High-Precision Laser Conditioning of Diamond Grinding Wheels

Abstract

A novel approach for machining of cylindrical hard materials and arbitrary shapes is presented. Diamond grinding tools with complex geometry are manufactured with picosecond orthogonal and quasi-tangential combined laser ablation. This rapid and flexible approach for small-scale production of master tools for industrial production trumps conventional approaches. Hitherto, the overall process time is faster compared to conventional technologies with the benefit of free standing diamond grains. A laser manufacturing chain achieving an ablation rate of 35mm3/min with a maximal geometric deviation of 3μm is presented. The meta-stable diamond structure persists and is assessed via Raman spectroscopy. The final grinding tools is sharpened by a radial laser process removing preferentially the metal-based binding material. This isolates the statistically distributed diamond grains from the binder. Hence, high-precision diamond grinding wheels with a mean error of smaller 1μm over the complete contour can be manufactured.