Laser Technology

Research Leader: Prof. Milan Brandt Email: mbrandt@swin.edu.au BA Hons: Macquarie University, Australia PhD: Macquarie University, Australia

Laser material interaction
Laser surfacing, welding cutting and drilling
Direct metal deposition
Control of laser processes

Summary of research career:

Prof. Brandt has been involved with lasers and industrial laser applications professionally for some 23 years and is the leading Australian researcher in the field. After graduating from Macquarie University he joined the Department of Defence Materials Research Laboratory at Maribyrnong where he was involved in research to develop new visible lasers. In 1986 he joined the CSIRO Division of Manufacturing Technology in Sydney to conduct research on laser welding, cutting, surfacing and cladding of materials. This led to the development and commercialisation of a number of new, laser-based products. In 1990 he received a grant from the Division to establish the first Industrial Laser Centre in Australia to further promote laser technology to industry and develop new applications of significant commercial benefit. The Centre became the focus for industrial laser activities in Australia and attracted many commercial collaborators.

In early 1999 Prof Brandt was invited to join Swinburne University and was offered a large grant to establish high power laser processing activities at IRIS. This is now the largest industrial laser research and development group in Australia. The facilities include a 2.5 kW Rofin-Sinar Nd:YAG and a 3.5 kW Laserline diode laser both fibre coupled and connected to 4-axis CNC processing table and a Motoman 6-axis robot. The research emphasis is on the development of new laser-based products and processes of significant commercial benefit.

Recent Awards

1. WTIA - Sir William Hudson Memorial Award - Best published (Australian) research paper in 2002. R.T. Deam, M. Brandt and J. Harris, "The measurement of capillary waves on a weldpool formed by a Nd:YAG laser". Australasian Welding Journal Vol 47, 2002, p39-47. Prize $200.
2. TMS magnesium technology best student paper award – M. Mandagie, M. Brandt, Y. Durandet, and M. Jahedi, “Laser cladding AS21 magnesium alloy with AlSi and WC powders ”. Prize US $500.

Past Laser Conferences

ICALEO 05
PICALO 06

Current research projects

Development of laser technology for in-situ repair of LP turbine blades
Pulsed laser cladding
Thick plate (>20 mm) cutting with Nd:YAG lasers
Monitor and control of laser cladding
Improving wear properties of magnesium alloys using laser cladding
Laser cladding of aluminium alloys

Dissemination of research

Refereed Conference Proceeding

1. M. Brandt and E. Harvey editors, “PICALO 2004, Melbourne Australia, April 2004”. Published by Laser Institute of America ISBN 0-912035-76-5.

Book Chapters – Last 5 years

1. J. Harris and M. Brandt, “Laser cutting of thick plates”. Materials Forum 2001, Vol 25, 2001.
2. M. Naeem, and M. Brandt, “ Laser welding with Nd:YAG lasers”, to be published by Woodhead.
3. R. Deam, M. Brandt and J. Harris, “Investigation of capillary waves on a non-keyhole weldpool formed by a laser”. To be published in “Advances in laser materials processing research and applications”. Editors Lawrence and Low.

Refereed Journal Papers – Last 5 years

1. D. Salehi and M. Brandt, “Melt pool temperature control using LabView in Nd:YAG laser blown powder cladding process”. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing. Paper accepted for publication in 2005.
2. S. Sun, Y. Durandet and M. Brandt, “Parametric investigation of pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding of stellite 6 on stainless steel”. Surface & Coatings Technology, 194, p 225 – 231, 2005.
3. S.W. Huang, M. Samandi and M. Brandt, “Abrasive wear performance and microstructure of laser clad WC/Ni layers”. Wear 256, p 1095 – 1105, 2004.
4. M. Brandt, S. W. Huang and M. Samandi, “Deposition of WC/Ni clad layers with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser”. Journal of Laser Applications, vol 15, p 31 – 36, 2003.
5. S.W. Huang, D. Nolan and M. Brandt, “Pre-placed WC/Ni clad layers produced with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser via optical fibres”. Surface and Coatings Technology, 165, p 26 – 34, 2002.
6. R. T. Deam, M. Brandt and J. Harris, “Investigation of capillary waves excited by a Nd:YAG laser using pyrometry”. J. Phys. D: Applied Physics Vol 36, p 2435 - 2445, 2003.
7. C. Tang, M. Jahedi and M. Brandt, “Role of manganese in the soldering reaction in magnesium high pressure die casting” Advanced Engineering Materials 5(12): 903-906, 2003
8. S.W. Huang, M.W. Ng, M. Samandi and M. Brandt, “Tribological behaviour and microstructure of TiCxN(1-n) coatings deposited by filtered arc”. Wear 252, p 566 – 579, 2002.
9. S.W. Huang, M. Samandi and M. Brandt, “Evaluation of duplex coatings produced with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser and filtered arc”. Surface and Coatings Technology 153, p 31 – 39, 2002.
10. D. K. Shanmugam, F. L. Chen, E. Siores and M. Brandt, “Comparative study of jetting machining technologies over laser machining technology for cutting composite materials”. Composite Structures 57, p 289 – 296, 2002.
11. R. T. Deam, M. Brandt and J. Harris, “The measurement of capillary waves on a weldpool formed by a Nd:YAG laser”. Australasian Welding Journal, Vol 47, p 39 – 47, 2002.
12. C. S. Montross, M. Brandt and M. Swain, “Self-limiting hardness changes in laser peened 6061-T6 aluminium”. Surface engineering Vol 17, No 6, p 477 – 482, 2001.
13. C. S. Montross, V. Florea, M. Brandt and M. Swain, “Subsurface properties of laser peened 6061 – T6 Al weldements”. Surface engineering Vol 16, No 2, p 116 – 121. March 2000.
14. H. Kaebernick, D. Bicleanu and M. Brandt, “Theoretical and experimental investigation of pulsed laser cutting”. Annals of the CIRP, vol 48, 1999, p 163-166.

