ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Pulsed Nd:YAG laser turning of micro-groove

on aluminum oxide ceramic (Al2O3)
D. Dhupal, B. Doloi, B. Bhattacharyya
Production Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India
Received 15 May 2007; received in revised form 4 August 2007; accepted 13 August 2007
Available online 28 August 2007

Abstract
The present study investigates the relationship of processes parameters of pulsed Nd:YAG laser-turning operation for production of
micro-groove on cylindrical workpiece of ceramic material. A microprocessor-based work holding device has been developed to provide
the rotational motion of cylindrical work pieces for micro-turning operation. Laser turning of micro-grooves on ceramics is highly
demanded in the present industry because of its wide and potential uses in various elds such as automobile, aerospace and bio-medical
engineering applications, etc. Experiments have been conducted on laser micro-grooving of aluminum oxide (Al2O3). The central
composite second-order rotatable design (CCD) had been utilized to plan the experiments and response surface methodology was
employed for developing empirical models. Analysis on machining characteristics of pulsed Nd:YAG laser micro-grooving operation was
made based on the developed models. In this study, lamp current, pulse frequency, pulse width, assist air pressure and cutting speed of
work piece are considered as laser machining process parameters. The process performances such as upper deviation (Yuw), lower
deviation (Ylw) and depth (Yd) characteristics of laser-turned micro-grooves produced on cylindrical work piece made of Al2O3 were
evaluated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test had also been carried out to check the adequacy of the developed regression empirical
models. The observed optimal process parameter settings are lamp current of 22.517 A, pulse frequency of 1.477 kHz, pulse width of
2.394% of duty cycle, cutting speed of 10.4283 rpm and assist air pressure of 1.3 kgf/cm2 for achieving minimum upper deviation, lower
deviation and depth of laser-turned micro-grooves, and nally the results were experimentally veried. From the analysis, it was found
that proper control of the process parameters lead to achieve minimum upper deviation, lower deviation and depth of laser-turned microgrooves produced on cylindrical workpiece of Al2O3.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Pulsed Nd:YAG laser; Laser turning; Micro-groove; Aluminum (Al2O3)

1. Introduction
Due to the hardness and brittleness properties of most
ceramic materials, conventional mechanical-type machining process results in signicant amount of tool wear with
high manufacturing cost. However, laser machining is a
promising non-contact machining process for effective
machining of difcult-to-process advanced ceramics [1,2].
In laser machining a single laser beam pocket-turning
technique is used to remove the volume of material through
selective melting and vaporizing. Increasing interest in the
use of lasers for manufacturing can be attributed to several
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 33 24146153; fax: +91 33 24137121.

E-mail address: bb13@rediffmail.com (B. Bhattacharyya).

0890-6955/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2007.08.016

unique advantages that are generally applicable to the

entire range of materials processing applications, such as
high productivity, non-contact processing, elimination of
nishing operations, adaptability to automation, reduced
processing cost, improved product quality, greater material
utilization, minimal heat-affected zone and green manufacturing [3,4], etc. In practical applications such as
drilling, grooving, cutting or scribing, one must nd a set
of parameters that provide the optimal results under
particular processing constraints [5]. As laser beam
machining is a complex dynamic process with numerous
parameters, the non-linear behavior of the laser material
interactions plays a signicant role in forming the surface
prole and resultant geometry of the laser-turned microgroove on cylindrical work piece. During the laser

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

machining process, molten material is ejected from the

laser-turned grooves by the supersonic off-axial gas jets
[6,7]. The laser parameters typically include pulse energy,
pulse repetition rate, pulse duration, assist air pressure,
optical and physical properties. The typical constraints for
ceramic material include the properties of the ceramic,
desired feature quality, feature size and thermal properties
[8,9]. The need to precisely control a large number of
parameters with random components makes the task of
improving machining performance difcult. In this present
work, the laser turning of micro-grooves on aluminum
oxide (Al2O3) by Nd:YAG laser pulses has been studied
experimentally and an emphasis has been given on
generation of the square groove geometry with desired
width and depth. Maintaining the upper width, lower
width and depth during laser-turned micro-groove is most
important during laser-turning operation due to inherent
focusing characteristics of the laser machining process and
accuracy of the work holding xture [10,11]. The upper
width, lower width and depth generation on cylindrical
workpiece by Nd:YAG laser depends on the parametric
combination of the laser beam and cutting speed of the
workpiece. Also, the non-uniform melts and ejection of
material from the groove walls and laser power reduction
as the beam propagated to the groove can be identied as
causes for variation in lower width and depth formation
[1214]. In order to achieve higher quality machined
surface and better prole accuracy during laser-turned
micro-grooving on cylindrical ceramic workpiece, especially Al2O3, intensive research is needed. Attempt has been
made to develop empirical model based on response
surface methodology for optimization of upper width,
lower width and depth deviation. Analysis has also been
made to investigate the inuence of different predominant
laser-turning parameters on the considered criteria of
machined micro-grooves on Al2O3 material.

