Micro-structuring of glass with features less than 100 μm by electrochemical discharge machining

Micro-electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) was studied in order to improve the machining of 3D micro-structures of glass. To minimize structures and obtain good surface microstructures, the effects of the electrolyte, the pulse on/off-time ratio, the voltage, the feedrate, the rotational speed, and the electrolyte concentration in the drilling and milling processes were studied.In ECDM, voltage is applied to generate a gas film and sparks on a tool electrode; however, high voltage produces poor machining resolution. To obtain a stable gas film over the whole surface of the tool at a low voltage, a new mechanical contact detector, based on a loadcell, was used; the immersion depth of the tool electrode in the electrolyte was reduced as much as possible. In this study, various micro-structures less than 100 μm in size, such as Ø 60 μm micro-holes, a 10 μm-thin wall, and a 3D micro-structure were fabricated to demonstrate the potential for micro-machining of glass by ECDM.     

Electro-chemical micro drilling using ultra short pulses

Electro-chemical machining (ECM) has been rarely applied in micro machining because the electric field is not localized. In this work, ultra short pulses with tens of nanosecond duration are used to localize dissolution area. The effects of voltage, pulse duration, and pulse frequency on the localization distance were studied. High quality micro hole with 8 μm diameter was drilled on 304 stainless steel foil with 20 μm thickness. Localization distance can be manipulated by controlling the voltage and pulse duration, and various hole shapes were produced including stepped holes and taper free holes.     

Machining of micro aspherical mould inserts

This paper reports a parametric investigation and development of grinding technologies for micro aspherical mould inserts using parallel grinding method. The parametric investigation revealed that at nanometric scale the undeformed chip thickness has little influence on the surface finish of ground inserts. The grinding trace spacing has a slightly larger influence on the surface finish. A new technique was developed to true and dress the resin bonded micro wheels with mesh size of #3000, which produced a satisfactory wheel form accuracy and relatively high grain packing density. A form error compensation technique was also developed, with which mould inserts of submicron form accuracy were consistently produced. Using the developed technologies, micro aspherical inserts of diameters ranging from 200 μm to 1000 μm with surface finish of around 10 nm and form error of 0.2–0.4 μm were successfully fabricated.     

Shape measurement of long microbores applying photon counting method

New technology, especially in the field of microelectronics and mechatronics, created the need for making, positioning and inspection techniques of long microbore-holes and gaps (defined by length/width to diameter ratio l/d > 10 for d < 200 μm). The technological aspect is, in principle, subdued but the metrological one is still unsolved.In Zosel et al. [Zosel J, Guth U, Thies A, Reents B. Flow measurements in micro holes with electrochemical and optical methods. Electrochim Acta 2003;48:3299–305] the properties (power loss and phase distortion) of focused laser microbeam penetrating extremely long through microbores is described; it was proved that the measurement information is distorted depending on the microbore geometry. The samples were prepared of glass–resin laminate with microbore diameter ranging from 35 to 200 μm.In present research an adjustable 100 μm microbore is used as a master. It is formed of mutually accurately adjusted 20 metal plates 100 μm thick set of coaxially in pile. Precise positioning of each plate enables creating free-shaped microbore.The photon batching device emitting 2.5 million photons per second is used as a generator of incident photon beam. The measured transmission efficiency is understood as a relation between outgoing and incoming light energy. The outgoing energy, for particular microbore, was determined by scanning linearly and angularly the bore with photon beam and integrating the results. Experiments were performed in dark room with background 2/5 photons per second (including dark current of photomultiplier).These changes describe the relationship between the shape of the microbore and the transmission energy and can be considered as a measure of microbore cylindricity deviation.     

