Electron beam machining (EBM) and laser beam machining (LBM) are non-traditional, thermal (electrothermal) material-removal processes that concentrate a high-power-density energy beam onto a small spot so that localized heating melts and vaporizes material, distinguishing them from mechanical, electrochemical, and chemical non-traditional processes; material removal rate and process characteristics depend on power density, which is a function of beam power and spot size rather than a directly controlled parameter. EBM generates its beam via thermionic emission and electrostatic/magnetic acceleration and focusing of electrons in a vacuum, while LBM generates a coherent beam via stimulated emission from a population-inverted lasing medium, but both converge on the same underlying removal mechanism of absorption, heating, melting, and vaporization at the workpiece surface. This belongs to the domain of non-traditional (advanced) manufacturing processes, specifically thermal energy-beam machining.
Electron beam machining (EBM) and laser beam machining (LBM) are non-traditional, thermal (electrothermal) material-removal processes that concentrate a high-power-density energy beam onto a small sp…