ADVANCE YOUR NONWOVEN SKILLS AND CAREER

Train with the nonwoven experts! Excel in your career with one of these world-class courses designed for newcomers and seasoned nonwovens professionals alike.

Spunbond Technology

March 19-21

Intermediate Nonwovens

April 30-May 3 & October 15-19

Elementary Nonwovens

May 7-8 & September 10-11

Nonwoven Fabric Property Development and Characterization

June 4-7

WIPES Academy

June 17-18

Fiber and Filament Extrusion Fundamentals

July 24-27

Nonwoven Product Development and Innovation

August 13-16

Absorbent Hygiene Course

August 27-29 ensure the substrate does not shift laterally. Striking a delicate but repeatable balance between precision, quality and throughput is the filter driller’s art.

For more information, visit: inda.org/training

Questions?

Contact the Registrar registrar@inda.org

T: +1 919 459 3724

Selecting the correct laser, machine and perforation technique depends on substrate material type, thickness, hole diameter requirements. Powerful laser sources capable of single shot drilling are preferred for throughput sensitive tasks, especially in the case of thicker substrates and larger hole diameters which better resist the thermal load placed by the laser energy. The LaserCube driller is able to cover the full range of single shot, multishot and trepanning techniques by providing a single, flexible platform. On the fly drilling of small (<100µm diameter) holes in substrates up to 1mm thick can manufacture filters having 500,000+ holes on a tight pitch at speeds of 300-500 holes per second. When set up for thicker (up to 1.5mm) material, larger (e.g. 200µm diameter) holes may be created at a rate up to 75 holes per second. The fiber laser is a flexible source. Important features like hole diameter, taper and pitch are easily altered by adjusting laser and machine parameters. Unlike traditional methods, laser drilled hole features may be changed on the fly enabling a tool to drill multiple hole types on a single substrate without a tool change. Machines, such as the LaserCube provide this complete functionality over a 1 m2 metal working area. Fiber laser drilling of high quality holes is possible on stainless steel or Hastelloy sheet with thicknesses up to 10 millimeters while maintaining throughput up to 300 holes per second. The laser drilling machine incorporates cutting capability such that at the end of the process the filter outline is separated from the substrate, enabling the operator to unload a completed filter (Figure 5).

Filters fabricated using fiber lasers are increasingly adopted due to their numerous advantages. No alternative technique can realize tiny holes with excellent uniformity at extremely high throughput. For either sustainable manufacturing, or simply better manufacturing, filters fabricated using fiber lasers are an increasingly attractive solution.

Luca Longoni is a technical sales manager at IPG Photonics specializing in pulsed laser applications like drilling, marking, engraving and cleaning. He earned a Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico of Milan in 2003. His began his career by designing laser micro-maching tools before taking on a number of customer facing roles. His interests culminated with the introduction of the Lasercube Driller tool which addresses the need of filters fabricators for a cost effective, high performance drilling technology.