A vacuum sucking approach to preventing chips from attaching to machined surface in cutting of KDP crystals

Abstract

Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP) crystals are used for the key components in high power density solid-state laser for Inertial Confinement Fusion. KDP crystals are mainly machined in the dry cutting condition to avoid 'Fogging' of the crystals. The main difficulty identified in dry machining of KDP is chip removal from the machined surface. A vacuum sucking device based on venturi vacuum pump is used to suck the chips during cutting, and the relationship between level of vacuum in cutting zone and the comply air pressure was established. An empirical model for chip emission during turning processes is used to analyze the influence of cutting parameters on the chip emission. The influence of cutting parameters on the removal of chips is investigated. Finally, a face turning of KDP crystals is carried out with the turning parameters of feed rate 1um/rev, depth of cut of 0.8 um/rev and the cutting speed from 1.82m/s to 3.9m/s. A super-smooth surface with chips free in the whole sample is achieved, having the surface roughness of 2.994nm (Ra) measured by AFM. The surface quality achieved satisfies the requirements of KDP crystals implemented in high power lasers. © (2010) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.