Fiber Laser Cutting Machines for Aerospace

What Makes Aerospace Fabrication Different

Repeatability outranks peak accuracy

Aerospace fabrication rewards process control more than an occasional tight number. Assembly interchangeability depends on whether part 500 matches part 1 within the drawing envelope. IAQG guidance describes first article inspection as validation that production processes can produce conforming parts², and SAE AS9102 defines it as objective evidence that engineering, design, and specification requirements are correctly understood, accounted for, verified, and recorded¹.

Fatigue-critical versus non-critical is the shop-floor split

Covers, shields, brackets, panels, and ducting that carry only local loads can be released once geometry and edge appearance meet the drawing. Fatigue-critical structural details are different: drawings for these carry edge-condition callouts even when the as-cut surface looks clean, because a cut edge can act as a crack initiation site. That split drives finishing and is developed in the edge-quality section.

Traceability is a production obligation

Heat-lot identity has to survive nesting, cutting, kitting, and marking so the finished part still points back to its mill document. First article inspection treats material certification as part of the objective evidence^1,2, and on covered defense work DFARS 252.225-7009 restricts specialty metals — including titanium and titanium alloys and certain steels and nickel alloys — to metal melted or produced in the United States, its outlying areas, or a qualifying country, except as provided in the clause³. Both obligations attach to the physical part and the records that travel with it.

AS9100 applies to the organization, not the machine

AS9100 is the aviation, space, and defense quality management system standard. It adds requirements over an ISO 9001 system for organizations across the supply chain^4,5, and certification is held by the organization after third-party audit. No cutting system carries it. A machine builder supports a certified shop's documented process rather than substituting for it.

Nadcap is separate, and laser cutting sits inside it

Nadcap is an industry-managed accreditation program organized by process category, and the Performance Review Institute states that accreditation is intended for the companies that perform those processes⁶. Laser cutting is within scope: PRI's Nonconventional Machining program covers electrochemical machining, electrochemical grinding, electrical discharge machining, spark erosion grinding, abrasive waterjet machining, and Laser Beam Machining — and PRI lists cutting among the laser operations⁷. The audit criteria are the AC7116 series⁷.

Two qualifications matter when quoting. Accreditation applies on customer flow-down rather than universally — absent that flow-down, the contract's own quality requirements govern. And where it does apply, PRI issues it to the company performing the process⁶, so the commitment sits in the quality system rather than the capital purchase.

Export control on defense-adjacent work

ITAR, administered by the State Department, controls defense articles and related technical data enumerated on the U.S. Munitions List at 22 CFR 121.1⁸. The Export Administration Regulations, administered by Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, cover a broader set of dual-use items — those with civil as well as military or WMD applications — with the Commerce Control List at Supplement No. 1 to Part 774⁹.

Aerospace Metals and Assist Gas Requirements

Assist gas selection is a materials engineering decision rather than a preference for faster cutting. The gas ejects molten metal from the kerf — the slot the beam removes — and either participates in the cut or shields the edge. On aerospace alloys, edge chemistry and heat-affected microstructure matter as much as cut speed.

Material	Common aerospace use	Typical assist gas	Practical notes
Aluminum — 2024, 7075, 6061	Airframe structure; 6061 secondary	Nitrogen fusion; oxygen is a different chemical regime	2xxx and 7xxx are the main metallic airframe alloys¹⁰; traditionally 2024 damage-critical, 7075 strength-critical¹¹
Stainless — 321, 15-5PH, 17-4PH	321 in aircraft structural tubing; 15-5PH and 17-4PH in structural parts requiring corrosion resistance¹⁴	Nitrogen for an oxide-free edge; oxygen oxidizes	Grade is drawing-driven
Carbon steel	Tooling, jigs, fixtures, ground support equipment	Oxygen for speed; nitrogen for a cleaner edge	Non-flight
Titanium — Ti-6Al-4V	Structure, engine-related hardware	Argon when an inert shield is required; nitrogen reacts	Reactivity with oxygen and nitrogen at temperature is the constraint^12,13
Nickel superalloys — Inconel 718, 625	Hot-section engine hardware	Per qualified process	Sheet gauge is cuttable; thicker or metallurgy-critical work may move to another process

