Options
2014
Conference Paper
Titel
Laser roughing of PCD
Abstract
Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) has become an indispensable tool material for efficient machining of various materials. In manufacturing of PCD tools the finishing process in order to obtain the required surface and edge quality is mostly done by grinding. Due to the high hardness and wear resistance of PCD grinding is characterized by low material removal rates and high wear of the grinding wheel. The Fraunhofer IPT has developed a novel finishing method for PCD cutting tools, which combines laser processing and grinding. Short pulse laser ablation is used to completely remove a PCD surface layer of about 180 mm. To achieve the required tool quality the remaining 20 mm are removed by subsequent grinding. The obtained results demonstrate that the combination allows reducing the finishing time by more than 50%. Therefore, laser technology has a high potential to make the finishing process more efficient and significantly lower manufacturing costs.