We report on the use of a kW USP (ultrashort pulse) laser system for high throughput industrial drilling, applied to the production of large micro-perforated panels, used for a new airplane drag reduction technique. In order to limit the heat accumulation due to the high power and maximize productivity, we parallelize the process: the beam is first split into sub-beams sent to different processing units, and then further split into multi-beams focused on the workpiece. Handling a kW USP laser beam makes it necessary to consider thermal regulation and potential damages. We discuss several design challenges, present results of a drilling study that illustrates how beam management strategies impact drilling quality and yields, and finally present the technical solutions implemented within a functional industrial prototype using a kW femtosecond laser.
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