Laser Drilling
Winbro offer a range of different drilling technologies, which are application dependant:
- Trepanning uses a Pulsed High Peak Power YAG Laser to produce holes by repeating laser ‘shots’ to pierce through the material, followed by an interpolated CNC controlled ‘orbit’ to ‘cut’ the finished hole size
- Percussion Drilling produces holes by repeated Pulsed High Peak Power YAG Laser ‘shots’, with the component static during the process. This method will produce holes more quickly than trepanning; however hole quality is not so high
- DOF (Drilling On the Fly) is a highly productive method of drilling holes, most commonly in effusion type combustors. This process moves the component continuously, synchronising component position with respect to the laser ‘shots’. After multiple passes of laser shots a group of holes is produced. This eliminates hole to hole index time and reduces thermal loading in the hole area as only a single Laser shot per pass is used. This process allows many holes per second to be drilled in typical combustor components
- Shaped Hole Machining using multi-axis motion is a similar process to trepanning, but the movement of the component with respect to the laser beam produces a shaped entry and exit, leaving the airflow metering hole in between. This process is used extensively on aero and IGT vanes