2. Nd:YAG laser-turning system for micro-grooving

CNC pulse Nd:YAG laser machining system including
various subsystems operating on TEM00 mode was used
for carrying out the experiments. The laser beam was
focused with a lens having a focal length of 50 mm. The
focal plane of the laser was set at the surface of the rotating
cylindrical workpiece. The laser beam spot size is
approximately 0.1 mm. Al2O3 cylindrical pieces were
micro-grooved with multiple laser pulses with actual peak
powers ranging between 0.7 and 5 kW. Experiments were
performed with the use of compressed air as per the
experimental design. Fig. 1 shows the schematic representation of Nd:YAG laser-turning system. Over the XY
CNC table, the developed work holding device is placed for
holding and rotating the cylindrical work piece with
desired cutting speed. CCD camera together with CCTV
monitor is used for viewing the location of work piece and
also for checking the proper focusing condition of the

237

surface of work piece before laser machining so as to

control the location of laser beam spot accurately.
2.1. Developed cylindrical work piece holding device for
laser turning
To perform laser turning of micro-grooving operation
on cylindrical jobs by Nd:YAG laser, a micro-processorcontrolled work holding devices have been indigenously
developed to provide the rotational motion of the
cylindrical work piece. Fig. 2 exhibits photographic view
of the developed work piece holding device for laser
turning. The cylindrical job having diameter ranging from
8 to 15 mm can be held by a collet that is attached to a
stepper motor, the stepper motor helps to rotate the collet
and job simultaneously. For laser turning of micro-groove
operation in a cylindrical job, the rotation of collet must be
free of eccentric movement. Nd:YAG laser beam falls in a
xed point. Work piece can be rotated in clockwise or
counter clockwise direction during machining operations.
The rotational speed of the work piece can be accurately
controlled with the help of stepper motor controller
unit. The whole device is placed on CNC XY table
for achieving desired movement during laser turning.
A microprocessor-controlled unit is connected to the
stepper motor to get the desired cutting speed in clockwise
or counter clockwise direction with the aid of stored
machine language programs. The feed is given along the
axis to the rotational work piece with the help of CNC
XY table control unit for laser-turning operation. For
achieving the desired depth of the groove, the laser beam is
focused after each pass by controlling the movement of lens
with the help of CNC Z-axis motion control unit. Finally,
the desired micro-groove with high accuracy is generated
utilizing the principle of laser-turning operation on
cylindrical work piece.
3. Experimental planning based on response surface
methodology
Micro-grooving operation was performed on cylindrical
Al2O3 work piece of size of 10 mm diameter and 40 mm
length. Major properties of Al2O3 are listed in Table 1.
Fig. 3 shows the cross-sectional drawing of the targeted
shape of micro-groove to be generated by laser turning.
Response surface modeling has been made to establish the
mathematical relationship between the response, yu and the
various machining parameters. General second-order
polynomial response surface empirical model, which is
considered to analyze the parametric inuences on the
various response criteria, is as follows [15]:
Y u b0

n
X
i1

bi X iu

n
X
i1

bii X 2iu

n
X

bij X iu X iu eu ,

(1)

ioj

where, Yu, is the corresponding response and the Xiu are

coded values of the ith machining process parameters, the

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

L
A
S
E
R

COOLING SYSTEM
CCD
Nd:YAG ROD

CCTV

Kr ARC LAMP

1 2 3

LASER HEAD

1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
7.

