In laser ablation cutting, irradiation of high-intense laser beams causes ejection of molten and evaporated material out of the cutting zone as a result of high pressure gradients, induced by expanding plasma plumes. This paper investigates highspeed laser ablation cutting of industrial grade metal sheets using high-brilliant continuous wave fiber lasers with output powers up to 5 kW. The laser beam was deflected with scan speeds up to 2700 m/min utilizing both a fast galvanometer scan system and a polygon scan system. By sharp laser beam focusing using different objectives with focal lengths ranging between 160 mm and 500 mm, small laser spot diameters between 16.5 μm and 60 μm were obtained, respectively. As a result high peak intensities between 3*108 W/cm² and 2.5*109 W/cm² were irradiated on the sample surface, and cutting kerfs with a maximum depth of 1.4 mm have been produced. In this study the impact of the processing parameters laser power, laser spot diameter, cutting speed, and number of scans on both the achievable cutting depth and the cutting edge quality was investigated. The ablation depths, the heights of the cutting burr, as well as the removed material volumes were evaluated by means of optical microscope images and cross section photographs. Finally highspeed laser ablation cutting was studied using an intensified ultra highspeed camera in order to get useful insights into the cutting process.

As the result of research started in 2001 with a project on the possibility of generating parts with an improved resolution by Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), the research group at University of Applied Sciences Mittweida and the attached Laserinstitut Mittelsachsen e.V developed the process of Laser Micro Sintering (LMS).The technology uses as essentials sub-micrometer powders, a ring rake and a q-switched solid state laser for the successful generation of solid bodies from various metal powders. The resolution and the surface roughness are by more than one order of magnitude better than achieved by previous selective laser sinter technologies. Presently the technology shows advancements in selective laser sintering of highly resolved specimens of densely sintered Al2O3 and SiC ceramics too.This paper reports the process mechanism of LMS and its principal differences compared to SLS methods. A variety of laser micro sintered parts from different metals and the newest results in laser micro sintering of ceramic parts are presented. Material specific behaviour in laser micro sintering is discussed.It also will be shown the ability of the method to generate parts of layer wise different materials (laminate sintering) with one sintering machine.