Laser drilling of aeroengine components

The solid state YAG laser has proved itself to be a useful tool for drilling, cutting, and welding aeroengine materials. It has advantages both as a production process, where its lower consumable costs and faster floor to floor times over other techniques make it the first choice for many applications, and also as a development tool where its ease of programming and absence of major tooling and fixturing enable it to respond rapidly to design changes. These factors, together with the high quality holes now being produced by the trepanning technique, mean that this process has developed into a reliable cost effective production technique.