C
O
N
T
R
O
L
L
E
R

EXPANDER
FRONT MIRROR (80% REFLECTIVITY)
INTER CAVITY APERTURE
SAFETY SHUTTER
5. Q SWITCH
INTER CAVITY APERTURE
REAR MIRROR (100% REFLECTIVITY)
X-Y-Z CNC
CONTROLER

REGULATER
AIR/GAS

WORKPIECE
HOLDER

CO-AXIAL NOZZLE
STEPPER
CONTROLLER
WORKPIECE
FIXTURE

TABLE

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of CNC pulsed Nd:YAG laser-turning system.

terms b0, bi, bii and bij are the regression coefcients and
the residual, eu measures the experimental error of the uth
observations.
The range of air pressure, lamp current, pulse frequency,
pulsed width and cutting speed setting have been selected
after performing some pilot experiments. Actual and coded
values of the process parameters have been listed in
Table 2. Experiments have been carried out according
to the experimental plan based on central composite
rotatable second-order design (CCRD). The CCRD consists of 2K fractional factorial points with six center points
and 10 star points [15]. Design of experiment matrix
showing coded values of the process parameters is shown in
Table 3. Upper width, lower width and depth of the
machined micro-grooves were measured at 10  magnication with the help of optical measuring microscope
(Olympus STM6). SEM micrographs of laser-turned
micro-grooves have also been taken for further analysis.
The response criterion such as upper deviation (Yuw), lower
deviation (Ylw) and depth (Yd) in mm has been calculated
as follows:
Y uw Y auw  Y tuw ,

(2)

Y lw Y alw  Y tlw ,

(3)

Y d Y ad  Y td

(4)

FIXTURE

STEPPER
MOTOR

LASER DELIVERY
SYSTEM
WORKPIECE
CNC TABLE

WORK HOLDING
DEVICE
Fig. 2. Photographic view of the developed work piece holding and
rotating device.

where Yauw actual upper width, Ytuw target upper width,

Yalw actual lower width, Ytlw target lower width, Yad actual
depth and Ytd target depth.
If the actual observed dimension of micro-groove is
more than the targeted dimension then it is positive. While
it is less than the targeted dimension then it is negative and
when the micro-groove is equal to the targeted dimension it
is taken as zero.
The observed data from the set of experiments were used
as inputs to MINITAB software and MATLAB 6.5 to

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239

following regression equations:

Table 1
Properties of alumina (Al2O3)

Y uw  0:00376  0:01690X 1  0:00251X 2

Properties

Values and units

Melting temperature
Creep rate
Density
Specic heat
Activation energy
Thermal conductivity
Tensile strength
Thermal diffusivity
Bulk modulus
Shear modulus
Grain size

2050 1C
109 s1 at 150 Mpa
3.984 g/cm3
755 J/kg K
325(25) kJ/mol
33 W/mK
267 MPa
0.111 cm2/s
257 GPa
167 GPa
5 mm

 0:00288X 3 0:00048X 4 0:00185X 5

0:00678X 21 0:00232X 22 0:00276X 23
 0:00012X 24 0:00207X 25 0:00004X 1 X 2
 0:00134X 1 X 3 0:00188X 1 X 4  0:00225X 1 X 5
 0:00149X 2 X 3  0:00081X 2 X 4  0:00052X 2 X 5
0:00114X 3 X 4  0:00262X 3 X 5 0:00120X 4 X 5 ,
5
Y lw 0:01857  0:01330X 1  0:00247X 2  0:00268X 3

200m

200m

0:00120X 4  0:00391X 5 0:00299X 21 0:00224X 22

 0:00137X 23  0:00122X 24 0:00051X 25 0:00235X 1 X 2

 0:00122X 1 X 3  0:00168X 1 X 4 0:00197X 1 X 5

 0:00197X 2 X 3  0:00175X 2 X 4 0:00166X 2 X 5
 0:0078X 3 X 4  0:00211X 3 X 5 0:00378X 4 X 5 , 6

200m

Y d 0:01265  0:02510X 1  0:00263X 2 0:00451X 3

Fig. 3. Cross-sectional drawing of the targeted micro-groove.

