Title: A study on high ablation threshold laser processing of grooves fabricated on PcBN material

Authors: Tuğrul Özel

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Manufacturing and Automation Research Laboratory (MARLAB), Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854, USA

Abstract: Laser processing and ablation for fabricating grooves as a surface texture can be applied to difficult-to-process engineering materials such as advanced carbides, polycrystalline diamond, and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) to enhance their tribological performance in tooling applications. This paper presents a summary of various laser processing techniques to obtain surface textures. It also provides basic investigations on fabricating grooves on PcBN material using high ablation threshold laser processing. A particular focus is given to the effect of processing parameters on surface morphology and integrity in the presence of low and high ablation threshold processing. Different laser pulse energy levels are tested to determine the ablation threshold of PcBN material using nanosecond laser processing and their effect on the morphology of the resultant surface texture. The main types of defects are noted on laser ablated and their adjacent surfaces, including partial ablation, heat-affected zones, partial edge melting, spatter and runoff.

Keywords: laser processing; laser ablation; LIPSS; laser induced periodic surface structures; surface integrity; surface texture; PcBN; polycrystalline cubic boron.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2023.137378

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2023 Vol.16 No.4, pp.410 - 424

Received: 05 Jul 2023
Accepted: 16 Jan 2024
Published online: 14 Mar 2024 *

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