Experimental analysis on Nd:YAG laser micro-turning of alumina ceramic

Laser micro-turning is a micro-machining strategy to machine cylindrical workpiece of hard-to-process materials such as ceramics. Laser micro-turning method is in high demand in the present high-precision manufacturing industries because of its wide and potential uses in various engineering fields such as automobile, electronics, aerospace, and biomedical applications, etc. In the present research, the experimental analysis of Nd:YAG laser micro-turning of cylindrical-shaped ceramic material has been made to explore the desired laser output responses, i.e., depth of cut and surface roughness by varying laser micro-turning process parameters such as lamp current, pulse frequency, and laser beam scanning speed. Single laser beam has been utilized for successful micro-turning operation. Experimental results revealed that the laser machining process parameters have great influences for achieving desired laser micro-turned depth and surface roughness characteristics during laser micro-turning of alumina ceramics. SEM and optical photographs have also been analyzed for better understanding of the laser micro-turning process for different parametric settings.