Ultrashort Pulse Laser Manufacturing for Sustainable Transport (UltraMach)

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Transport is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the UK accounting for 24% of the total emission. Full-fledged use of advanced composite materials, such as ceramic matrix composites (CMC), in transportation vehicles, is vital for the UK Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050\. However, currently, there are technical challenges associated with the mass-production of composite components, specifically the lack of appropriate material processing technologies, which is limiting their pace of adoption in wider transport sectors. Most of the established material processing systems, including, electrical discharge machining, mechanical tool-based machining, and long-pulse laser processing were developed for metals and alloys, and are incompatible with composites due to their low conductivity, and anisotropic thermal and mechanical properties. The UltraMach project aims to develop and commercially exploit a novel picosecond laser-based computer numerical control machining system that will enable industrial-scale economic material processing of composite components and support the pace of transformation required within the transportation sector. Ultra-short pulse (USP) laser technology (with pulse duration in the range of a few picoseconds (ps) to femtoseconds (fs)), which was recognised by a Noble Prize in 2018, can ablate virtually any material with negligible thermal defects. While this extraordinary capability has been proven in academic demonstrations, and a few niche applications, the issue of low material removal rate along with edge wall taper (during machining of thick materials) limits their relevance to the mass-production environment. This project will exploit the recent academic advances in picosecond laser technology along with the development of a fully integrated 8-axis (5-axis positioning stage and 3-axis galvanometer scanner) machining system for economic drilling, cutting and machining of aero-engine and power generation gas turbine components. The phase-1 of the project will focus on two aspects. Design and development of a fully integrated 8-axis laser system (that can orient the laser beam with a specific angle to control the edge wall taper) for machining of complex-shaped features with a high-aspect-ratio over gas turbine/aero-engine component, and broad in-depth research to establish the feasibility on economic picosecond laser machining of composites. Working closely with end-users and UK High-Value Manufacturing (HVM) catapult centre, this project aims to address the market gap on machine tools for the manufacturing of composite components and accelerate the exploitation of composites within the aerospace and power generation gas turbines to enable net-zero carbon economy.