High-Power Femtosecond Laser Processing of SiC Ceramics with Optimized Material Removal Rate

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics are widely used as structural materials for various applications. However, the extraordinarily high hardness, brittleness, low material removal rate, and severe tool wear of these materials significantly impact the performance of conventional mechanical processing tech...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jian Zhang, Zhichao Liu, Yuanhang Zhang, Feng Geng, Shengfei Wang, Fei Fan, Qinghua Zhang, Qiao Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:Micromachines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/10/1960
Description
Summary:Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics are widely used as structural materials for various applications. However, the extraordinarily high hardness, brittleness, low material removal rate, and severe tool wear of these materials significantly impact the performance of conventional mechanical processing techniques. In this study, we investigated the influence of different parameters on the material removal rate, surface quality, and surface oxidation during the laser processing of SiC ceramic samples using a high-repetition-frequency femtosecond laser at a wavelength of 1030 nm. Additionally, an experimental investigation was conducted to analyze the effects of a burst mode on the material removal rate. Our results demonstrate that the surface oxidation, which significantly affects the material removal rate, can be effectively reduced by increasing the laser scanning speed and decreasing the laser scanning pitch. The material removal rate and surface quality are mainly affected by laser fluence. The optimal material removal rate is obtained with a laser fluence of 0.4 J/cm<sup>2</sup> at a pulse width of 470 fs.
ISSN:2072-666X