Crack-free cutting of advanced ceramics by Nd:YAG laser

Abstract

The manufacturing of elements made of advanced ceramics is done traditionally by the use of diamond coated tools. The inherent properties of those materials such as: very high hardness and brittleness, made their machining a very hard work; being noisy, powdery and unsafe for the worker. Thus, there is a need to introduce new processing methods in order to improve both the working conditions and the quality of the products.In this paper we present the results of the work carried out to investigate the possibilities of the Nd:YAG laser to cut advanced ceramics. We used a 500 W pulsed Nd:YAG laser coupled to an optical fiber to perform different experiments in which the geometry and quality of the cut were studied. The features of the heat affected zone were investigated, since, as an important characteristic of the cut quality, the properties of the recast layer may determine the utility of the workpiece.The results obtained show that the Nd:YAG laser coupled to an optical fiber is a feasible tool for a crack-free cutting of elements made of advanced ceramics.The manufacturing of elements made of advanced ceramics is done traditionally by the use of diamond coated tools. The inherent properties of those materials such as: very high hardness and brittleness, made their machining a very hard work; being noisy, powdery and unsafe for the worker. Thus, there is a need to introduce new processing methods in order to improve both the working conditions and the quality of the products.In this paper we present the results of the work carried out to investigate the possibilities of the Nd:YAG laser to cut advanced ceramics. We used a 500 W pulsed Nd:YAG laser coupled to an optical fiber to perform different experiments in which the geometry and quality of the cut were studied. The features of the heat affected zone were investigated, since, as an important characteristic of the cut quality, the properties of the recast layer may determine the utility of the workpiece.The results obtained show that the Nd:YAG laser coupled to an optical fiber is a feasible tool for a cr...