The system, offering a 1 m extension in X to provide a work area of 2,000 by 1,000 by 1,000 (X, Y and Z) will be installed at AGC’s Derby, UK site. It specialises in manufacturing complex, high-precision, fabricated and machined metallic components and assemblies for the aerospace and power generation industries. Derby primarily works with high-temperature alloy metals that are difficult to form and machine.
Alistair Burns, general manager of AGC AeroComposites Derby, says: “The Laserdyne system is a fantastic addition to our existing 5-axis laser technology.It is four times faster and gives us the ability to add cooling holes to fabricated products and machined rings. This enhanced capability, along with its welding capabilities, can give us a competitive advantage on a variety of different products including transition ducts, silencers/attenuators and combustor chambers for engines and turbines. We look forward to introducing this new capability to our current and future customers.” The technology is expected to be production ready at the Derby facility before April 2016.
The system offers some unique benefits, says Mark Barry, vice president of sales for Laserdyne. “For example, the 795XL Laserdyne system outfitted with a 15 kW QCW fibre laser that AGC Derby is acquiring adds capacity for complex laser hole drilling at angles as shallow as 10° to the surface in uncoated and thermal-barrier coated heat-resistant materials.”
