LASER PROCESSING CENTERS AND THEIR RESEARCH PROJECTS IN JAPAN

In Japan, R&D activities on laser materials processing are mainly cond ucted in universities, public research institutions, and technical cen ters in private enterprise. Among them the Welding Research Institute and the Department of Welding and Production Engineering, both at Osak a University, have taken the initiative in conducting fundamental stud ies on laser materials processing as well as training experts and engi neers in laser technology since the mid 1960s. In 1990, a new laser ce nter called the Applied Laser Engineering Center (ALEC) was establishe d in Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture by the investments of New Ener gy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Niigata Prefecture, City of Nagaoka, and many private companies in order to de velop industrial applications of laser technologies. The Center has a wide variety of lasers covering wavelengths from infrared to ultraviol et, and many research projects are carried out under the sponsorship o f the government, self-governing bodies, and private companies. Anothe r new laser center, the Advanced Materials Processing Institute (AMPI) , was recently established in Amagasaki City, a neighboring city to Os aka, under the sponsorship of the City of Amagasaki and many private e nterprises, where a 50 kW CO2 laser and a 5 kW YAG laser (fiber combin ing two 2 kW CW lasers and a 1 kW pulsed laser) were installed in Nove mber 1994. Major targets of the R&D are the development of laser weldi ng and cutting of thicker materials, laser surface modification, and h ybrid plasma-laser thermal spraying.