Lasers find niche in equipment repair.(Brief Article)

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- A new application using solid-state industrial lasers to reduce repair costs is expected to save the power-generation and mining industries millions of dollars. Nd:YAG lasers developed by CSIRO are being used in various workplace applications for damage repair and surface coating or cladding.

Nazmul Alam, project leader for the CSIRO laser research team, says conventional repair techniques such as welding and plasma spray processes do not provide adequate surface properties to extend the service life of turbine blades.

"The down time of machinery is usually extensive and costly using conventional techniques, and they can also be …