Processing ultra-hard materials such as sapphire comes with unique difficulties derived from the material’s intrinsic characteristics: extraordinary hardness (Mohs hardness 9), remarkably low fracture resistance, and pronounced anisotropy. This renders the machining process highly susceptible to tool performance—even slight blade vibrations, uneven dispersion of diamond abrasive particles, or inadequate retention force of the matrix on these particles can readily induce stress concentration during cutting, resulting in crack propagation.
The customer utilized a Cu-Co pre-alloyed powders (KIN-01A) as the base material to produce a grinding wheel (spec: 52×0.1×20mm) for sapphire substrate cutting. This wheel achieved complete deep cutting with a depth of 0.15 mm, steadily maintained a feed rate of 1.2 mm/s, and effectively restricted edge chipping to less than 15 micrometers.
These outcomes have enhanced both the mechanical strength and yield rate of the finished products. More notably, throughout the period of consistently meeting the aforementioned quality criteria, the grinding wheel accumulated a total effective cutting length exceeding 1,100 meters.
In the precision machining sector, edge chipping and precision fluctuations are key obstacles to improving product yield and controlling costs. Sagwell’s KIN-01A Cu-Co pre-alloyed powder is specifically engineered to mitigate such variability. It reconstructs core performance at the material level, ensuring the tool retains long-term stability and extended service life.
Through material innovation, this powder enables higher yield rates of machined products and optimized production costs.
Glossary of Professional Terms (Supplementary)
1. Pre-alloyed powders: A metal powder that undergoes pre-alloying treatment (distinguished from mixed powder, which is a simple blend of powders).
2. Matrix retention force: The ability of the bonding agent in the grinding wheel to secure diamond abrasive particles firmly.
3. Edge chipping: Minor edge fractures occurring on brittle materials after cutting/grinding, a core quality control indicator in precision machining.
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