LASER FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF FUNCTIONALISED METALLIC SURFACES

Project Information

LASER4SURF

Grant agreement ID: 768636

DOI

10.3030/768636

Project closed

EC signature date 14 July 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 31 March 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced manufacturing and processing

Total cost

€ 4 077 750,00

EU contribution

€ 4 077 750,00

Coordinated by

ASOCIACION CENTRO TECNOLOGICO CEIT
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LASER4SURF (LASER FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF FUNCTIONALISED METALLIC SURFACES)

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2021-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Lasers have been in use for industry for almost four decades. They offer significant commercial potential for improving surface properties, as they can optimize product performances without altering the chemical composition of the surface or adding any coatings. The ultrashort pulse laser ushered in a new generation of lasers: with durations in the femtosecond range up to a few picoseconds (1 trillion picoseconds = 1 second) they allow any material to be processed at a level of precision that was previously unknown.

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have increasingly gained interest over the past decade. They can be generated in a simple single-step process, allowing a surface to be tailored for optical, mechanical, and chemical surface properties in nano dimensions. The research project Laser4Surf will focus on the development of different technologies to solve the main limitations of laser texturing of metals and reach mass production. LASER4SURF main objective is to remove the technical and economic barriers that prevent the use of laser technologies for obtaining functionalised metallic surfaces with textures ~1µm or less on mass production. This objective is mainly achieved by the development of an integrated Laser Texturing Prototype that comprises laser texturing device, in-line monitoring system and simulation tools.

Three use cases will demonstrate an increased product performance: advanced batteries, linear encoders and medical components.

The main conclusions of LASER4SURF can be summarized as follows:
- Laser-induced periodic surface structures over metals can be produced in a controlled way for industrial application.
- A prototype for LIPSS generation and monitoring has been successfully developed.
- An improvement on product performance has been achieved for three use cases: advanced batteries, linear encoders and medical components.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first 24 months of the project were dedicated to the devolpment of the three modules that were later integrated in the final prototype: an optical module for LIPSS optimization, in-line monitoring system and simulation tools:
- Three different optical modules for simultaneous control of laser polarization and beam shape have been designed and fabricated
- An inline monitoring unit has been set-up and tested.
- A simulation tool was developed based on a wide Database of LIPSS processes.
Additionally, product performance increase was been preliminarly reported for the three application fields.

During the second half of the project, the diferent modules were integrated into a full prototype. This required:
- Development of specific SW protocols for controlling the modules
- Mechanical integration of the HW components into the final system
- Validation of the performance of whole prototype.

Additionally, the prototype was validated for the three application fields reporting a product permoncae increase for all of them:
- An improvement of C-rate capability, Capacity retention and Life cycle was reported for Li-ion batteries
- Signal contrast has been improved and Positioning tolerances has been doubled for linear encoders.
- A Decrease of wear coefficient, Chemical leachables Release of chemical elements composing the alloy below the acceptable threshold and Biological response improvement in bone growth and functionalization was reported for medical components.

LASER4SURF results have been diseminated through different channels:
- A total of 13 conference proceedings, posters, scientific and technical publications have been published during the project
- A total of 31 different events the consortium participated and presented the project or its results to various audiences.
- A series of info-graphics were designed outlining the key concepts and context for the three applications and outline their specific concepts in terms of increasing adhesion of medical implants, increasing capacity of batteries and enhancing linear encoders
- The publication of seven journalistic articles on themes related to the LASER4SURF project
- Social media channels: project website, youtube channel, Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearcheGate.
- Two videos reporting LASER4SURF results
- A final conference took place as an online event on Thursday, March 25th 2021 from 10am – 1pm, in the last month of the project

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyond the state of the art will be achieved in several aspects covered by the project:
- Regarding monitorization, the challenge to progress beyond the state of the art will be to effectively implement diffractometry for inline process monitoring. This will require the design of compact, high numerical aperture optics to capture the maximum number of orders possible.
- Although in the last years several research groups have demonstrated the formation of LIPSS on different materials, no tools exist for the inverse problem solution, that is to say, for a specific LIPSS structure which parameters are required.

However, the impact of LASER4SURF is not be limited to the scientific field but also enviromental and societal impacts. For example, the use of laser based solutions for the functionalisation of surfaces possess different environmental advantages with respect to other surface treatment methods (chemical treatments, micro-machining…), avoiding the use of raw material and the production of waste and emissions. Additionally, the project will have a significant societal impact as allows the improvement in the implants (dental screws, hip and knee replacement…) performance, rising the life time of the implants and easing the recuperation time for the patients.

THE LASER4SURF ALL-IN-ONE MACHINE APPROACH