0:00479X 4  0:00229X 5 0:00338X 21 0:00383X 22

0:00168X 23 0:00157X 24  0:00112X 25  0:00214X 1 X 2

 0:00472X 1 X 3  0:00264X 1 X 4 0:00260X 1 X 5

Table 2
Actual and corresponding coded values of laser turning process
parameters
Parameters

Air pressure
Lamp current
Pulse frequency
Pulse width
Cutting speed

Unit

kg/cm2
A
kHz
%
rpm

Symbol

X1
X2
X3
X4
X5

Levels

 0:00035X 2 X 3  0:00314X 2 X 4  0:00365X 2 X 5

 0:00425X 3 X 4 0:00006X 3 X 5 0:00393X 4 X 5 .
7

2

1

0.3
13
1
2
7

0.8
16
2
4
12

1.3
19
3
6
17

1.8
22
4
8
22

2.3
25
5
10
27

establish empirical models and surface plots of various

parametric combination of response surface, respectively.
Parametric optimization has also been carried out for
searching out optimal input parametric condition for
achieving desired criterion yields during pulsed Nd:YAG
laser turning of micro-groove on Al2O3.

4. Empirical modeling of responses

Empirical models based on RSM for correlating the
upper deviation (Yuw), lower deviation (Ylw) and depth
(Yd) of micro-groove with various predominant laserturning parameters as considered in the experimental
design have been established and represented by the

In order to judge the adequacy of the developed

empirical models for upper deviation, lower width and
depth of the laser-turned micro-grooves on Al2O3, analysis
of variance (ANOVA) test has been carried out. Table 4
shows the results of ANOVA for developed empirical
models of the responses. The p-value of the source of
regression model and linear effects are much lower than
0.05 for all the responses. For all the regression models, the
linear as well as square effects of process parameters are
signicant. The calculated F-value of the lack-of-t for
upper deviation, lower deviation and depth are 0.96, 2.78
and 2.8, respectively, and the values are lower than the
tabulated value of the F-distribution, 4.06 as found from
the standard table at 95% condence level. Therefore, the
developed second-order regression models for upper
deviation, lower deviation and depth are signicant at
95% condence level [15]. Whether the data are well tted
in the model or not, the R2 values for all the models have
been determined as 90.2%, 88.6% and 96.4% where the
R-squared is dened as SSmodel/SStotal and will interpret the
proportion of the variability of the data by the ANOVA
developed by response surface regression model using
MINITAB software. These values are moderately high;
hence the observed data are well tted in the developed
models.

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240

Table 3
Design of experiments matrix of coded values of process parameters and observed responses
Coded values

Responses

Exp no.

A/P X1

L/C X2

P/F X3

P/W X4

C/S X5

Upper deviation, mm

Lower deviation, mm

Depth deviation, mm

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0

0.00919
0.03016
0.00800
0.01980
0.00440
0.00990
0.01200
0.00480
0.02470
0.01100
0.03094
0.03450
0.02000
0.00830
0.02100
0.00040
0.02020
0.00790
0.00260
0.00150
0.02750
0.01550
0.00966
0.00190
0.06120
0.00550
0.00060
0.00900
0.02450
0.00990
0.00500
0.00620

0.00825
0.03116
0.00720
0.02050
0.00080
0.01595
0.00840
0.00550
0.03500
0.00100
0.03100
0.04100
0.02500
0.01384
0.04950
0.02020
0.00980
0.03020
0.03020
0.02020
0.03100
0.02650
0.03000
0.01100
0.02584
0.06620
0.02150
0.02004
0.01450
0.02770
0.01610
0.01550

0.01000
0.03700
0.01000
0.01050
0.00190
0.00230
0.00500
0.00200
0.07350
0.02000
0.07400
0.04357
0.03800
0.01000
0.05370
0.01100
0.03600
0.02800
0.02800
0.02010
0.01050
0.03500
0.02250
0.00300
0.00450
0.08050
0.01000
0.01300
0.02000
0.02100
0.01020
0.02000

(A/P: air pressure, P/F: pulse frequency, L/P: lamp current, P/W: pulsed width, C/S: cutting speed).

Table 4
Results of analysis of variance for upper deviation, lower deviation and
depth
Source

Upper deviation

Lower deviation

Depth

F-value

P-value

F-value

P-value

F-value P-value

0.004
0.000
0.037
0.919

4.29
13.75
1.51
0.95

0.008
0.000
0.265
0.531

14.54
50.69
2.67
2.40

0.000
0.000
0.081
0.083

0.528

2.78

0.141

2.80

0.139

Regression
5.04
Linear
15.81
Square
3.56
Interaction
0.40
Residual error
Lack-of-t
0.96

5. Parametric analysis on machining characteristics of

pulsed Nd:YAG laser turning

Fig. 4. Photographic view of micro-grooves generated on work piece by

laser turning.

