RotaLas

Technical glass is widely used in modern high-tech applications due to its outstanding material properties—optical transparency, chemical resistance, high temperature and corrosion resistance, electrical insulation, and hermetic sealing. Precise machining of technical glass is often associated with long processing times. This process frequently affects the glass’s properties, such as its optical transparency.
The project aims to develop an automated process strategy that enables the laser calibration of glass tubes, whereby the tube circumference is to be turned very precisely using sensor control. The laser beam is precisely focused on the rotating component and moved axially along the component. In the process, material is removed under sensor control, and the diameter is precisely adjusted to the desired dimension within a defined range. Thanks to the force-free processing with the laser beam, even long tubes or rods can be precisely calibrated to the desired final dimensions, local functional surfaces with various geometries can be created, different surface finishes can be produced, or—if necessary—surfaces can even be flame-polished. This provides the glass processing industry with an efficient, force-free, and automatable technology.