The simulation of manufacturing processes has become more and more important in science and industry. Regarding the scientific scope it represents a powerful tool for an improved understanding of the process dynamics during manufacturing, enabling the selective analysis of the influence of individual process parameters and facilitating access to experimentally non-accessible quantities. Whereas in industrial applications simulations see use in planning and design of single manufacturing steps or entire manufacturing sequences.
In our group ”Simulation and Modeling“ at the LPT we pursue the objective to develop tools for the simulation of laser material processing to be of use regarding scientific questions as well as challenges in an industrial environment. The premise for this is both a profound understanding of the physics of the interactions between the laser beam and the material and its subsequent sophisticated transformation into mathematical models.
Current research activities focus on the thermodynamic, thermo-mechanical and fluid-dynamic interactions modeled in a universal numerical laser material processing simulation tool applicable to a variety of processes such as laser beam welding, brazing, drilling, cutting and laser beam melting in powder bed. Beam propagation and laser-material interaction driven by near-field effects in material processing using ultrafast lasers represents another core area of our research.
Our vision is to provide engineers in industry as well as scientists in research with a comprehensive and universal laser material processing simulation tool requiring only the particular processing and material parameters regardless of the considered process. Depending of the input parameters the simulation tool will autonomously access the mathematically and physically appropriate models and predict the laser-material processing result within as little computational time as possible.