The parametric analysis has been carried out to study the

inuences of the process parameters such as air pressure,
lamp current, pulse frequency, pulse width and cutting
speed on the machining responses i.e. upper deviation,

lower deviation and depth during laser turning based on

the developed empirical models as established through
RSM and response surface plot using MATLAB software.

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Fig. 4 shows the photographic view of the laser-turned

micro-grooves on Al2O3 workpiece. The dimensional
accuracy of the micro-groove produced by laser-turning
operation has been controlled properly during various set
of experimentation.
5.1. Analysis of parametric influences on upper deviation of
laser-turned micro-groove
The dimensional upper deviation from the target has to
be minimized. The inuences of the laser machining
processes parameters such as lamp current, pulse frequency, pulse width, air pressure and cutting speed on the
dimensional upper deviation has been analyzed. Fig. 5
shows effect of lamp current and pulse frequency on upper
deviation, keeping pulse width as 6% of duty cycle, air
pressure as 1.3 kgf/cm2 and cutting speed of the work piece
as 17 rpm. The value of upper deviation is positive, zero or
negative depending on the difference between the actual
measured value of upper width and the target value of the
upper width of the micro-groove as planned to cut on
cylindrical ceramic work piece. The upper deviation
becomes negative with the increase in lamp current and
the increase in pulse frequency. The non-linear nature of
variation of the upper deviation with applied lamp current
and pulse frequency has been observed. The energy of laser
beam mainly depends on lamp current. As the lamp current
increases, the laser beam energy increases and the top
surface melted at a faster rate due to the high energy of the
laser beam. High-energy laser beam produces low upper
deviation because of the fact that it removes material from
the top surface as well as penetrates at a faster rate into the
material to obtain the desired depth. The change in upper
deviation of laser-turned micro-groove with pulse fre-

quency is less compared with that of the lamp current. The

nature of variation of upper width at xed lamp current
follows similar pattern at different pulse frequency.
Fig. 6 represents the effects of lamp current and pulse
width on upper deviation of the laser-turned micro-groove,
while pulse frequency of 3 kHz, air pressure of 1.3 kgf/cm2
and cutting speed of 17 rpm are set as constant. From the
graph, it can be observed that the pulse width has moderate
effect on upper deviation as compared with lamp current.
At low pulse width the upper deviation of the micro-groove
approaches to zero hence the target value of the upper
width can be achieved while laser turning performed at
lower pulse width. At high value of lamp current the upper
deviation increases with the increase in pulse width. At
high lamp current and moderately low pulse width the
upper deviation is less during laser-turned micro-grooving
operation. The variation of upper deviation with pulse
width is less compared with that of the lamp current.
Fig. 7 shows the effects of air pressure and cutting speed
on upper deviation while other process parameters remain
unchanged like previous set of experiments. From the
response plot it has been observed that at low cutting speed
of the work piece as air pressure increases, the upper
deviation becomes less. Hence, higher air pressure is
recommended for higher dimensional accuracy in the form
of upper deviation while the laser turning of micro-grooves
is done at low cutting speed. At moderately low air
pressure, the upper deviation becomes negative because
ejection of the material due to assist air is poor. From the
response plot it is found that the change in cutting speed of
work piece also plays a vital role for achieving less
dimensional upper deviation of the laser-turned microgroove. At low cutting speed, the material of the work
piece absorbed sufcient amount of heat energy for longer

0.08

Upper Deviation (mm)

0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02
-2

-1

0
Pulse frequency (kHz)

241

-1

Lamp current (amp)

Fig. 5. Effect of lamp current and pulse frequency on upper deviation.

-2

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

0.08

Upper Deviation (mm)

0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02
-2

-1

-1

0
Pulse width (% of duty cycle)

-2

0
Lamp current (amp)

Fig. 6. Effect of lamp current and pulse width on upper deviation.

