Periodic Report Summary 1 - DIPLAT (Enabling advanced functionalities of Diamond and other ultra-hard materials by Integrated Pulsed Laser Ablation Technologies) Project Context and Objectives:Diamond and other ultra-hard materials possess outstanding mechanical, wear and thermal properties, which make them attractive to manufacture a wide range of high value-added products, such as high-performance smart tools. However, due to the extreme properties of this group of materials, efficient and precise generation of complex 3D freeform geometries and structures to meet the needs for a further development of high-performance tools is still a challenge. DIPLAT addresses the need for an efficient, precise and flexible processing technology for ultra-hard materials in tooling applications, in order to fully exploit the potential of these materials. By smartly utilizing the advantages of high brilliance short and ultra-short pulsed lasers, a tooling technology based on 3D Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) is developed and demonstrated for various industrial applications. DIPLAT introduces a new technology platform for producing ultra-hard tools with enhanced functionality, outstanding machining performance and superior lifetime.In this regard, DIPLAT fosters the following four main scientific and technological objectives:1) Design functional surfaces (with controlled micro geometries) on diamond and other ultra-hard materials to enable enhanced functionality for tooling applications;2) Study and development of advanced 3D processing strategies for structuring/conditioning of ultra-hard tool surfaces and superabrasive grain layers by Pulsed Laser Ablation;3) Develop and implement a novel multi-axis control concept and a model-based CAM software support module to enable optimized 3D pulsed laser processing;4) Fabrication of various novel prototype tools made of ultra-hard materials and demonstration of their superior performance and functionality in challenging industrial applications.Project Results:The present project period mainly focused on the fundamental aspects of process and technology development, in order to build a basis for the subsequent fabrication of industrial prototype tools and corresponding benchmark tests. Major achievements of this period are:• The technology end-user in the consortium geometries and manufacturing problems which cannot or only insufficiently be solved by conventional tooling technologies.• Required experimental setups for pulsed laser processing of ultra-hard tool materials have been developed by the RTD performers (ETHZ and UNOTT) to carry out their project tasks.• Novel laser processing strategies for 3D multi-axis processing of diamond and CBN structures with particular attention to micro and macro tooling applications have been developed. • An ablation model based on single-pulse footprint calibration has been developed and calibrated for picosecond and nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of diamond materials.• Based on a prototype 5+3 laser micromachining center, a scanhead – machine kinematic synchronisation concept has been developed by extending the existing hardware of the machine.• First tool prototypes have been produced by the developed laser processes and initial machining tests with generic laboratory tool prototypes have been performed.• Based on the developments of the first project period, two patent applications on novel processing strategies and tool designs have been submitted.Potential Impact:DIPLAT will lead to a technological breakthrough that will push European manufacturing industries to the cutting edge of high-performance machining and tooling technology. Based on the results of the present project period, it is anticipated that the project outcome will have significant influence on the way how ultra-hard tools are produced in the future. Moreover, the developed technology will enable entirely new possibilities with respect to tool design and feature fabrication. In this context, a major competitive advantage for highly specialised SME’s in the tooling and tooling machinery sector is expected. Further information on the progress of the project can be found on www.fp7-diplat.eu.List of Websites:www.fp7-diplat.eu
