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Procedia CIRP 46 (2016) 571 – 574

7th HPC 2016 – CIRP Conference on High Performance Cutting

Analysis of heat transfer in laser assisted machining of slip cast fused silica
ceramics
Hossein Roostaei, Mohammad R. Movahhedy*
Center of Excellence in Design, Robotics and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, IRAN

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +98-21-661655505; fax: +98-21-66000021. E-mail address: movahhed@sharif.edu

Abstract

Machining of ceramics often involves many challenges due to their high hardness, brittleness, and low thermal properties. Laser assisted
machining (LAM) is a promising technology for improving the machinability of hard-to-cut materials. In this work, laser assisted machining of
slip cast fused silica (SCFS) ceramics is investigated by presenting a numerical thermal analysis of laser effects on material behaviour. A transient
three-dimensional heat transfer analysis for laser assisted turning of SCFS is performed using finite element method. Temperature distributions
in SCFS cylindrical specimens are obtained. Experimental results are provided to validate the numerical results.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of 7th HPC 2016 in the person of the Conference Chair Prof.
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of 7th HPC 2016 in the person of the Conference Chair
Matthias
Prof. Putz.
Matthias Putz

Keywords:Simulation; Ceramic; Nd:YAG Laser; Finite element method (FEM); Machining

1. Introduction Previous investigators developed thermal models of laser

High machining cost and low material removal rates are the
main drawbacks of the conventional grinding of ceramic
products, which is the most widely used machining process for
ceramics. Laser assisted turning is an alternative method for
conventional ceramic grinding. In laser assisted machining
(LAM), the material is softened by a laser beam just before it
is cut by the tool, and hence, the hardness of the material
decreases and its machinability improves significantly.
Several research works on the application of LAM for
ceramics are reported in the literature. Rebro et al. [1]
determined operating conditions for crack-free laser assisted
turning of mullite using a CO2 laser. Among all of various laser
power profiles only the two-ramped profile prevented thermal
fracture and crack formation from occurring. Chang and Kuo
[2] utilized a 60 W pulsed Nd:YAG laser in laser assisted
turning of Al2O3 ceramics. Experimental measurements of
surface roughness were evaluated using Taguchi method. Tian
and Shin [3] employed a 1.5 kW continuous CO2 laser to
investigate laser assisted turning of silicon nitride ceramics
with complex geometrical features.
assisted machining of ceramic materials. Applying finite
volume method (FVM) and without considering material
removal, a transient thermal model for rotating cylindrical
silicon nitride workpieces subjected to a translating CO2 laser
is represented by Rozzi et al. [4]. Heat transfer model of
partially-stabilized zirconia (PSZ) as a semi-transparent
ceramic for laser assisted machining is developed by
Pfefferkorn et al. [5]. The important parameters required for
modelling of semi-transparent materials include: internal
radiation, convention, and diffusion. The authors utilized
diffusion approximation to determine internal radiation which
is assessed by comparing predictions (based on an optically
thick assumption) with results from discrete ordinates method
(DOM).
Slip cast fused silica (SCFS) is a ceramic material widely
used due to its favorable properties such as high resistance to
thermal shock as well as proper electromagnetic characteristics
[6]. This amorphous ceramic is a porous, optically opaque, and
white body. SCFS ceramic is usually machined using
conventional grinding.

2212-8271 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of 7th HPC 2016 in the person of the Conference Chair
Prof. Matthias Putz
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2016.04.068
572 Hossein Roostaei and Mohammad R. Movahhedy / Procedia CIRP 46 (2016) 571 – 574

The present study explores the transient heat transfer due to
LAM in SCFS ceramics. Material removal is not considered in
this model. A finite element heat transfer model is presented,
and the results from the numerical model of laser heating using
are compared with those from experiments.
3.2. Heat transfer formulation
The governing transient three-dimensional heat equation of
a rotating cylinder in a nonrotating cylindrical coordinate
system ( r , M , z ) can be written as [4]:

