Ten years is plenty of time for industry to reduce emissions, said Gene Sperling, assistant to the president for economic policy. The good news for many businesses is that the proposed treaty may not be completed until a global climate summit in Buenos Aires in Nov. 1998. Then, it probably won't be introduced to Senate until much later, as many senators view the treaty as a burden on U.S. economy. A new consortium that hopes to create complex metal parts in one day has been launched by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, and 10 private-sector companies. The technique produces shapes close enough to the final product to eliminate the need for rough machining.
More companies can join if their applications are approved.
LENS' purpose is to make small lots of high-density parts or molds, a difficult operation because high temperatures make it hard to form accurate, smooth objects from molten metals. Nozzles direct a stream of metal powder at a central point beneath them. That point is simultaneously heated by a high-powered laser beam. The laser and jets remain stationary while the model and its substrate move to provide new targets on which to deposit metal. The finished product currently has a slightly corrugated surface.