Cutting and Shaping of Hard Ceramics with a CO2 Laser

在大多数材料容易吸收的波长下工作的可靠、高强度激光的发展使得它们被用作制造的直接热源。本文研究的重点是二氧化碳激光在碳化硅、氮化硅等超硬陶瓷材料三维切割和成形中的应用。硅化合物陶瓷的一个重要缺点是其极高的硬度，这使得它们的加工和成形变得极其困难、繁琐和昂贵。初步工作表明，与传统的钻石磨削相比，二氧化碳激光的磨削率可能要高得多。将进行的研究将提供对激光加工过程的了解，这是使其在技术和经济上可行的关键。拟议的工作是跨学科的。它属于热加工领域，跨越了热传递和材料之间的界面。

The development of reliable, high intensity lasers operating at wavelengths readily absorbed by most materials has led to their use as directed heat sources for manufacturing. The focus of the present investigation is the application of carbon dioxide lasers to three-dimensional cutting and shaping of ultrahard ceramic materials such as silicon carbide and silicon nitride. An important drawback to silicon compound ceramics is their extreme hardness, which makes their processing and shaping an extremely difficult, tedious, and expensive procedure. Preliminary work has shown that vastly higher removal rates are possible with a carbon dioxide laser than with conventional diamond grinding. The research to be performed will provide understanding of laser machining process, which is essential in order to make it technically and economically viable. The proposed work is interdisciplinary in nature. It falls in the area of thermal processing, bridging across the interface between heat transfer and materials.