Upper Deviation (mm)

0.015
0.01
0.005
0
-0.005
-0.01
2
2

1
0
Air pressure (kgf/sq. cm)

1
0

-1

-1
-2

-2

Cutting Speed (rpm)

Fig. 7. Effect of cutting speed and air pressure on upper deviation.

time, as a result, the material is removed from the upper

surface to obtain the required upper deviation. At high
cutting speed, but at higher pressure of assist air the
ablation rate of material from the upper surface is higher,
as a result the upper deviation becomes highly positive.
From the graph it is also found that at low cutting speed
with high assist air pressure, the upper deviation is less and
approaches to the target value. The assist air at highpressure cools the localized heating zone, causing slower
rate of material removal while work piece is rotated at low

cutting speed. The cutting speed of the workpiece has nonlinear effect on upper deviation at different air pressure.
5.2. Analysis of parametric influences on lower deviation of
laser-turned micro-groove
Producing precise lower width in laser-turned microgroove is very difcult and the deviation of machined lower
width depends on the pulsed Nd:YAG laser machining
process parameters during micro-grooving operation. The

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

inuences of the laser machining parameters such as lamp

current, pulse frequency, pulse width, air pressure and
cutting speed on lower deviation during laser turning of
micro-grooves on cylindrical Al2O3 workpiece has been
analyzed. Fig. 8 shows the effect of lamp current and pulse
frequency on lower deviation keeping pulse width at 6% of
duty cycle, air pressure at 1.3 kgf/cm2 and cutting speed at
17 rpm as constant. The response plot shows that the lower
deviation is minimum at high lamp current and medium
value of pulse frequency. From the plot, it is also observed

that the lamp current and pulse frequency have non-linear

effect on the lower deviation. The energy of the laser beam
mainly depends on lamp current and pulse frequency. As
lamp current increases and the pulse frequency reaches an
optimum level, the penetration of the laser beam on work
piece is high and material removal rate increases from the
top surface as well as from the bottom surface, as a result,
the lower deviation reaches a minimum level.
Fig. 9 shows the effects of lamp current and pulse width
on lower deviation of the laser-turned micro-groove. Pulse

0.09

Lower Deviation (mm)

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
-2

-1

Pulse frequencey (kHz)

-1

-2

Lamp current (amp)

Fig. 8. Effect of lamp current and pulse frequency on lower deviation.

0.06
0.05

Lower Deviation (mm)

0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
-0.01
-0.02
-2

-1

Pulse width (% duty cycle)

243

-1

Lamp current (amp)

Fig. 9. Effect of lamp current and pulse width on lower deviation.

-2

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frequency of 3 kHz, air pressure of 1.3 kgf/cm2 and cutting

speed of 17 rpm are taken as constant. The graph reects
that the pulse width has smaller effect on lower deviation at
different lamp current. The lamp current has grater effect
on the lower deviation. At medium pulse width and
medium lamp current the lower deviation is minimum. At
high pulse width the peak power of the laser beam for
penetration is comparatively less so the effective energy for
penetration to the work piece is less and less amount of
material is removed from the lower surface of the microgroove. As a result, the observed value is lesser than the
target and the lower deviation becomes negative. At lower
pulse width, the peak power of the laser beam is higher and
due to this the energy of the laser beam at the bottom
surface is sufcient to remove the material so as to achieve
the target dimension of the lower width, as a result the
lower deviation approaches towards zero.
The effects of cutting speed of work piece and pressure of
assist air on lower deviation during laser-turned microgroove have been shown in Fig. 10. Lamp current of
19 amp, pulse frequency of 3 kHz and pulse width of 6% of
duty cycle are taken as constant. Air pressure and cutting
speed have the inuence on lower deviation of laser-turned
micro-groove for Al2O3. At high air pressure and medium
value of cutting speed the lower deviation reaches the
target value. At high air pressure as cutting speed increases,
the lower deviation also increases. As both the assist air
pressure and cutting speed decreases, the lower deviation
increases. At medium cutting speed and high pressure of
assist air, the ejection of material removal from the bottom
surface is better, which causes low lower deviation.

Increase in cutting speed causes slower rate of laser beam

interaction with work piece, so material removal rate is
slow and the lower deviation becomes negative. The
negative deviation means that the observed value of lower
width is less than the target value of lower width of the
micro-groove.
5.3. Analysis of parametric influences on depth of laserturned micro-groove
Achieving the precise depth of laser-turned micro-groove
by pulsed Nd:YAG laser depends on the pulsed Nd:YAG
laser machining parameters. Therefore, inuences of the
laser machining parameters such as lamp current, pulse
frequency, pulse width, air pressure and cutting speed on
depth phenomena during laser micro-grooving has been
analyzed. Fig. 11 shows the effect of lamp current and
pulse frequency on depth, keeping pulse width at 6% of
duty cycle, air pressure at 1.3 kgf/cm2 and cutting speed at
17 rpm as constant. It is observed that depth sharply varies
with the lamp current. Pulse frequency has moderate effect
on depth. At low frequency the depth of micro-groove is
minimum. As the lamp current increases and pulse
frequency decreases to a certain level, the laser beam
power is sufcient so as to achieve the target depth of laser
penetration into the work piece; hence the depth of laserturned micro-groove becomes minimum.
The effects of lamp current and pulse width on depth of
laser-turned micro-groove have been shown in Fig. 12. Air
pressure at 1.3 kgf/cm2, pulse frequency at 3 kHz and
cutting speed at 17 rpm are taken as constant. The response

