SGER: Precision Wire Saw Machining of Ceramic Materials

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The goal of this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) is to study the precision diamond wire saw machining of non-electrically conductive ceramic materials. Wire saw machining technologies have been developed to slice large diameter Si or SiC ingots into thin wafers. The thin, less than 0.2 mm in diameter, fixed-abrasive diamond wires and wire saw machines with rocking motion have recently been developed. This new type of diamond wire has not only improved the material removal rate in wire saw machining but also expanded the types of work-material from just Si, SiC, zirconia, to other non-electrically conductive ceramic materials. This project proposes to acquire a laboratory rocking-motion wire saw machine to study the mechanics of wire saw machining and to investigate effects of five major process parameters on wafer warp and thickness variation. These parameters are: (1) wire speed, (2) forward/backward wire motion, (3) coolant, (4) wire diameter and diameter variation, and (5) part infeed rate. Two- and four-axis contour wire sawing will also be explored in this project. Similar to the wire EDM process for electrically conductive materials, the diamond wire saw machining could provide flexible and cost-effective methods to machine complicated shapes for non-electrically conductive materials. Since the three targeted work-materials, Si, SiC, and zirconia, are all semi-transparent to the infrared signal, a through-the-workpiece temperature measurement using the infrared video camera will be experimented.Success in this research project will lead to a better understanding of the fixed-abrasive diamond wire saw machining process. Results of this research could also expand the use of wire saw machining processes to a wide-range of non-electrically conductive, advanced engineering materials and to generate morecomplicated shapes.