A new research project at the Laser Zentrum Hannover (LZH) is concerned with environmental protection during the laser beam welding and brazing processes. The project's goal is to record and provide data on the emissions produced during laser processing. This data can be used to simplify the planning and realisation of environmental protection, as well as to reduce costs.
'Lasers produce emissions,' says Jürgen Walter, physicist at the LZH. Walter is, among other things, responsible for recording emission data in the project. 'One of our goals is to provide information so that environmental protection can be easily integrated into cost planning.'
Small and medium-sized companies in particular are expected to benefit from the project, since they often do not possess the means to measure emissions themselves. The data obtained will help companies to implement optimal protection measures during the planning of laser machining processes.
In the near future, the results will be made available as an interactive database on the LZH homepage. Companies will then have access to the newest results and can introduce measures for environmental protection and take appropriate protection action.
Volkswagen and Daimler Benz are participating in the project, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The project is under the supervision of the German Welding Society and the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations.
