9634744 Modest The proposed research involves a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and well balanced experimental and theoretical study to evaluate thermal stresses in ceramics during laser machining. The nature and the development of thermal stress fields during laser drilling and cutting of ceramics with a variety of laser sources will be studied. Also, the cause of and location of resulting micro- and macro-cracks as well as ways to minimize thermal stress damage will be investigated. The investigators have a combination of experience in nondestructive testing, laser machining and heat transfer which is ideally suited for conducting this research effort. The experiments are unique and should provide fundamental understanding of the machining process for ceramics, which is very important for the successful manufacturing of ceramic components. ***