Aluminum

ASM International states that high-strength 2xxx and 7xxx alloys are the main alloys used for metallic aircraft structure and have traditionally been dominant in commercial and military aircraft¹⁰. A National Academies review states that traditional structural aluminum has been 2024 in damage-critical areas and 7075 in strength-critical areas¹¹. NASA treats aluminum alloys as long-standing aerospace structural materials at moderate temperatures¹⁴.

Nitrogen fusion cutting avoids intentional edge oxidation; oxygen assist is a different chemical regime that oxidizes the cut face. Which one a part needs follows from the edge condition the drawing requires. We found no aerospace laser standard that mandates either gas, and no pressure or purity figures are stated here. Alloy 7075 needs no different gas species than 6061 — what changes is that strength-critical use raises the stakes on edge condition for fatigue-critical details.

Stainless and carbon steel

Stainless takes nitrogen where an oxide-free edge is required. On carbon steel tooling, oxygen assist cuts faster and leaves an oxidized edge — acceptable on a fixture where it would be rejected on flight hardware. Grade selection follows the drawing.

Titanium — the assist gas decides it

A 2015 Chalmers and GKN Aerospace study states that Ti-6Al-4V is frequently used for engine-related parts and that titanium is highly reactive at elevated temperature¹². That study used a 4 kW CO₂ laser on 1 mm, 3.2 mm, and 6.35 mm sheet with argon and nitrogen assist¹².

Of the gases that study actually cut with, nitrogen forms hard, brittle titanium nitrides and an alpha-case layer — an oxygen- or nitrogen-enriched surface layer harder and more brittle than the base metal — which subsequent machining has to remove; it measured that layer mostly around 4–5 µm and up to about 20 µm¹². Argon is inert and can avoid alpha-case, and produced finer surface irregularity than nitrogen in the same study¹².

Neither study cut with oxygen or air. Both describe titanium's reactivity with oxygen and nitrogen at elevated temperature as background rather than as a tested condition^12,13, so treat the case against oxygen and air as mechanism rather than measured result. Mechanisms transfer across laser types; magnitudes do not.

Those are CO₂ figures from 2015 and are not fiber-laser production allowables. A 2019 fiber-laser study on 2 mm Ti-6Al-4V with nitrogen assist states that titanium reacts severely with oxygen and nitrogen at elevated temperature, that argon is often cost-prohibitive commercially, and that nitrogen cutting requires control to limit hard, brittle martensite and nitride phases¹³.

Nickel superalloys

Inconel 718 is a nickel-iron-chromium superalloy developed for gas turbine engines and used in hot-section hardware requiring high-temperature strength, creep resistance, and oxidation resistance¹⁵. We list nickel alloys among the metals our fiber systems cut³³. As thickness, heat input, edge-metallurgy requirements, or total cost including finishing rise, abrasive waterjet, conventional machining, and wire EDM become the alternatives worth pricing. We found no public thickness figure marking that transition for every alloy and drawing.

What a fiber laser does not process

Laser cutting of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer is a thermal process, and published work reports heat-affected zones, charring, resin recession, delamination, matrix degradation, and fiber damage driven by thermal mismatch between fiber and polymer matrix¹⁶. Glass, ceramics, and most plastics are outside the process as well. Our UV markers can mark some plastics³²; that is marking, not cutting.

Edge Quality, Heat-Affected Zone, and When Finishing Is Still Required

A fiber-laser-cut edge has structure worth understanding before a drawing is quoted. Below the kerf sits a recast layer of melted and re-solidified metal, and beneath that a heat-affected zone where base metal reached elevated temperature without melting, altering grain structure and hardness invisibly. Dross — unejected melt clinging to the underside — is separate from both. For Ti-6Al-4V, dross buildup at the cut exit is reported as a primary driver of heat-affected zone depth^12,17, though the lead study used a 4 kW CO₂ laser rather than fiber¹², so the mechanism transfers while the magnitude is unconfirmed for fiber-cut sheet.

