Andreas Thoss

Managing Director, THOSS Media

th@thoss-media.de

https://www.thoss-media.de

Andreas Thoss is managing director of THOSS Media and Contributing Editor, Germany, for Laser Focus World; he is also an Editorial Advisor for Industrial Laser Solutions.

More from Andreas Thoss

FIGURE 1. The pulsed EUV source at the Fraunhofer ILT delivers 40 W at 13.5 nm in ± 1% bandwidth.

Making nanostructures with a small EUV system

Periodic structures down to 28 nm can be produced using a compact EUV source and relatively simple process technology.

FIGURE 1. A 2 ps laser (blue) removed about as much steel 1.2738 as the 400 ns benchmark laser in the single pulse regime; a 10 ps laser (red) never achieved comparable ablation results.

Microstructuring with ultrashort-pulse lasers: Faster or smoother?

High-power picosecond lasers ablate, clean, and polish metal surfaces better than a nanosecond laser.

FIGURE 1. A car door with a GFRP reinforcing brace is shown.

Joining composites and metal: A laser process

Through several demonstrations, the laser-based joining process has been shown to create highly reliable connections between sheet metal and plastics.

FIGURE 1. EDX analysis of a test geometry reveals the continuous material transition from the cobalt-based alloy Merl72 to the nickel-based superalloy IN 718 (yellow: cobalt, blue: nickel, orange: aluminum).

The next level of additive manufacturing

Fully digitized, scalable build-volume 3D metal printing is 10X faster.

FIGURE 1. Processing patterns with multibeam systems have to be planned carefully to reduce heat load and while retaining high productivity.

High-throughput ultrashort-pulse laser micromachining

This article shows how to increase processing speed with proper process technology.

FIGURE 1. The SGT5-8000H gas turbine features Siemens’ gas turbine design with AM parts for the burner nozzle and turbine vanes.

Status of additive manufacturing for gas turbine components

Laser additive manufacturing methods generate massive lead time reductions.