Stuttgart, Germany – Further training and transfer of knowledge are the focus of the event program at LASYS 2012, the international trade fair for laser material processing. The Stuttgart Laser Technology Forum (SLT’12), taking place for the 3rd time as part of the LASYS event from June 13 to 14, 2012, will also discuss process safety, the erosive precision micro-material processing, and user experiences regarding innovative laser sources such as disc lasers and fiber lasers.
Around 350 guests attended talks by over 70 speakers at the last SLT in 2010. There, the synergy effect from "science meeting industry" came into play: lasers in material processing and production are addressed, both from a scientific aspect and everyday production use.
The SLT '12 is being organized by the Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge (IFSW) at the University of Stuttgart under the leadership of Professor Thomas Graf, director of ISFW, and Dr. Rudolf Weber, head of process development at IFSW.
"It was the academically focused talks that enjoyed the most interest [at SLT'10]," said Graf. "Based on this feedback and in discussion with industry representatives, the SLT in 2012 will be making more room for the academic aspects. SLT'12 will thus be strengthening the further training aspect, as well as adding to the remaining program of events accompanying LASYS, such as the forum 'Lasers in Action'."
There are a number of presentations planned for SLT'12 looking at the theme of process safety, where spectacular high-speed laser recordings of laser processes featuring the x-ray video technology of the new x-ray machine at IFSW will be used. According to Weber, talks on micro-welding will show that the gap is slowly closing between macro and micro processing.
With a high-speed camera, the process surface of the laser welding process for aluminium was recorded (upper image sequence). Laser output was 5kW with a feed rate of 5 m/min and a focus diameter of 560µm. The lower images show the synchronous x-ray video of the process surface. Tungsten particles were used as tracers. Courtesy: LASYS