment strategies which enable one to achieve a very high shape accuracy are illustrated, e.g. the production of perpendicular walls.