0.04
0.035

Lower Deviation (mm)

0.03
0.025
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
-0.005
-0.01

0
Air pressure (kgf/sq.cm)

-1

-1

Cutting Speed (rpm)

-2

Fig. 10. Effect of cutting speed and air pressure on lower deviation.

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245

0.1
0.08

Depth (mm)

0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02
-0.04
-2

-1

Pulse frequency (kHz)

-1
0
Lamp current (amp)

-2

Fig. 11. Effect of lamp current and pulse frequency on depth.

0.12
0.1

Depth (mm)

0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02
-0.04
-2

-1

-1

1
Pulse width (% of duty cycle)

-2

0
Lamp current (amp)

Fig. 12. Effect of lamp current and pulse width on depth.

surface plot reects that the pulse width has less effect on
depth at different lamp currents. The lamp current has
greater effect on the depth of the micro-groove. At medium
value of lamp current, the depth is less as compared with
low lamp current. At low pulse width and moderately high
lamp current, the deviation is almost zero. At high pulse
width the peak power of the laser beam for penetration is
comparatively less. Due to the less effective energy for
penetration, the upper surface is heated rapidly and the

material removal from the top surface becomes faster than

the bottom surface. Hence, the depth of the micro-groove
from the target is more as compared with lower pulse
width.
The effects of air pressure and cutting speed on depth
during laser micro-groove have been shown in Fig. 13. The
parameters i.e. lamp current at 19 amp, pulse frequency at
3 kHz and pulse width at 6% of duty cycle are taken as
constant. Air pressure and cutting speed have good

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

0.04
0.03

Depth (mm)

0.02
0.01
0
-0.01
-0.02
-2
-1

-1

0
Air pressure (kgf/sq.cm)

1
2

-2

0
Cutting Speed (rpm)

Fig. 13. Effect of cutting speed and air pressure on depth.

inuences on the depth of laser-turned micro-groove for

cylindrical ceramic work piece. From the response plot it is
observed that at low air pressure and medium rotational
speed of the job, the depth of the micro-groove is
minimum. At low air pressure and low cutting speed, the
observed depth of the micro-groove becomes larger due to
higher absorbed energy of the laser beam; as a result the
deviation in depth from the target becomes larger. As the
cutting speed increases and air pressure decreases from a
certain point, the depth becomes negative because the
observed depth is less than the target due to the lesser
amount of energy absorbed by the work piece material at
lesser time of interaction between the material and laser
beam. As the assist air pressure decreases, the material
removal rate from the laser-turned micro-groove also
decreases because there is a tendency of re-solidication
of the material at the lower surface and the ejection of the
material from the lower surface is poor. As a result,
observed depth becomes smaller and the depth becomes
negative. Assist air with moderately high pressure and
higher cutting speed is effective for accurate depth
generation.
6. Multi-objective optimization of upper width, lower width
and depth deviation of laser-turned micro-groove
Three responses i.e. upper deviation, lower deviation and
depth of the laser-turned micro-grooves on Al2O3 cylindrical ceramic workpiece have been optimized simulta-

neously using developed empirical models, i.e. Eqs. (5)(7)