Why fatigue-critical parts care

The clearest aerospace-alloy data is a 1977 Air Force program run with Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas, which fatigue-tested 2024-T3 and 7075-T6 aluminum with milled, blanked, and laser-cut edges on a 6 kW coaxial electric-discharge CO₂ laser, specimens cut at 3.5 kW with air assist¹⁸. Laser-cut and blanked edges performed almost identically, both below the milled baseline, and the report attributes that drop mainly to mechanical notch effect rather than metallurgical alteration — alteration could be held within 0.005 in. of the surface, and post-cut heat treatment barely improved fatigue life¹⁸. Its operative conclusion: an as-cut edge was acceptable wherever a sheared or blanked edge met the requirement, and not where drawings called for a machined edge or a hole-filling fastener¹⁸.

The report warns against generalizing even to other CO₂ lasers, citing differences in focal-region energy distribution, gas-jet configuration, and power stability¹⁸. We extend that caution to fiber as mechanism rather than magnitude. A 1994 Ti-6Al-4V study — laser type unstated, era almost certainly CO₂ — found the same pattern, matching machined fatigue life at 0.125 in. but not at 0.020 in.¹⁹. We did not locate comparable cutting-fatigue data for nickel superalloys or precipitation-hardening stainless; the work we found covers welding or additive manufacturing instead.

What the split means in practice

A cover, shield, bracket, or duct wall carrying only its own weight goes to assembly on geometry, not fatigue life. A fatigue-critical detail is handled differently: the laser produces a blank slightly oversized at the critical edge, finished to the drawing callout afterward regardless of how clean the as-cut surface looks.

"Finished to drawing" is not one operation. Deburring removes loose material without changing edge geometry. Edge break creates a controlled radius or chamfer to a called-out dimension — NASA's JSC-67701 requires sheared edges to be smoothed and radiused rather than left as-cut²⁰. No single edge-break dimension applies across aerospace programs; trade-press review of SME's deburring handbook reports that no globally accepted burr standard exists, so the callout is set program by program²¹. Etching or machining replaces the cut edge where the drawing requires it.

Where the cut ends the process

On parts that are not fatigue-critical, or that carry generous tolerances, a tuned cut with the right assist gas can go to paint or assembly with little or no deburring, per trade-press reporting on high-power fiber cutting²². The category a part falls into, rather than the laser's capability, decides whether the cut ends the process or starts it.

Laser Marking and Part Traceability for Aerospace

In aerospace production, marking is a production requirement rather than a finishing step. Serial numbers, part numbers, lot codes, barcodes, and Data Matrix symbols keep a physical part tied to design revision, material heat, process history, and maintenance records.

Two frameworks, applied by flow-down

For U.S. Department of Defense property, MIL-STD-130 sets item marking criteria for free text and machine-readable information, including unique item identification — IUID — using Data Matrix symbols^23,24. DoD guidance states the mark must remain readable throughout the item's normal life cycle, withstand the environmental conditions of normal use, and have no detrimental effect on functional performance, reliability, or durability, with the symbol a Data Matrix ECC 200 mark per ISO/IEC 16022²⁴. For commercial aviation, ATA Spec 2000 Chapter 9 addresses permanent part identification, shipping and receiving information, and traceability, and covers barcoding, Data Matrix, and RFID²⁵.

MIL-STD-130 applies when DoD IUID clauses flow down; Spec 2000 Chapter 9 applies when airline or OEM commercial marking requirements flow down.

