“Machining,” in particular the process of cutting hard, brittle materials during manufacturing, can be difficult, often because the cutting tool, typically made of single crystal diamond, the hardest material known, can wear out. Also, machining can take a long time. Scientists at Western Michigan University thought they could improve upon it by designing new technology that could speed up the system and make the cutting tool last longer. The idea not only was to create a superior end product, but also to save time and money doing so. “The biggest issue with diamond cutting is that diamonds are expensive,” says John Patten, chair of the manufacturing engineering department at the university and director of its Manufacturing Research Center. “If you can find a way to soften the material it is cutting, that is, expose the diamond to a softer material, it doesn’t wear as much, so you don’t have to replace it as often, having to shut down the machine when you do.” Patten and his research colleague, Deepak Ravindra, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), developed the new Micro-LAM (Laser Assisted Machining) process, which adds a focused laser to the high pressure diamond cutter. Heat from the
The post New tool, savings for manufacturing hard materials has been published on Technology Org.
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