Nonconventional cutting of plate glass using hot air jet: experimental studies

Glass is an important engineering material used in several applications bec ause of its attractive look, chemical stability towards environment, nonpor osity, and transparent nature. Its application is widely found in optomecha tronic systems, windows of buildings, art work, etc. Glass cutting is the f irst step in the fabrication for any of its applications. Conventionally, p late glass (soda lime glass) is cut by a diamond point tool or a diamond wh eel. The cut surfaces by this method are rough and wavy. Microcracks, which affect the life and quality of glass, may develop during cutting. It is di fficult to cut nonstraight profiles by the conventional method and glass wa stage is more. Curved profiles cannot be cut in a single step. Recently, gl ass cutting using laser and abrasive waterjet have been developed. Laser cu tting is very costly, unsafe and leaves a heated-affected zone. Researchers have used laser cutting on glasses of thicknesses lesser than I mm. Abrasi ve waterjet requires de-ionized very high pressure water with entrained gar net abrasive. This method produces rough cut surfaces and causes wear of di amond nozzles. A novel method is developed which uses a low cost, simple, h ot air jet to cut any complex profile with ease. Experimental studies are c onducted to determine the variation of the cutting speed for various values of the stand-off distance, glass thickness, air temperature, and air flow rates. Glasses in the thickness range of 2-20 mm are used for the experimen ts. The roughness of the cut surfaces using the hot air jet and the diamond point tool is compared. The new method has produced cut surfaces of relati vely higher surface finish. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.