Method and location follow the same logic as cut edges

MIL-STD-130 requires that marking not adversely affect required performance, and that marks be as permanent as the item's normal life expectancy and capable of withstanding specified environmental tests and cleaning²³. The standard lists laser discoloration, laser etching, and laser engraving among acceptable methods, and notes laser etching as generally limited to about 0.001 in. maximum depth²³. On load-bearing surfaces, depth, method, and location follow the drawing. Where direct marking would be deleterious or space is insufficient, the standard allows marking a supplemental container or unit pack²³.

Heat-lot identity is a workflow problem

A nested sheet yielding many parts from one heat needs controlled staging, nest-to-lot records, and either on-table identification or controlled kitting, so each finished piece still points back to its mill document.

CypCut handles machine control and CAM on our sheet platforms — DXF import, nesting, path optimization, edge finding, autofocus, and parameter management³³. Bochu TubePro with TubesT nesting is the tube-side equivalent³⁴. Neither package is published as offering MES or heat-lot traceability capability. If your quality plan depends on the cutting software carrying lot genealogy, confirm what the specific configuration does before building a workflow around it — that is a question worth putting to us directly rather than inferring from a feature list.

See our fiber laser marking machines

Where Laser Cutting Fits in Aerospace Production

Fiber laser cutting produces metal blanks and formed-sheet details where the drawing accepts a thermal cut edge, or where the laser blanks a part that is finished afterward. Sheet work is the primary fit, and marking belongs in the same workflow wherever parts need permanent identification.

Application	Example components	Machine category
Sheet metal parts	Access panels, covers, shields, light-gauge formed parts	Sheet cutters
Aluminum structural components	Interior supports, mounting plates, equipment panels	Sheet cutters
Brackets and mounting hardware	Seat-track brackets, sensor brackets, cable supports	Sheet and small-format cutters
Tooling, jigs, and fixtures	Assembly jigs, inspection fixtures, maintenance tooling	Sheet cutters
Large-format plate	Tooling bases, ground support equipment plate, large weldment plate	Ground-rail plate cutters
Tube and profile for support equipment	GSE frames, test-rig structures, tooling frames, cargo and seat structures	Small-diameter tube cutters

Tube work is support equipment, not flight structure

If you are weighing a tube laser against flight fluid and pneumatic lines, that work is done by bending specification tubing to a drawing rather than cutting stock on a laser. We found no published flight standard prohibiting laser cutting of flight tube outright, so confirm the requirement for your own parts rather than assuming it either way. Where tube laser cutting clearly applies is the adjacent work: ground support equipment, test rigs, tooling frames, cargo systems, and seat structures — real revenue, but support equipment.

Before buying for tube work at all, the question is whether outsourcing costs less than a machine running a few days a month. Volume rather than capability decides it, and our tonnage calculator is one way to work that against your own throughput.

Where a laser is not the answer

Carbon fiber and composite structure

Laser cutting of CFRP produces thermal damage¹⁶. Abrasive waterjet, ultrasonic cutting, and mechanical routing or milling are the alternatives^16,31.

Thick or metallurgy-critical nickel

Sheet gauge is cuttable. As thickness, heat input, or edge-metallurgy requirements rise, price abrasive waterjet, conventional machining, and wire EDM against it.

Primary flight fluid and pneumatic lines

Bent from specification tubing to a drawing. A tube laser serves the support-equipment work described above.

Glass, ceramics, and most plastics

Outside what a metal-cutting fiber laser processes. Our UV markers mark some plastics³²; that is marking.

Work on the aircraft

These are installed shop systems. Cutting performed on an airframe is a different toolset.

Welding, cleaning, and cladding

Real aerospace laser processes, covered in the FAQ below. We do not manufacture that equipment.

If your requirement lands in this block, tell us — the recommendation should follow the requirement, including when it points away from a laser.

Choosing a Laser System for Aerospace Work

Selecting a laser for aerospace work is a requirements exercise. Work these before locking a model.

Material, thickness, and assist gas

Match gas capability to the alloys you will run. Titanium is where assist gas becomes a purchase constraint rather than a settings choice — nitrogen forms alpha-case that has to be machined off, and argon is inert when an inert shield is required^12,13.

