Chaired by Dr. Ingomar Kelbassa, the seventh Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) Workshop will focus not only on traditional laser-based cladding applications to prevent or repair corrosion and wear, but also on the process chains necessary to optimizing the additive production of parts.
Kelbassa is adjunct professor at Australia’s RMIT University, vice director at the Chair for Laser Technology LLT, RWTH Aachen University and department head at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, Kelbassa was also a member of the Fraunhofer ILT team that won an Aviation Week innovation award in 2012 for producing an additively manufactured BLISK (blade-integrated disk) in about 160 minutes.
“Primarily, LAM was, is and will be a workshop that is industry driven,” he said. “Therefore, the majority of the presentations will be on success stories from OEMs as well as from a service provider's perspective – highlighting industrially implemented additive manufacturing (AM) chains in the aeronautics, power generation, offshore, mining, oil, automotive and tool, die and mold-making fields.”
Real-world success
LAM 2015 will feature an overarching theme each day: process chain and process integration on day one, and real-world success stories on day two.
“At the moment, AM is a niche,” said Kelbassa. “But it will be growing. It will not entirely replace subtractive manufacture; it can’t. But in the end there will be a larger divergence (in applications) and also larger technology transfer in different fields of applications. Where we come from now is (using AM for) high-value components (for) aerospace, power generation, automotive, highly complex parts for tool, die and mold making and highly individual parts for mass customization — mainly in medicine such as for (dental) implants etc.”
A complete list of LAM 2015 exhibitors can be found on the LAM website.
