Laser beam machining removes, melts, or thermally modifies a material by focusing a coherent beam of monochromatic light on the workpiece. This article describes the principal lasers used in metal processing: neodymium-glass, carbon dioxide, and neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers. It discusses the operating parameters of concern in percussion drilling and trepanning. The process variables in surface treatment and laser cutting, as well as the operating parameters of concern in laser welding are reviewed. The article also explains the various categories of surface treatment: heat treating, cladding, surfacing, glazing, and marking.

The analysis of composite materials using optical microscopy is a process that can be made easy and efficient with only a few contrast methods and preparation techniques. This article is intended to provide information that will help an investigator select the appropriate microscopy technique for the specific analysis objectives with a given composite material. The article opens with a discussion of macrophotography and microscope alignment, and then goes on to describe various illumination techniques that are useful for specific analysis requirements. These techniques include bright-field illumination, dark-field illumination, polarized-light microscopy, interference and contrast microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. The article also provides a discussion of sample preparation materials such as dyes, etchants, and stains for the analysis of composite materials using optical microscopy.

This article describes post-processing techniques for machining, finishing, heat treating, and deburring used to remove additive manufacturing (AM) metallic workpieces from a base plate and subsequent techniques to enhance printed workpieces. The AM processes include powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and direct energy deposition. The discussion provides information on powder removal, powder recycling and conditioning, part removal, and part enhancement. The mechanism, applications, advantages, and limitations of mechanical, radiation, and chemical-finishing processes as well as the properties of the resulting material are also covered.

This article is a comprehensive collection of summary charts that provide data and information that are helpful in considering and selecting applicable processes alternative to the conventional material-removal processes. Process summary charts are provided for electrochemical machining, electrical discharge machining, chemical machining, abrasive jet machining, laser beam machining, electron beam machining, ultrasonic impact grinding, hydrodynamic machining, thermochemical machining, abrasive flow machining, and electrical discharge wire cutting.

Tungsten, molybdenum, and cemented carbide parts can be produced using several additive manufacturing technologies. This article classifies the most relevant technologies into two groups based on the raw materials used: powder-bed methods, such as selective laser melting, electron beam melting, and binder jet three-dimensional (3-D) printing, and feedstock methods, such as fused-filament fabrication and thermoplastic 3-D printing. It discusses the characteristics, processing steps, properties, advantages, limitations, and applications of these technologies.

One of the most frequently cited advantages of ceramics in dentistry relates to aesthetics, and the same applies for dental implants. Zirconia has emerged as the material of choice for nonmetal implants. This article introduces the reader to zirconia as an implant material, its properties, manufacturing processes, and the particular surface modifications and treatments that have rendered its surfaces biologically compatible with peri-implant soft and hard tissues.

This article focuses on a variety of laser beam machining (LBM) operations of aluminum and its alloys, namely, laser cutting, laser drilling, laser milling, laser turning, laser grooving, laser scribing, laser marking, and laser micromachining. It presents different approaches for carrying out machining operations, laser processing parameters, efficiency and accuracy of the process, and the effect of laser processing parameters on the quality of the machined surface. The article provides an overview of the various conventional (chip forming) and nonconventional machining techniques employed for aluminum-based materials. A comparison of the various aspects of LBM with other non-conventional techniques is also presented. The article also describes the features of LBM techniques employed for aluminum and its alloys for different types of machining.

This article provides an overview of surface-texturing techniques. It describes the texturing parameters, namely, shape, depth, and width of the textured pattern, its aspect ratio (depth over width), texture area density, and orientation. The article explains the effect of these parameters on tribological behavior of textured surfaces. It provides information on various modeling approaches for surface texture. The article also discusses the beneficial effect of surface texturing.

This article discusses the basic principles of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), covering different instruments used for performing ICP-MS analysis. The instruments covered include the sample-introduction system, ICP ion source, mass analyzer, and ion detector. Emphasis is placed on ICP-MS applications in the semiconductor, photovoltaic, materials science, and other electronics and high-technology areas.

This article discusses the principal process steps, specifications, defects, applications, advantages, and disadvantages of chemical milling (CM) in aerospace industries. The process steps include precleaning, masking, scribing, etching, final cleaning, stripping, and mechanical finishing. The article describes the variables that affect undercut and surface finish obtained by CM. The mechanical properties of chemically milled parts are also discussed.

Microjoining with high energy density beams is a new subject in the sense that the progress of miniaturization in industry has made the desire to make microjoints rapidly and reliably a current and exciting topic. This article summarizes the current state of microjoining with both electron and laser beams. It considers the elementary physical processes such as heat and fluid flow to introduce the reader to the phenomena that affect melting, coalescence, and solidification needed for a successful microweld. The various forces driving (and resisting) fluid flow are analyzed. The article discusses the equipment suitable for microjoining and the metallurgical consequences and postweld metrology of the process. It also provides examples of developmental welds employing laser and electron beam microwelding techniques.