LASIT – OCIMA and AVIO work together to create the future
To increase the efficiency of aircraft engines and meet the limits of anti-pollution regulations, it is necessary to use fuel-fuel mixtures as close as possible to the ideal stoichiometric ratio or to use innovative fuels. In either case, shorter flame temperatures and flames are achieved and, therefore, closer to the walls of the components that contain the products of combustion.
Even the highest-performance superalloys cannot provide adequate mechanical strength, and it is therefore necessary to protect components with metal-matrix or ceramic composite coatings.
Adequate preparation of the metal substrate is required to ensure adhesion of coatings to the metal substrate. The most common treatment cycle used in industrial and aerospace applications is expensive and highly impactful on the environment. An additional problem is processing speed, since current systems use short-pulse laser sources of a few watts or long-pulse sources with powers fixed up to kW. The former have the disadvantage of having long processing times, and the latter have the disadvantage of producing a considerable amount of melt. Therefore, these systems are ill suited to the needs of the aero-motor industry.
Altcap intends to design and implement an automated production cell, based on short/ultrashort pulse laser technology, for cleaning and making specific textures on metal substrate surfaces to make it able to accommodate coatings of different materials. The application concerns the treatment of cobalt-based superalloys (such as HA188) used in the aero-motor field, which requires a coating consisting of a first layer of metal matrix composite (called BOND Layer) and a subsequent layer of ceramic matrix composite (called TOP Layer).
The project brings with it innovations in the following areas:
Environment and safety
Replacement of a process in which large amounts of dust are used and is energy intensive with a process that uses no working media and is more energy efficient.
Digital
Replacement of an essentially analog process with a fully digitized one capable of self-management without human intervention.
Automation
Replacement of a manual process with a fully automatic, back-operated one.
Adaptive system
The introduction of the concept of component identification, schedule selection, and process monitoring.
Open, multi configurable system.
Ability, through component replacement/integration, to adapt to different types of processing and products, including those different from those in the aero-motor industry.
The LASIT project
- Test campaign to define laser type and optical setup to be used according to the result and cycle time
- Creating dedicated software to make a specific pattern
- Laser-software-motor integration with axis system made by Ocima
- Tuning processing system and software development
Due to the nature of the application, it was not possible to use normal laser marking techniques and it was necessary to implement a different management of the movement of the mirrors and thus of the pulse distribution. Specifically, the movement of the mirrors is managed so that the laser beam is stopped for a certain Δt (estimated to be on the order of a few in ms) at a given point on the material. During this time window, the laser beam is kept active and, by managing the frequency of the pulses, a train of pulses necessary to realize the dot is released at the single point. Of course, the software allows the number of pulses per dot to be varied and the specification to be saved so that it can be repeated on other geometries.
In detail, for the realization of the entire texture, a new dot machining pattern was realized that emulates the effect of a mechanical shot peening machining (DOTS-type Hatch Pattern). The pattern can be modified by entering an angle and defining the “Scale” factor, which is twice the distance (in mm) between two successive pulses. The same can be used to fill any geometry (round, rectangle or other). In the properties of the filling, the time (in ms) for the mirrors to remain on a given point should be defined. The number of pulses released will be given by the product frequency times dwell time.
A “Job List,” i.e., a sequence of successive machining operations, must be defined for the management of the entire processing.
Companies involved
LASIT – electrotechnical systems and technologies
LASIT is the largest Italian company dedicated to laser marking, working since 1990 to specialize in this technology. Today it has offices all over the world and boasts a laboratory with more than 20 different sources. Continuous investment in research and development allows the company to be at the forefront of all production sectors and continually attract new talent that represents the future of the business. LASIT specializes in finding suitable solutions for large production lines, complete in all steps of the traceability process: from component verification, to marking, to reading marked codes through advanced vision systems.
GE AVIO
Avio Aero is a designer, manufacturer, and maintainer of aircraft propulsion subsystems and systems. With more than 110 years of history, it is a global player for mechanical transmission systems, turbines, combustors, and propulsion systems for both fixed-wing and rotary-wing applications; it is also a pioneer in the field of additive manufacturing. Avio Aero’s sfide is to develop new technologies and applications to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, produce lighter aircraft, and achieve better performance.
OCIMA
OCIMA is an SME with 30 years’ experience in the construction of equipment and automatic machines for industrial use. The sectors in which it operates are automotive, food, irrigation and energy technologies. The company has a marked flexibility to requests for the development of innovative solutions and the use of new technologies, as well as a great ability to adapt to new technologies and products.
With the support of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy.
Public Relations Manager | LASIT
Public Relations Manager at LASIT since 2019, Claudia Neri is responsible for managing the Marketing and Communications department. She handles the company’s communication strategy, coordinating public relations, brand promotion and institutional communication activities for the Italian and international market.
