Vol 19, No 4 (2025)

Industrial companies using laser SLM printers in their technological processes have shifted their interest to large-sized machines. Catching this trend, the company “Laser Systems” has developed and released the industrial installation M-450-L for printing large-sized metal parts with a construction field of 500×500 mm with the possibility of further scaling.

As part of the business program accompanying the specialized exhibition “Metalloobrabotka-2025”, various meetings of specialists were held, where issues of equipment, devices and the possibilities of introducing new technological methods of metalworking into production were discussed. The conference “Barriers to the development of the additive technology industry, the search for mechanisms to eliminate them” attracted our attention with its provocative title.

This paper analyzes the factors that lead to the barriers to external fund raising for the design works of high-tech startups. Such factors include the support of dominant role of the state that acts not only as a regulator, but also as the main source of financing. The article considers the reasons for decreased activity of the entities engaged in funding of the high-tech startups and innovative projects. The recommendations have been developed aimed at stimulating external funding of high-tech projects that is necessary for innovative development of the Russian economy.

The articles indicates the parameters of laser gas-powder cladding mode to restore the MAN TURBO engine nozzle blades made of cobalt alloy MAR-M 509 using the domestic powder EP648. The process measures to prevent crack formation during the laser cladding are described. Restoration of a series of nozzle blades was performed using a robotized station for laser direct deposition.

The dielectric particles with a high refractive index demonstrate Mie resonances in the infrared region of spectrum, where the typical absorption bands of many hydrocarbons are observed. The article provides a numerical determination of the dependence of the refractive index of a dielectric particle located in a target substance matrix on the particle porosity value. It is shown that an increased particle porosity leads to a linear decrease in the particle refractive index and to a linear shift of the Mie resonance to the region of short wavelengths. An estimate is given for the shift in the spectral range of the Mie resonance manifestation when the particle porosity value is changed by a few percent.

Time-dependent density functional theory-based approaches, TD-DFT and TD-DFTB, are used to study the optical absorption of B800 part of light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of Rhodoblastus acidophilus. Calculated spectra for both single molecule and the optimized structure of B800 complex containing nine of such molecules are in qualitative agreement with experimental data. The absence of any sizable effects originating from the interaction between adjacent molecules are proved. Thus, optical features of B800 LH2 part are not connected to the structural organization of pigments. The importance of the time-dependent procedure for the correct description of BChl a absorption spectrum is demonstrated.

The article discusses two atmospheric correction modules: RACE (A Robust Atmospheric Correction Procedure) and Sen2Cor of the Earth observation satellites “Sentinel-2” (ESA) (image processing level: L2A) and their quantitative comparison. The RACE module processed 22 Sentinel-2 scenes with the L1C processing level, various shooting conditions and a wide variety of objects. The average absolute error for all scenes in the derived albedo ranges was estimated for each of the 22 scenes for the B2, B3, B4 and B8 Sentinel-2 spectral channels. As a result of the RACE absolute error estimation for the spectral channels considered, it was shown that the RACE module was comparable in the albedo determination accuracy at the Earth’s level to the Sen2Cor module.

The use of highly efficient (efficiency > 40%) full-spectrum solar cells in the ground-based solar power engineering is associated with the sophisticated design of the solar power plant that can lead to the increased capital costs not covered by the boosted energy yield. It is proposed to use the relative LCOE (Levelised Cost of Energy) as a criterion for evaluating the competitiveness of a power plant with full-spectrum solar cells at its initial stage of development. It is shown that if the power plant is located at the geographic point with the coordinates (51N, 108E), the power plant competitiveness with full-spectrum solar cells shall be ensured already when the capital costs per 1 m² of the module aperture exceed the capital costs per 1 m² by no more than 1.9 times in comparison with a silicon module.