Process required

Cutting, marking, or both. Marking is required when serials, lots, barcodes, or IUID marks must stay with the part.

Component size envelope

Clear the largest blank plus nest margin. Aerospace sheet work spans small brackets on an enclosed compact bed through full production nests on an exchange-table machine.

Production volume and automation

Dual-platform exchange tables keep loading off the cut cycle. A slide-out bed loads only while the machine is idle. Buy automation when volume pays for it.

Tolerance and finish

Positioning accuracy and repeatability describe the motion system, not production part tolerance. Fatigue-critical details still follow the edge-quality section: blank oversized, finish the critical edge to the drawing.

Traceability workflow

Heat-lot identity has to survive the nest. Plan staging, nest-to-lot records, and marking before install rather than after.

Fume extraction

Requirements vary by alloy. OSHA identifies hexavalent chromium exposure from hot work on stainless and other chromium-alloy steels^26,27. An enclosure reduces ambient release; it does not replace an industrial hygiene evaluation of your own process.

Documentation and machine acceptance

An AS9100-certified customer may ask for process documentation and acceptance evidence beyond a standard installation. Raise that before purchase rather than after.

Operator training and support

Installation, calibration, and operator training are part of getting the machine into production. Budget for them alongside the machine rather than after it.

Requirements reviewed early prevent expensive mismatches — especially titanium assist gas, fatigue-critical finishing, and whether tube volume justifies a machine at all.

Ready for an assessment?

What we need from you

Work through the list above and reach out to our team. The more you can tell us about materials, thicknesses, size envelope, drawing tolerances and edge callouts, volume, and how heat-lot identity has to survive the nest, the more specific the recommendation can be.

What you can expect from us

Every engagement starts with a consultation covering current workflow, bottlenecks, and production plans — and we will recommend the right equipment whether or not it carries our name.

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Built for Production, Backed by Experience

It's easier to enter the world of laser cutting with EMP by your side—even for those new to the technology, we provide expert installation, calibration, and training to ensure your machine is fully operational from day one.

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Flexible Support Contracts

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EMP Laser Machines for Aerospace Applications

Model	Best suited for	Formats and materials	Key specification
Colossus 25 / 32 / 40	Large-format plate where footprint governs — tooling bases, ground support equipment plate, large weldment plate. Non-flight fabrication	Flat plate — steel, stainless, aluminum	Widths to 13 ft, lengths extending to 72 ft; series configurable from 6 to 200 kW, with the published Colossus 32 (CL32140) configuration listing 6, 12, 20, 30, and 40 kW at a 10.66 × 47.57 ft working area; positioning ±0.004 in., repeatability ±0.002 in.; optional 45° V/X/Y/K bevel	Explore the Colossus
Command 3015 / 4020 / 6020	Production sheet nests needing enclosure and continuous load and unload	Flat sheet and plate	6020 working area 19.85 × 6.67 ft with 6–40 kW published for that model; power options for the 3015 and 4020 are not published; positioning ±0.001 in., repeatability ±0.0008 in.; fully enclosed; dual-platform exchange table	Explore the Command
Charger 4020	Higher-speed enclosed sheet production on a 4 m-class bed	Flat sheet and plate	13.3 × 6.7 ft working area; 6–40 kW; 2.8 G, 131.2 in/sec; CE OD4+ safety glass and camera monitoring; dual-platform exchange table	Explore the Charger
Capsule 9 / 13 / 15	Small-format precision work — brackets, sensor mounts, small fixtures — where containment matters more than exchange-table throughput	Flat sheet	Work areas 35.4, 51.2, and 59.1 in. square; 1.5 / 3 / 6 kW; positioning ±0.03 mm, repeatability ±0.02 mm; 1.2 G; fully enclosed with automatic lifting door and electromagnetic slide-out bed	Explore the Capsule
Cypher 6012	Small-diameter tube for GSE, test rigs, tooling frames, cargo and seat structures — not primary flight fluid lines	Round tube 0.4–4.72 in.	Max tube length 21.32 ft; 1.5–3 kW; 200 rpm; 1.18 in. minimum tailing; semi-automatic or fully automatic feeding	Explore the Cypher
Fiber, MOPA & UV Markers	Serials, part numbers, barcodes, and Data Matrix IUID marks	Metals; UV marks selected non-metals	Fiber 30 / 50 W; MOPA 60 / 100 W; UV 5 / 10 / 15 W; Cadenza 30 / 60 / 100 / 200 W	Explore our markers

