• LADD close up

    Close up of the the LADD machine

  • a desk displaying a laser and a screen

    A look at the current drilling machine that is being used to test on materials and the laser.

  • LADD team

    The LADD research team. From left to right: Eric Carlo, Barkin Bakir, John Mueller, Hossein Mohammadi, and John Patten.

For companies that would benefit from the softening of hard materials and reduced brittleness during drilling.

Laser Augmented Diamond Drilling (LADD) is a technology being developed as a manufacturing solution for drilling hard and brittle materials.  By using a specific combination of lasers and diamonds, the solution decreases the breakage rate of the work piece material and provides a high-quality surface finish (reducing the need for a polishing process) which leads to increase in productivity and lower manufacturing costs.

Materials which benefit most from the technology:

  • Carbon Fiber (Composite Structures)
  • Ceramic Matrix Composites
  • Rocks / High Quality Gems
  • Semiconductors/Silicon
  • Glass
  • Ceramics

 

The current methods of drilling hard and brittle materials have 100 percent probability of fracturing partially or completely the work piece. Conventional drilling processes may not be able to leave a smooth surface after the process is done. This can lead to requiring post-processing to achieve smooth surfaces which can account for 60-90 percent of the final cost. 

With the LADD technology, this cost is non-existent because it leaves no fractures on the workpiece. With LADD, there is no need for smoothing or fixing the workpiece after drilling, saving time and other resources.