Refereed Conference Proceedings – Last 5 years

1. Y. Durandet, M. Mandagie, M. Brandt, and M. Jahedi, “Microstructure and wear charactersistics of laser clad Al12%Si, Al30%Si and AlSi/WC on AS21 Magnesium alloy”. Presented at TMS 2005 San Francisco, USA, Feb 2005.
2. S. Sun and M. Brandt, “Comparison between continuous wave and pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding of satellite 6”. Proceedings ICALEO ‘04 Conference, San Francisco, USA, Oct 2004.
3. Sun S., Durandet Y. and Brandt M, “Correlation between melt pool temperature and clad formation in pulsed and continuous wave Nd:YAG laser cladding of stellite 6”. Proceedings of the 1st Pacific International Conference on Application of Lasers and Optics, April 2004.
4. C. Tang, M. Jahedi and M. Brandt, “Soldering of magnesium alloys in high pressure die casting”. Presented at the 12th Die Casting conference of the Australian Die Casting Association, Melbourne, March, 2004.
5. S. Sun, Y. Durandet and M. Brandt, “Pulsed laser cladding of stellite 6 on stainless steel”. Proceedings of WTIA Surface Engineering Conference, Sydney, Australia, Sept 2003.
6. Y. Durandet, M. Brandt, W. Song, P. Cordini and A. Ostendorf, “Joining of magnesium alloys using laser welding technology”. Proc 1st Int. Light metals technology Conference, Brisbane, Australia, Sept 2003.
7. C. Tang, M. Jahedi and M. Brandt, “Role of manganese in the soldering reaction in magnesium high pressure die casting”. Presented at the 6th International conference on magnesium alloys and its applications, Wolfsburg, Germany, Nov 2003.
8. C. Tang, M. Jahedi and M. Brandt, “Investigation of the soldering reaction in agnesium high pressure die casting”. Presented at the International Tooling Conference, Karlstad, Sweden, Sept 2002.
9. M. Brandt, Y. Durandet and Q. Liu, “Nd:YAG laser cladding of AlSi and Al7075 powder on Al7050 and Al7075 substrates”. Presented at ICALEO ’02 Conference, Scottsdale, USA, October 2002.
10. D. Salehi, M. Brandt, M. Kogel-Hollacher and J. Schmid, “Fundamental investigation in process in the laser cladding process”. Presented at ICALEO ’02 Conference, Scottsdale, USA, October 2002.
11. D. Salehi and M. Brandt, “Laser cladding with a high power Nd:YAG laser and optical fibres”. WTIA Conference, Adelaide, October 2001.
12. M. Brandt and G. Arndt, “20 years of industrial lasers and applications in Australia”. Presented at LANE 2001, Germany, May 2001.
13. J. Harris and M. Brandt, “The cutting of thick steel plate using a spinning Nd:YAG laser beam”. Presented at the ICALEO ’01 Conference in Jacksonville, USA, October 2001.
14. M. Brandt, “Laser cutting with Nd:YAG lasers and tapered optical fibres”. Presented at ICME 2000 Conference, Sydney, August 2000.
15. M. Brandt, S. W. Huang and M. Samandi, “Pulsed Nd:YAG deposition of WC/Ni clad layers”. Presented at the ICALEO ’00 Conference in Detroit, USA, October 2000.
16. M. Brandt and K. Hooper, “Wear performance of laser deposited WC/.Ni clad layer on P90 front caliper gravity diecasting die”. Presented at Tooling ’99 Conference, Melbourne, 25-26 March 1999.
17. M. Brandt, D. Bicleanu and H. Kaebernick, “Pulsed laser cutting of mild steel and analysis of particles ejected during cutting”. Presented at the 26th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, Melbourne, 15-17 December 1999.