Laser assisted machining of hard-to-wear materials

This research is being conducted at the Industrial Research Institute Swinburne (IRIS) in cooperation with Weir Warman Ltd. The research commenced in March 2002 and is expected to be complete by March 2004. The purpose of this research is to find out if laser assisted machining of hard-to-wear materials used by Weir Warman Ltd. for slurry pump inners is feasible. And if so, find the optimum operating parameters for minimum machining time and tool wear. If successful, laser assisted machining could be implemented at the plant giving cost savings. As this research has only been conducted for a few months, this paper contains only a preliminary literature review and the proposed methodology.