Specifications are published machine figures rather than achievable finished-part tolerances, and they are model- and configuration-specific — confirm them for the configuration you are quoting. Note that the plate and sheet categories are not interchangeable on accuracy: the ground-rail plate machine publishes positioning roughly four times coarser than the enclosed sheet machines, which is expected on a gantry of that span. If a fixture or jig carries a tolerance callout, check it against the specific machine rather than against the category.

How We Work

From expert planning, delivery and installation to service, training and calibration, EMP Laser provides fast, reliable and professional support.

FAQs

General

What is aerospace laser cutting used for?

Laser cutting in aerospace is used for sheet and light-gauge metal parts where the drawing accepts a thermal cut edge — brackets, panels, covers, housings, shields, mounting hardware, and shop tooling and fixtures. Fatigue-critical structural details may still be laser-blanked and finished to the drawing rather than shipped as-cut.

What metals can fiber lasers cut for aerospace applications?

Fiber lasers can cut aluminum including 2xxx and 7xxx structural grades, stainless grades called out on the drawing, carbon steel for tooling and ground support equipment, titanium, and nickel superalloys such as Inconel 718 and 625 — each with the assist gas and economics constraints covered in the materials section. Fiber lasers are the wrong bulk-cutting tool for CFRP, glass, ceramics, and most plastics.

Can fiber lasers cut titanium?

Yes, fiber lasers can cut titanium with process control — and assist gas rather than wattage dominates the decision. Oxygen and air produce poor structural edges; nitrogen forms hard, brittle nitride and alpha-case layers that may need machining off; argon is inert when an inert shield is required^12,13. The materials section covers the mechanism, and notes that magnitudes from CO₂ studies are not fiber production allowables.

Can fiber lasers cut Inconel and other nickel superalloys?

On sheet gauge, yes — we list nickel alloys among the metals our fiber laser systems cut³³, and Inconel 718 is a nickel-iron-chromium superalloy used in hot-section engine hardware¹⁵. As thickness, heat input, edge-metallurgy requirements, or total cost including finishing rise, abrasive waterjet, conventional machining, or wire EDM become the economical path. We found no public thickness figure marking that transition for every drawing.

Can fiber lasers cut carbon fiber composites?

No. Laser cutting of CFRP is a thermal process, and published work reports heat-affected zones, charring, resin recession, delamination, and fiber damage from thermal mismatch between fiber and matrix¹⁶. Aerospace composite parts are cut by abrasive waterjet, ultrasonic cutting, or mechanical routing and milling instead^16,31. If your part mix combines metal and composite, we can help work through which processes belong in-house.

Do laser-cut aerospace parts need secondary finishing?

Secondary finishing on aerospace parts depends on whether the part is fatigue-critical. Non-critical covers, shields, brackets, and ducting carrying only local loads are released once geometry and edge appearance meet the drawing. Fatigue-critical details carry edge-condition callouts, and the approach is to laser-cut a blank slightly oversized at the critical edge and finish to the drawing — deburr, edge break, etch, or machine-to-finish. On non-critical work with a tuned cut and the correct assist gas, secondary work can be minimal.

Quality and Standards

Is laser cutting a Nadcap special process?

