Title: Hybrid laser ablation-single point diamond turning machining process for CVD-silicon carbide ceramics

Authors: Deepak Ravindra; John Patten; Ronald Jacobsen

Addresses: Manufacturing Research Center (MRC), Western Michigan University-CEAS, 4601 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-5314, USA ' Manufacturing Research Center (MRC), Western Michigan University-CEAS, 4601 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-5314, USA ' Manufacturing Research Center (MRC), Western Michigan University-CEAS, 4601 Campus Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-5314, USA

Abstract: Silicon carbide (SiC) is an advanced engineered ceramic material appropriate for operation in extreme environments. Manufacture of components from this material is extremely challenging due to its high hardness, brittle characteristics and poor machinability. Severe fracture can result when machining SiC due to its low fracture toughness. However, prior research has shown that ductile regime machining of silicon carbide is possible. This paper reports improvement of the surface quality of a chemically vapour deposited (CVD) polycrystalline SiC (3-C) material by using a hybrid laser ablation - single point diamond turning (SPDT) machining process. This work also emphasised increasing the material removal rate (MRR) and minimising the diamond tool wear. Besides the surface finish analysis, subsurface damage analysis was also done on the laser ablated and single point diamond turned surfaces to compare the nature of these processes in terms of subsurface damage. [Received 27 May 2011; Revised 24 January 2012; Accepted 29 March 2012]

Keywords: ductile regime machining; high pressure phase transformation; scanning acoustic microscopy; SAcM; damage-free surface; subsurface damage; laser ablation; single point diamond turning; CVD; chemical vapour deposition; silicon carbide ceramics; material removal rate; MRR; tool wear; surface finish.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2013.055241

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2013 Vol.8 No.3, pp.227 - 249

Published online: 29 Jan 2014 *

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