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Using Microwaves to Drill Through Glass

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the hot-stuff dept.

Linux_ho writes "UPI is reporting that Israeli researchers have developed a drill that can melt a small hole in glass, ceramics, or concrete with no dust or noise. Nature.com reports that it doesn't work very well with good heat conductors or materials with very high melting points, but the researchers envision a wide variety of manufacturing applications, and possibly some medical uses as well."

16 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Max Depth? by BoBaBrain · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The article mentions that it can only drill to a depth equal to a quarter of its wavelength. Why is this?

    Surely it could also drill at depths of .75, 1.25, 1.75 etc.

    --
    I am a Karma Library.
    1. Re:Max Depth? by AlecC · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The antenne *is* the drill bit - and the quarter wave rule is to stop it acting as a real antenna and broadcasting microwaves all round the room. Below 1/4 wavelength, some undecribed mechanism creates intense heating just below the drill bit, which is where you want to drill. They can't move the drill forward without moving the (presumably non-conducting) chuck, or all their micropwave energy will radiate sideways, gently heating that which they do not want to heat and failing to heat that which they want to drill.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  2. CPU key fobs by Perdo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I doubt that steel conducts the heat away too fast. I'd wager that the steel conducts the RF radiation itself. Just like this device has an antenna, steel would be an antenna too. Not exactly impedance matched, but certainly enough to prevent the steel from being heated except across the entire piece.

    --

    If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.

  3. Not a big deal by Sinbit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was doing the same thing over 10 years ago for my Master's thesis with a pulsed CO2 laser with ~500W time averaged output. What is the advantage of using a microwave beam over a CO2 laser?

    1. Re:Not a big deal by geordieboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's probably a lot cheaper - the article says
      that this microwave device is not more expensive
      than a mechanical drill. How much does a 500W laser cost?

      --
      The world is everything that is the case
    2. Re:Not a big deal by Idarubicin · · Score: 5, Interesting
      What is the advantage of using a microwave beam over a CO2 laser?

      There are a number of advantages. First is price--you can use off-the-shelf microwave oven pieces for most of a microwave drill. Granted, carbon dioxide cutting lasers are also available essentially off the shelf from a limited number of suppliers, but they tend to run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

      Durability. Laser tubes don't tend to be happy about being moved about a lot. They contain optics that are very sensitive to misalignment.

      Size. Microwave sources for this application would be quite a bit smaller than a carbon dioxide laser, especially when you add in all the ancillary equipment in my next point. In addition, combining size and durability makes a much more portable tool.

      Limited complexity. No delicate optics. No vacuum system. No water cooling system. No mixed lasing gas to deal with.

      Safety. Lasers can remain well collimated for significant distances--you can make holes in your coworkers from across the room if you're not careful. A microwave drill as described isn't acutely dangerous beyond an inch or two from the end of the drill bit. (There might be heating effects beyond that distance, but reflex action--Ow! It's hot! I'm moving my hand now!--would likely be sufficient to protect you. You need the same level of common sense that it takes to operate a band saw--don't put your fingers near the business end!)

      So, that's why microwaves would be advantageous. That said, CO2 lasers can perform extremely well, as long as you don't have to move them to the field. Manufacturers already exist for the lasers, and it's a proven technology.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
  4. Re:Military applications by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The articles too slashdotted to tell, But assuming it does it quick enough all you would need is some ammunition the size of a pinhole ;)

    Maybe you could 'cut' with it, like frying ants with a magnafying(too tired to spellcheck) glass? where the area of heat is small but constant, so it could easily slice open some armor.

    Also, breaking an air tight seal in the future might be needed. A small pinhole is all you neeed to pump gas into a tank and make it a death trap.

    --
    Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
  5. Re:Not quite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Using Microwaves to Drill Through Glass
    or
    Using Microwaves to Melt, while a Metal Rod Drills Through Glass

    It's a headline. It's supposed to lie. I mean, all the ones in real news sources do.

  6. umm.... by Borealis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I could be wrong here, but wouldn't an ultraviolet laser be far more effective? Glass is not transparent to the UV spectrum so shouldn't it be able to "drill" right through it?

    --
    Unbreakable toys can be used to break other toys.
  7. make the glass windows conductive by DrSkwid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    a conducting film or fine wire mesh in the wires should sort it

    plus you are goign to probably need a big battery to get through my double glazing

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:make the glass windows conductive by |<amikaze · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So, would windows that already have the metal grid inside be resistant to this?

  8. As with all non-mechanical drills by euxneks · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder how it would work against a semi-perfect mirror? I've always wondered how a laser or something that would rely on waves would work against a reflective surface.. Can anyone give me a clue?

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
  9. Security issues by macdaddy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This makes me wonder about security issues. Imagine if something powerful enough to direct these microwaves at glass from a distance. Lets also say the glass is bullet proof glass. Could that shatter the glass? Perhaps it doesn't destroy the glass but compromises its integrity to the point where teflon-coated bullets can penetrate it. Interesting....

  10. Easier ways. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    With high voltage current you can melt holes in glass... Even a small TV induction coil will do.
    Put the HV wires on either side, if it doesn't start arcing through it then increase the voltage... The problem is that the glass at the hole heats up and the expansion often breaks the rest of the sheet.

  11. New art forms by Spamalamadingdong · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Think of the possibilities for carving stone without cracking it. This could make it a lot easier for sculptors.

    --
    Scientists restrict study to entire physical universe; creationist
  12. water cooled heatsink applications by t0qer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think this would rock for building a CPU heat exchanger. With hundreds of small tiny water filled holes it would wisk the heat away nicely.