2. Experimental setup
1 w § wT · 1 w § wT ·
¨ kr ¸ 2 ¨k ¸
The experimental facility employed for laser assisted r wr © wr ¹ r wM © wM ¹
machining of SCFS ceramics is depicted in Fig. 1. The laser w § w T · w  UZ c p T  w  U c p T  (1)
heat source was a pulsed-wave Nd:YAG (Neodymium-doped ¨k  ¸  0
wz © wz ¹ wM wt
(ND3+): Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (YAG)) laser (wavelength
of 1.06 µm) Model IQL-20 with a maximum average power of
750 W. The range of pulse frequency, pulse energy, and pulse where k , U , cp , Z , T , and t are thermal conductivity (W/m
duration of the laser were 1-250 Hz, 0-40 J, and 0.2-25 ms, K), density (Kg/m3), specific heat capacity at constant pressure
respectively. The heating operation was performed on a lathe. (J/kg K), rotational speed of the workpiece (rad/s), temperature
Cylindrical SCFS workpiece with a diameter of 35 mm and (K), and time (s), respectively. The workpiece surface
length of 100 mm was used in a three jaw chuck. Furthermore, experiences radiation, convection, and laser heat flux. The
a dial gauge was used to remove eccentricity. Temperature fixed end of the workpiece can be assumed as an adiabatic
measurements were performed using micro-epsilon CT-SF02- surface, and its free end experiences radiation and convection.
C3 thermometer. The laser beam was delivered through a fiber The spatial distribution of the laser heating is assumed to be
optic cable on the surface of workpiece at an angle of 73º Gaussian. The two dimensional Gaussian distribution of laser
circumferentially ahead of the thermometer. The initial heat flux in a flat x  y plane can be expressed as:
temperature of the workpiece was 298 K and the ambient air
temperature was 298 K too.
cp k
3. Simulation procedure
Specific Heat Capacity (J/Kg K)

Thermal Conductivity (W/m K)

1250 1.3
3.1. Thermo-physical properties of SCFS ceramics
1150 1.2
The properties of the SCFS material are temperature-dependent 1050 1.1
required, including specific heat, thermal conductivity, and
950 1.0
density. Fig. 2 shows the variation of specific heat capacity and
thermal conductivity of SCFS ceramics versus temperature [7]. 850 0.9
The variation of density versus temperature is depicted in Fig. 750 0.8
3 [8]. The absorptivity of SCFS ceramics is about 0.06. Due to
the lack of a specified emissivity value, it can be assumed that 650 0.7
250
350
450
550
650
750
850
950
1050
1150
1250
1350
the workpiece surfaces have diffuse and grey behaviour (i.e.,
emissivity is equal to absorptivity). Temperature (K)

Fig. 2. Specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of SCFS ceramics vs.
temperature [7].

2205
2204
Density (Kg/m3)

2203
2202
2201
2200
2199
2198
200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Temperature (K)
Fig. 3. Density of SCFS ceramics vs. temperature [8].
Fig. 1. Experimental setup for laser-assisted machining of SCFS ceramic.
 Hossein Roostaei and Mohammad R. Movahhedy / Procedia CIRP 46 (2016) 571 – 574 573

