A STUDY ON

LASER AUGMENTED
DIAMOND DRILLING (LADD)
Table of Contents
• Why LADD?
• An Introduction to LADD
• How it works
• Process explained
• Experimental Procedure
• Comparison of results
• Advantages of LADD
• Applications of LADD
• Conclusion
• References
Why LADD?
• Drilling hard, brittle and difficult to machine
materials is often a challenge.

• The current methods of drilling of hard and

brittle materials have 100 percent probability of
fracturing partially or completely.

• To promote more efficient, productive and less

costly overall drilling process.
An Introduction to LADD
• Laser Augmented Diamond Drilling (LADD)
is a technology being developed as a
manufacturing solution for this.

• LADDs objective is to find an effective way

to work with materials in the manufacturing
industry that may be too hard or brittle to
efficiently drill.
How it works
• It utilizes a laser that is focused through an
optically transparent diamond bit to drill the
work piece.

• It uses the high compressive and shear

stresses (reducing brittle fracture) induced
by the tool tip and laser heating to reduce
the hardness and brittleness of the work
piece.
Process explained
• The laser produced by the source is carried
to the drill bit through the help of optic
fibers.

• The laser beam thus transmitted to the

optically transparent diamond drill bit is
focused precisely at the tool-work piece
interface.
Process explained
• Laser softens the material under the tool
which also leads to lower cutting forces and
therefore lower tool wear i.e., higher tool life

• The material is under high pressure induced

by the diamond tool.

• This hybrid process can potentially increase

the critical depth of cut, resulting in a higher
material removal rate (MRR).
Schematic diagram
Schematic diagram
Experimental Procedure
• The laser beam is guided through a single mode
fiber optic cable to a collimator, which was attached
to a Beam Delivery Optics (BDO) unit.

• The BDO then focused the beam and delivered it

through the transparent diamond tool to the cutting
edge.

• The samples were mounted on a rotational spindle

while the drilling bit and the BDO were stationary
i.e, sample is rotating instead of the tool.
LADD Setup
Comparison of results
• By imaging the drilled holes, the non-
circularity and fractures on the entrance
edge under different conditions are
compared.
Comparison of results
• Figure a. shows the drilled hole without
using laser.
• Figure b. shows the drilled hole using 10W
laser and figure c. using 20W laser.
Comparison of results
• By comparing the above imagery we could see
that the circularity was improved by using the
laser, although the edge chipping still occurred.

• This circularity improvement was mainly due to

thermal softening produced by the laser which
decreases the hardness and the strength of the
material to be drilled.
Comparison of results
• Benefit of using laser while drilling can be seen on
wall surface roughness and the edge quality of the
hole entrance in the comparison shown below.

Without laser

With laser
• The picture below shows the 3D profile of the hole
surface under different conditions.
Advantages of LADD
• Laser heats and thermally softens the material through
an optically transparent diamond tool leads to:
- Less cutting forces
- Less tool wear; Reduced machine down time
- Higher material removal rate (MRR)
- Increases productivity; Reduces overall cost
-Reduces brittle fracture and decreases surface and
subsurface damages; better surface finish quality.
Advantages of LADD
• Compatible to use cutting fluid:
- No laser interruption because of cutting fluid,
compared to other laser or thermal assisted processes.

• The LADD technology can help those in the

manufacturing industry that work with hard and
brittle materials like composites and ceramics.
Advantages of LADD
• Since the LADD process offers better quality and a
better finished product, it provides an advantage
over conventional drilling methods.
Applications of LADD
• Drilling hard and brittle materials such as:
- Ceramics
- Composites (fiber reinforced)
- Semiconductors
- Glass and optical materials
- Rocks/minerals
Applications of LADD
• Can be used in:
- Auto industry
- Aerospace industry
- Optics and microelectronics
- Oil and Gas
Conclusion
• The LADD process is a new technique to drill hard
and brittle materials.

• Results indicated that laser power selection is crucial

in the process to achieve high quality drill holes.

• Using this process we can improve the quality of a

drilled hole, entrance edge and inner surface finish.
Conclusion
• The LADD system can achieve more efficient,
productive and less costly overall drilling
process resulting from laser assisted heating and
thermal softening.

• The LADD technology can help those in the

manufacturing industry that work with hard and
brittle materials like composites and ceramics.
References
• Hossein Mohammadi and John A. Patten,
“Laser Augmented Diamond Drilling: A New
technique to Drill Hard and Brittle Materials”
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
2016

• United States Patent Application Publication,

“Laser augmented diamond drilling apparatus and
method” Pub. no: US2017/0120345 A1
Pub date: May 4, 2017
References
• Hossein Mohammadi and John A. Patten,
“MICRO-LASER ASSISTED DRILLING OF SINGLE
CRYSTAL SILICON IN DUCTILE REGIME”
Manufacturing Research Center, Western Michigan
University Kalamazoo, MI, USA 2016
THANK YOU!