Laser cutting is an established process which is part of many industrial processes. But despite the great advantages and savings it brings in terms of time and costs, the heat generated by the process must be kept under very close observation. Heat in fact can alter the properties of materials, which could lose their characteristics, transform and react to stimuli in a different way.
To take advantage of the potential of the laser without compromising the static stability of constructions, Adige Sys-Blm Group, world leading manufacturer of high precision and high performance laser cutting and sawing machines, turned to the University of Trento. The company will fund a PhD scholarship in Industrial Innovation, opening its doors to Dicam researchers and making its expertise available in exchange for collaboration.
Oreste S. Bursi, director of Dicam and tutor of the doctoral project, explained: "Mechanics and structural modelling always pose challenges, whether it is, as in this case, to elaborate mechanical models or to physically build something. And what inspired this PhD programme is a challenge too, because both our department and Adige Sys have set out to improve a process, make it better, to learn something more about it".
The link between the expertise of Dicam and the manufacturing precision of the Levico Terme company is based on the relationship between time and heat. Adige Sys creates machines that are used to cut large pipes and beams that will then be used in the construction of industrial buildings, stadiums, bridges... In short, these materials are used based on very strict regulations, which establish how these products must be made, how long they must last, what resistance to stress they must guarantee.
"These are structures that must last over time - explains Alberto Valli, Adige Sys technical director - but must also withstand vibrations, be weather resistant, withstand loads and stresses, parameters for which thermal processing, as well as laser processing, may have some disadvantages. Because the material heats up during cutting and can become more brittle, less resistant, too hard and not very flexible... That is why it is of fundamental importance for us to understand how this type of processing affects the metallurgical and mechanical properties of materials. And this is why we contacted UniTrento and agreed to fund a scholarship for a PhD in Industrial Innovation".
Results and challenges
The first results have been encouraging. The tests show that the laser, within certain parameters, does not change the properties of the materials with which it comes into contact. An observation that has already led to the modification of several European regulations, which now do not automatically consider laser cutting as detrimental to the quality of the product. This however is just a starting point for researchers and for the company.
In fact, having clarified that laser cutting does not significantly alter the properties of the metals it cuts, it remains to be understood what these "parameters" are. Valli observed: "As a company, we could do all the possible and imaginable tests: use a high intensity laser beam for a short time, or a less powerful but slower beam, the possibilities are endless. We therefore did not need more tests, but a mathematical model that would tell us how the material would behave and with what consequences at different laser intensity. In short, we needed the expertise and know-how of the University in mechanics and modelling, and here we are".
The PhD Programme in Industrial Innovation
The PhD Programme in Industrial Innovation of the University of Trento brings together the Departments of Engineering and Information Science (Disi), Industrial Engineering (Dii), Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (Dicam), the Department of Physics, the Department of Economics and Management and the Bruno Kessler Foundation (Fbk). An ideal context to train technological innovation experts, people with cross-cutting theoretical and practical skills.
The programme involves 15 scientific-disciplinary sectors, 5 departments and one research foundation, 3 companies and many more that will collaborate to exchange information and projects during the training period.
Among the partners in the programme are Hit, Hub Innovazione Trentino; Eit Digital, the European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organisation; the School of Innovation, and Trentino Sviluppo. PhD students are required to spend at least six months of their training at one of the companies participating the programme, to take advantage of this collaboration and coordinate their research work at university and company level, with support and monitoring from the academic supervisor and a company tutor.
The first doctors will graduate next year but, in the meantime, the PhD programme in Industrial Innovation of UniTrento is preparing to accept applications for the third time from candidates who will come from Italy and abroad to compete for one of the available places.