Micro electro discharge machine with an inchworm type of micro feed mechanism

A micro electro discharge machine with an inchworm type of micro feed mechanism has been developed. The prototype of micro electro discharge machine is comprised of a wire electro discharge grinding unit, a rotating unit of electrode, RC circuitry for micro electro discharge generation and a subsystem detecting and controlling machining process, in addition to the inchworm mechanism. In the design of the inchworm mechanism, a novel clamp mechanism with force magnifying structure is devised to increase its thrust capability and a pair of guide sleeves together with the clamps are used to decrease yawing error. The inchworm mechanism prototype has 60 mm stroke only limited by the length of the shaft, less than 2 μm yawing error and reaches to 30N output thrust force. The machining experiments carried out on the micro EDM prototype are also described. The techniques to machine micro electrode, micro holes with high aspect ratio, micro structures on stainless steel and silicon materials are discussed. Micro electrode diameter as small as 25 μm and micro holes with minimum size of less than 50 μm are obtained. And the maximum aspect ratios of micro electrodes and micro holes exceed 20 and 10 respectively.     

Compensation for five DOF motion errors of hydrostatic feed table by utilizing actively controlled capillaries

Five DOF motion errors of a hydrostatic bearing table driven by a coreless type linear motor were compensated by utilizing actively controlled capillaries in the present research. The motion errors of horizontal translation and yaw were compensated simultaneously with the two actively controlled capillaries, and those of vertical translation, pitch and roll were compensated simultaneously with the three actively controlled capillaries. The actively controlled capillaries were designed and their gains were adjusted by conducting micro step response tests. The five DOF motion errors were measured ultra-precisely by combining three measuring methods as follows. The yaw and pitch errors were measured with a laser interferometer, and the roll error was measured by the reversal method. Then, the translational motion errors in the horizontal and vertical directions were measured by the sequential two-point method, where influence of the angular motion errors on the translational measurement was compensated by utilizing the measured angular motion errors. By utilizing the developed capillaries and the combined measuring methods and by applying the iterative control, the motion errors of the horizontal translation, the vertical translation, the yaw, the pitch and the roll were compensated simultaneously and reduced significantly from 0.16 μm, 0.18 μm, 1.96 arcsec, 2.26 arcsec and 0.14 arcsec to 0.02 μm, 0.03 μm, 0.03 arcsec, 0.07 arcsec and 0.02 arcsec, respectively. The remaining motion errors were less than the measuring repeatabilities which were ±0.02 μm for the translational motion errors and ±0.05 arcsec for the angular motion errors. The results show that the present method is not only practical but also effective to realize the ultra-precision feed motion whose accuracy is equal to the currently reachable measuring accuracy.     

The development of an electrodischarge machine for micro-hole boring

This paper describes an electrodischarge machine^† for micro-hole boring capable of improved accuracy and performance in boring precision small diameter holes in components such as ink jet nozzles for printers, electron gun apertures for graphic displays, micro-connectors for high-speed computers, and optical components for telecommunications. Micro-energy discharging permits machining of 15–300 μm diameter micro-holes with a roundness accuracy of 0.5 μm or better and a surface roughness less than 0.1 μm. No bending stress is applied to the tool electrode, therefore high precision machining of cylindrical surfaces, machining with very thin side-walls, and machining of overlapping multiple-holes are all possible, regardless of the hardness of any electrically conductive material. Tool electrodes of any diameter are machinable using reversed-polarity electric discharge and are replaceable in the same way as conventional drills. Travel of the tool electrode is controlled automatically by microprocessor, thus eliminating the need for a skilled operator.     

Fabrication of various tip-size AFM probes for evaluating single-molecular retraction force between actin and anti-actin

The authors fabricated a probe tip with various sizes and examined the size dependency of the probe tip on the distribution of retraction forces between actin and anti-actin. Probe tips of various sizes were fabricated by two-photon polymerization methods on a micro cantilever of an atomic force microscope (AFM). The authors succeeded in fabricating a spherical tip having a smooth surface and the tip size varied between φ 0.8 and 5.5 μm. Anti-actin was immobilized on the fabricated probe tips and force curves were measured against an actin-immobilized mica substrate by AFM to analyze the retraction forces. The histograms of retraction forces showed that the single-molecular retraction force between actin and anti-actin was ca. 350–400 pN. It was observed that the average retraction forces for each tip size correlated with the square of the tip radius.     

