Investigations on the wire sawing process

The wire sawing technology plays an important role on the manufacturing of thin discs out of brittle materials and is used for example in the solar- and microelectronic industry. The surface of a wire sawn disc shows a characteristic geometry, which suggests the influence of oscillations during the slicing process. In order to examine the process a distinct-element-model is used to simulate the motion and the interaction of the abrasive particles with the moving wire and the workpiece. The simulation shows interesting phenomena like clustering of particles and reacting forces to the wire, which could be one reason for the observed oscillations in the process. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)