based on multi-objective optimization technique. The
MINITAB software has been utilized for multi-objective
optimization. Fig. 14 represents the optimized graphs of all
the responses and also the optimization results.
The current optimal process parameter settings are lamp
current of 22.517 A, pulse frequency of 1.4777 kHz, pulse
width of 2.3954% of duty cycle, cutting speed of
10.4383 rpm and air pressure of 0.9238 kgf/cm2 for achieving the minimum upper deviation (Yuw), lower deviation
(Ylw) and depth (Yd). The value of composite desirability
(D) is taken as 1. All three responses are optimized at the
above parametric combination with composite desirability
(D) value of 1 and optimized responses values of Yuw, Ylw
and Yd are 0.0001, 0.0002 and 0.0009, respectively.
Experiments were performed to cut and verify the microgroove at the above optimal input parametric setting for
upper width, lower width and depth, and deviation in
dimensions were compared with optimal response values.
The observed dimension of the experimental results of the
upper width, lower width and depth of the micro-groove
machined on Al2O3 are 0.2061, 0.1891 and 0.2025 mm,
respectively. Table 5 gives the optimal process parametric
setting for multi-objective optimization of laser-turned
micro-groove on Al2O3. Table 6 shows the percentage of
error for experimental validation of the developed models
for the responses with optimal parametric setting during
laser-turning operation to produce micro-groove on Al2O3.
Figs. 15(a) and (b) exhibit the SEM micrographs of upper

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247

Fig. 14. Multi-objective optimization results for minimum upper deviation, lower deviation and depth of micro-groove.

Table 5
RSM-based optima parametric settings for upper and lower width and
depth of micro-groove
Parameters

Units

Multi-optimal
parameter setting
upper width, lower
width and depth

Lamp current
Pulse frequency
Pulse width
Air pressure
Cutting speed

amp
kHz
%
kgf/cm2
rpm

22.517
1.477
2.394
0.9228
10.4283

Table 6
Experimental validations of developed models for responses with optimal
parameter settings
Responses Targeted output
(mm)

Experimental output Percentage of error

(mm)
(%)

Upper
width
Lower
width
Depth

0.2

0.2061

0.89

0.2

0.1891

1.09

0.2

0.2025

0.61

and lower end part of micro-groove, respectively, turned at

optimal parametric setting for minimum upper deviation,
lower deviation and depth during laser-turned microgroove operation on Al2O3. The micro-graphs clearly
indicate the better quality of prole characteristics of
laser-turned micro-grooves on Al2O3 workpiece.

Fig. 15. (a) Upper end view of SEM micrograph of micro-groove turned
at optimal parametric setting; (b) lower end view of SEM micrograph of
micro-groove turned at optimal parametric setting.

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D. Dhupal et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 48 (2008) 236248

7. Conclusions
Pulsed Nd:YAG laser-turning operation has been
investigated based on experimentation and developed
empirical models to generate micro-groove on cylindrical
workpiece of aluminum oxide ceramic with the aid of
developed micro-processor-controlled work holding and
rotating device. The laser process parameters for microgroove turning are optimized effectively for minimizing the
multi-responses i.e. upper width deviation, lower width
deviation and depth deviation. The empirical models for
determining upper deviation, lower deviation and depth
deviation phenomena from the target is adequate for the
selected range of laser-machining parameters setting and
can be utilized to achieve precisely desired dimension of
laser-turned micro-grooves on aluminum oxide.
From the response plots, it has been observed that, the
upper deviation of the laser-turned micro-groove varies
with the lamp current. The upper deviation is minimum at
medium level of lamp current with low pulse frequency. In
case of lower width, the minimum deviation occurred at
high lamp current i.e. 22 A and medium level of pulse
frequency. Medium level of the lamp current with
moderately high pulse frequency is more effective for
achieving minimum depth deviation. Cutting speed should
be higher for least upper width deviation. Low cutting
speed is recommended for minimum deviation in lower
width and depth for laser-turned micro-grooves. Pulse
width has less effect on upper deviation and depth and
moderate effect on lower width as compared with other
process parameters. Moderately high value of assist air
pressure is recommended for achieving lower deviation of
responses. Minimum upper deviation (Yuw), lower deviation (Ylw) and depth (Yd) are achieved at the parametric
setting of lamp current 22.517 A, pulse frequency
1.477 kHz, pulse width 2.394% of duty cycle, cutting speed
10.4283 rpm and air pressure of 0.9238 kgf/cm2.
The research ndings along with various empirical
relationships will provide effective guideline to select
parameter settings for achieving desired micro-groove
during laser micro-turning operations. This research work
will open up further scope to study the cut surface quality
and integrity for utilizing laser micro-groove turning more
effectively. The present research work on pulsed Nd:YAG

laser micro-turning on ceramic material will be useful for

the applications in the eld of micro-machining and microfabrication of ceramic parts and components.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the nancial support from
DST, New Delhi under the scheme of DST SERC Fast
Track Project and also from UGC, New Delhi under the
CAS Ph-III program.
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