Ultrashort pulsed laser ablation in mass production of small metal parts, increasing ablation efficiency and reducing heat input

This study set out to investigate the feasibility of ultrashort pulsed (USP) laser ablation in a mass production environment. Achieving dimensional accuracy of small metal parts is among the biggest challenges in manufacturing. USP laser ablation can be used as a post-processing step to achieve this. However, the main driving factor in a mass production environment is the cost per part, so the ablation rate needs to be maximized while maintaining a proper surface finish and without overheating the part.