Experimental study of fiber laser surface texturing of polycrystalline diamond tools

Micro-grooves and micro-holes with different geometrical characteristics were fabricated on the surface of the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tools by the fiber laser surface texturing. The effect of the processing parameters on the dimensions of micro-textures was investigated. In general, the dimensions of the micro-textures (e.g., width, diameter and depth) were reduced with a higher scanning speed, pulse repetition rate and a lower average output power. For both micro-grooves and holes, their dimensions are significantly affected by different defocusing distance. The maximum depth can be achieved when the defocusing distance is around -0.8 mm. Furthermore, the sidewall topography of the micro-grooves was also studied, where the quality can be improved by a larger average output power or a lower scanning speed. Based on the experimental results, an optimization of the processing parameters can effectively control the micro-texture dimensions as well as improve their surface qualities on the PCD tools. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.