Experimental Investigation on Laser Assisted Diamond Turning of Binderless Tungsten Carbide by In-Process Heating

Abstract

Binderless tungsten carbide (WC) finds widespread applications in precision glass molding (PGM). Grinding and polishing are the main processes to realize optical surface finish on binderless WC mold inserts. The laser assisted turning (LAT) by in-process heating is an efficient method to enhance the machinability of hard and brittle materials. In this paper, laser heating temperature was pre-calculated by the finite element analysis, and was utilized to facilitate laser power selection. The effects of rake angle, depth of cut, feed rate, and laser power are studied experimentally using the Taguchi method. The variance, range, and signal-to-noise ratio analysis methods are employed to evaluate the effects of the factors on the surface roughness. Based on the self-developed LAT system, binderless WC mold inserts with mirror finished surfaces are machined using the optimal parameters. PGM experiments of molding glass lenses for practical application are conducted to verify the machined mold inserts quality. The experiment results indicate that both the mold inserts and molded lenses with the required quality are achieved.

Experimental study on in-situ laser-assisted turning of tungsten carbide by diamond tool

“…After laser-assisted machining, the surface machining marks are significantly reduced, no pits and micro-cracks. Due to the lack of precision of ordinary CNC lathe, the surface roughness of the workpiece after processing is higher than the experimental results of You et al [13]. However, it can be seen that the surface quality can still be improved by in-situ LAT on an ordinary CNC lathe.…”

“…The results showed that the surface quality was improved and the tool life was significantly improved with the laser assisted. You et al [13,14] studied in-situ LAT of binderless tungsten carbide through experiments and finite element simulation. They found that the optimal power for LAT binderless tungsten carbide ranges from 10W to 15W.…”

Machining of Inserts with PCD Cutting-Edge Technology and Determination of Optimum Machining Conditions Based on Roundness Deviation and Chip-Cross Section of AW 5083 AL-Alloy Verified with Grey Relation Analysis

“…Therefore, You and Fang et al proposed to use LASER machining when machining the cutting edges of PCD tools. This machining method does not cause mechanical wear, which is an innovative alternative for manufacturing and machining tools made of PCD material [22].…”

Editorial for the Special Issue on Advances in Micro and Nano Manufacturing: Process Modeling and Applications

“…This Special Issue showcases 12 state-of-the-art examples of modeling and simulation in micro- and nano-manufacturing processes. The papers that are published in this Special Issue explore the following micro- and nano-manufacturing processes: laser texturing [ 1 , 2 ], 3D printing [ 3 , 4 ], grinding [ 5 , 6 ], turning [ 7 , 8 ], and electrochemical machining [ 9 , 10 ]. The remaining papers cover lithography-based manufacturing [ 11 ], and micro- and nano-scale design aspects [ 12 ].…”

“…Elastic-plastic deformation and ploughing were observed when the feed rate was lower than the cutting edge radius. You et al carried out an experimental investigation, focusing on laser-assisted turning by the in-process heating of tungsten carbide, for precision glass molding [ 8 ]. The process guides the laser beam passes through the transparent tool, to heat the material locally, thereby decreasing the ultra-high tungsten carbide hardness and altering the fracture toughness as soon as the tool interacts with the material.…”