Alumina is the most widely used material in advanced ceramics. Its performance will be significantly improved with different purity. It replaces other materials in semiconductors, medical treatment, aerospace and becomes the core of high-end fields. Usually in these engineering applications, complex shapes, extremely high precision and smooth surfaces are required to meet the needs of precision manufacturing. Today I will discuss how to process this material to avoid cracks, edge collapse, etc.
Materials & Tools
Alumina Ceramic Machining is more difficult as the purity increases. Common purities include 92, 95, 99, 99.7, 99.8, etc. Advanced ceramic materials have high hardness and inherent brittleness, so diamond-coated tools are usually customized. Traditional tools are very easy to damage when machining alumina. However, materials like macor and Shapal Hi-M can be processed using standard metal processing tools (such as lathes, milling machines, drills and saws) because of their unique machinability.
- Tool material：PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tools, CBN (cubic boron nitride) tools, diamond coated carbide tools
- Cutting data：Low speed (<50 m/min) and small depth of cut (<0.1 mm) are combined with high speed (>10,000 rpm) to reduce cutting forces.
- Stress reduction：Use cutting fluid to reduce tool processing heat
| Parameter | Recommended Value |
| Spindle Speed (RPM) | 8,000 – 25,000 |
| Feed Rate (mm/min) | 50 – 300 |
| Cutting Depth (mm) | 0.05 – 0.5 |
| Cutting Width (mm) | 0.1 – 0.8 |
| Entry Angle | 5° – 15° (to reduce impact) |
Alumina Ceramic Machining Difficulties & Solutions
| Parameter | Solution |
| Chipping and cracking | Use PCD/CBN tools, reduce depth of cut, control entry angle |
| Fast tool wear | Use diamond-coated tools, apply alcohol cooling |
| Drilling fractures | High spindle speed + low feed rate, incremental depth drilling |
| Poor surface roughness | Use ultra-precision grinding and polishing |
| Cracking in cutting | Laser machining to avoid mechanical stress |
We have extensive experience in processing irregular alumina components with a purity of 99.8% for a high-precision enterprise. If you need customized alumina components for your project, please feel free to contact our experts. We will be happy to use our professional knowledge to help you.
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