4. Results and discussion

§ 2  x2  y 2  ·
q cc( x, y ) I 0 exp ¨  ¸
¨ w2 ¸ The spot diameter of the infrared thermometer is 5 mm with
© ¹
in which,
2P
I0
S w2
P Ep H
where I 0 , qcc , w , P , E p , and H are the intensity scale factor
(W/m2), laser heat flux (W/m2), the laser beam radius at which
q cc / I 0 1 / e 2 , the incident laser average power (W), the
energy per pulse (J), and the frequency of laser pulse (Hz),
respectively.
3.3. Finite element analysis
Numerical simulations for the transient heat transfer of
LAM of SCFS ceramics are performed utilizing a three-
dimensional finite element model. Fig. 4 shows the simulation
results, showing temperature distribution after two revolutions
of the workpiece. The simulations are carried out in the
commercial finite element ABAQUS/Standard software. The
laser beam heat flux is implemented in a user-defined
subroutine named DFLUX which is developed to define non-
uniform distributed heat flux as a function of time. The
cylindrical workpiece is modelled with eight-node linear heat
transfer brick elements. Although smaller mesh size increases
the accuracy of numerical results, it leads to higher
computational cost. Consequently, a suitable mesh size is
adopted which is a trade-off between accuracy and cost. On the
other hand, an appropriate time step selection is required for
each transient heat transfer problem. The size of time steps
should be determined by considering the pulse frequency and
the pulse duration of the laser. A small enough time step is
needed in order to achieve convergence.
Fig. 4. Temperature distribution due to laser heating after two revolutions of
the workpiece.
(2)
temperature resolution of ±0.1 ºC, and surface temperature
measurement range of the thermometer is from -50 to 600 ºC.
The axial distance between the center of the thermometer beam
(3) and the workpiece free end is fixed in 5 mm. Experimental
operating conditions for laser assisted turning of SCFS
ceramics are given in the followings. The pulse frequency of
(4) Nd:YAG laser, the spot diameter of the laser beam incident on
the surface of the workpiece, and the laser average power are
35 Hz, 4.8 mm, and 100 W, respectively. In addition, the pulse
duration of the laser and axial translation of the laser per
revolution (feed rate) are 1.5 ms and 0.1 mm/rev, respectively.
The workpiece rotational speed is 115 rev/min. Furthermore, in
the absence of gas assisted jet (natural convection), convective
heat transfer coefficient is assumed to be about 20 W/m2 K.
The thermometer depicts an average of temperatures of the
workpiece surface in its spot area. On the other hand, the
computed results achieved by the finite element analysis are
nodal temperatures. In order to be able to compare
experimental results from the thermometer with the numerical
simulation results, averaged values of temperatures obtained
from the simulation (temperatures are averaged over nodes
located in the area on the meshed surface corresponding to the
thermometer spot) are calculated as comparable results.
Fig. 5. illustrates simulated and experimentally measured
surface temperature histories at the fixed location of the
thermometer for above mentioned operating conditions. It can
be observed from this figure that when the laser spot
approaches the thermometer measurement location on the
surface of the workpiece, the temperature rises rapidly. In
addition, the thermometer measurements are slightly lower
than the simulation results in the range of 25 to 43 s. Moreover,
differences between numerical predictions and experimental
measurements for the time higher than 43 s and lower than 25
s increase significantly. The maximum temperature difference
in the range of 0 to 50 s is about 40 K. Also, the peak value of
temperature is about 338 K which is occurred at 29 s.
340
335
330
Temperature (K)
325
320
315 Simulation
results
310
Experimental
305 results
300
295
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (s)
Fig. 5. Experimental and numerical surface temperature histories.
574 Hossein Roostaei and Mohammad R. Movahhedy / Procedia CIRP 46 (2016) 571 – 574
5. Conclusion
A 3D finite element simulation of heat transfer due to laser
radiation on the surface of workpiece in laser assisted heating
of SCFS ceramics is presented. Temperature-dependent
thermo-physical properties of ceramic are employed in the
simulation. The numerical model is verified through
comparison with the experimental results obtained in laser
assisted turning of SCFS ceramics using a pulsed Nd:YAG
laser.
The validity of the heat transfer model provides a tool to
study the effect of laser parameter and cutting conditions on the
efficiency of the LAM process, and to optimize these
parameters. In the actual LAM process, the cutting tool is
located in place of the thermometer and cuts the material at the
measured temperature. The present thermal model should be
combined with a cutting model to provide a full analysis of the
LAM process, which is the next step in the present research.
Acknowledgement
The experimental part of the work is performed in the Laser
lab in Malik Ashtar University, Shahinshahr, for which the
authors like to thank Dr. R. Shoja Razavi.
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