2017 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 24-31
Devices made by processing a thin lead zirconate titanate ceramic plate are used in the ink droplet firing units of ink-jet printers. The desired device shape is obtained by sand blasting the thin ceramic plate, but the formation of cracks in the thin ceramic plate during the sand blasting process has been a problem. The sand blasting process conditions were determined by using these problematic cracks as a characteristic value. The present study, however, reconsidered the processing conditions by performing a parameter design focused on the relation between the input of processing energy and the processed output volume. Specifically, an L18 orthogonal array experiment was carried out, using the number of scans made by the processing nozzle as input and the processing depth as output. Optimization of the processing conditions by means of this parameter design resulted in a 4 db improvement. When production was carried out under the optimized conditions, dimensional variability was reduced to approximately one third of its former value, and the rate of occurrence of the quality problem of processing cracks was reduced to approximately one eighth.
