Silicon nitride ceramic has been used in various engineering applications such as bearings, rollers, and exhaust valves for automobiles because of its corrosion resistance, high-temperature strength and low density. LAM (Laser assisted machining) has recently been considered as an alternative and effective process for machining ceramic materials. The laser heat sources in laser assisted milling processes are irregularly varied according to shapes of workpieces. Therefore, prediction and analysis of preheating temperature is difficult. In this study, the thermal analysis and experiment were performed to evaluate the surface temperature distribution of silicon nitride according to laser power. In addition, the preheating temperature was predicted by analyzing the results of the thermal analysis.

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