The research objective of this award is the development of a novel technique of laser-assisted rapid surface microstructuring of ceramics with potential in a range of structural, electronic, and biomedical applications. In the present effort, the technique will be explored for alumina for the specific purpose of precision grinding/machining. The approach is based on engineering of highly ordered and polygonal faceted surface grains characterized by multiple edges and vertices. The proposal will develop an understanding of evolution of crystallographic and morphological surface textures due to rapid solidification. This information will be employed in prediction of the machining/grinding performance in terms of material removal rates. An integrative approach based on experimental and modeling methodologies will be adapted to understand the physical phenomena during laser surface microstructuring and its influence on precision grinding performance will be evaluated. Modeling efforts will be focused on temperature evolution, microstructure evolution, and grinding performance, and finally processing-microstructure-property correlation will be established.
The successful execution of proposed research will lead to development of a laser-based technique for rapid transformation of commercial alumina grinding wheel for efficient and precision (micro-scale) machining/grinding. The non-contact nature of fiber delivered laser beam will facilitate the remote and online or simultaneous engineering of surface microstructure with multi-faceted grains with micro-cutting edges and vertices for micro-scale precision machining/grinding of materials. Due to the rapid nature of laser processing, integration of experimental and computational modeling will be based on extension of thermodynamic/kinetic principals to near- and/or non-equilibrium conditions. The development of technique and understanding of underlying physical phenomena will facilitate its extension to other grinding/machining material systems such as cBN and diamond. This research will establish a basis for engineering surfaces at microscopic level through creation of experimental and computational foundations as next-generation engineering design tool.
This project is jointly funded by the Materials Processing & Manufacturing (MPM) Program, of the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Division; by the Thermal Transport Processes (TTP) Program, of the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) Division; by EPSCoR, and by funding provided from the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) to support Inter Divisional Research.