It can be. Laser Beam Machining sits within Nadcap's Nonconventional Machining program, with cutting listed among the laser operations, audited against the AC7116 series⁷. Accreditation applies when a customer flows the requirement down; absent that, the contract's own quality requirements govern. Where it does apply, the company performing the process holds it rather than the machine⁶, and the commitment sits in the quality system rather than the equipment purchase.

Does a laser cutting machine need to be AS9100 certified?

No. AS9100 is a quality management system standard for aviation, space, and defense organizations. It adds requirements over an ISO 9001 system and is held by the organization after third-party audit^4,5. A shop holds AS9100 certification; its machines do not. What matters is whether the machine supports the shop's documented processes — repeatable output, controlled parameters, and a workflow that preserves material traceability. If a machine is described as AS9100 certified, ask what the certificate actually covers.

What is MIL-STD-130 marking?

MIL-STD-130 is the DoD standard for identification marking of U.S. military property, covering free text and machine-readable information including unique item identification with Data Matrix symbols^23,24. It applies when DoD IUID clauses flow down. Marks must remain readable through normal life cycle and not harm functional performance; laser discoloration, etching, and engraving are listed methods²³. Commercial aviation references ATA Spec 2000 Chapter 9 instead²⁵.

How do you maintain material traceability through laser cutting?

Treat material traceability as a production workflow rather than a software checkbox. A nested sheet yielding many parts from one heat needs controlled staging, nest-to-lot records, and on-table identification or controlled kitting. Neither CypCut nor Bochu TubePro is published as offering MES or heat-lot traceability capability, so confirm what your configuration does before building a workflow on it. Pair the cutter with a marking process where the drawing or contract requires permanent part identity.

Other Laser Processes

Can laser welding be used for aerospace components?

Yes, laser welding can be used for certain applications — thin-section assemblies, housings, and small precision joints are where it comes up. Whether it is appropriate depends on the material, joint design, section thickness, and the qualification requirements the part carries. Aerospace welding is a separate Nadcap accreditation from nonconventional machining — PRI lists Welding among its critical process accreditations, and the Nadcap Welding Task Group's audit criteria are the AC7110 series^6,28. A welding accreditation requirement is a distinct commitment from anything a shop already holds for cutting. We do not manufacture laser welding systems. If you are evaluating whether laser welding fits your production, we can talk through the process requirements even though the equipment is not ours.

Is laser cleaning used in aerospace?

Laser cleaning is used in aerospace primarily for surface preparation ahead of bonding, coating, or repair, and for paint, oxide, and contaminant removal where abrasive or solvent methods are undesirable. U.S. Air Force–sponsored work evaluated pulsed laser cleaning to remove paint, contaminants, and oxides from aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium, and as a pretreatment path for adhesive bonding²⁹. NASA has evaluated Nd:YAG laser surface preparation of aerospace structural composites prior to bonding as an alternative to grit blast, manual abrasion, or peel ply³⁰. Suitability depends on the substrate, the coating or contaminant being removed, and the surface condition the downstream process requires. We do not manufacture laser cleaning systems, but we can help determine whether laser cleaning is the right approach for an application.

What is laser cladding and is it used in aerospace repair?

Laser cladding, also called laser-based directed energy deposition, adds material to a surface rather than removing it. That puts it in the repair and remanufacturing world rather than in blanking production, and any use of it on a flight component sits under the repair approvals and process qualifications that component carries. We do not manufacture laser cladding systems. For repair-focused operations, we can point you toward the right process even where it is not equipment we sell.

EMP Support

What support and training does EMP provide?

Installation and calibration, operator and maintenance training, and tailored service and support contracts, starting from a consultation covering current workflow, bottlenecks, and production plans. Training covers operation, maintenance, safety, and advanced features so your crew can run the machine without depending on the installer after handoff.

Does EMP offer financing?

Yes, through a third-party lender. See our financing page for current options and terms. We are not the lender; agreements are between the customer and the financing provider.

Ready to Get Started?

Our team can help you compare machine configurations, work through alloy and assist-gas requirements, and choose a laser cutting solution built around your production goals.