Electrical discharge machining of submicron holes using ultrasmall-diameter electrodes

We have carried out the electrical discharge machining (EDM) of submicron holes using ultrasmall-diameter electrodes. Two types of electrode were used: tungsten electrodes fabricated by the combination of wire electrodischarge grinding and electrochemical machining, and silicon electrodes originally designed as probes for scanning probe microscopes. The diameters of the former and latter were 1 μm or less, and less than 0.15 μm, respectively. Holes were drilled using a relaxation-type pulse generator at an open-circuit voltage of less than or equal to 20 V with the machine's stray capacitance as the only capacitance. Using tungsten electrodes, holes of less than 1 μm in diameter and more than 1 μm in depth were successfully drilled. A 1.3-μm-wide slot was also fabricated by drilling many holes with a small pitch. It was possible to drill holes of approximately 0.5 μm diameter using silicon electrodes because the electrode diameter was less than those of the tungsten electrodes. These holes have the smallest reported diameter for holes drilled by EDM, indicating the possibility of submicron- and nanoscale machining by EDM.     

On the compressive behavior of sintered porous coppers with low-to-medium porosities—Part II: Preparation and microstructure

A polymer space-holder method was used in this study to prepare porous coppers with low-to-medium porosity within the range 5–50%. This provides the possibility to control the pore size, distribution and structure. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersion spectrum (EDS) were utilized to characterize the porous samples. Two different sizes of copper powders, 5 and 45 μm, were used to investigate the effect of raw materials powder size. Microstructure results have shown that there exist two different types of pore in the sintered samples: round-shaped macro-pores left over by the burnout of the space holder and irregular micro-pores or the intervals among metal powders. No matter which size powder was used, the size of the macro-pore falls into a range 200–500 μm, but the pore structures are different in the two cases, interconnected or open pores for the 45 μm raw powders and closed pore for the 5 μm powders. The sizes of the micro-pores among the copper powders in the two cases are also different, several microns for the 5 μm powders and 10–20 μm for the 45 μm powders, though all micro-pores are interconnected for both powder sizes. From the viewpoint of pore structure, it is concluded that the 45 μm powder is more appropriate for use to prepare the porous metal. In addition, the effect of the binder was also investigated. It is suggested that a binder that can be easily and completely removed should be used in order to induce the residue. This paper, as Part II of the publication, focuses on the fabrication of the porous samples where Part I [Lemons JE, editor. Quantitative characterization and performance of porous implants for hard tissue application. ASTM STP 953; 1985] has been published earlier for the mechanical properties of the material.     

Precision surface finish of the mold steel PDS5 using an innovative ball burnishing tool embedded with a load cell

A load-cell-embedded burnishing tool has been newly developed and integrated with a machining center, to improve the surface roughness of the PDS5 plastic injection mold steel. Either the rolling-contact type or the sliding-contact type was possible for the developed ball burnishing tool. The characteristic curves of burnishing force vs. surface roughness for the PDS5 plastic injection mold steel using the developed burnishing tool for both the rolling-contact type and the sliding-contact type, have been investigated and constructed, based on the test results. The optimal plane surface burnishing force for the PDS5 plastic injection mold steel was about 420 N for the rolling-contact type and about 470 N for the sliding-contact type, based on the results of experiments. A force compensation strategy that results in the constant optimal normal force for burnishing an inclined surface or a curved surface, has also been proposed to improve the surface roughness of the test objects in this study. The surface roughness of a fine milled inclined surface of 60 degrees can be improved from R_a 3.0 μm on average to R_a 0.08 μm (R_max 0.79 μm) on average using force compensation, whereas the surface roughness was R_a 0.35 μm (R_max 4.56 μm) on average with no force compensation.     

Correlation between the surface quality and the abrasive grains wear in optical glass lapping

The subject of this study is to determine the relation between the optical glass surface quality and the wear of abrasive grains used in finishing process. The glass surface quality was characterized by the roughness (rms,CLA and peak to valley). Alumina abrasive grains (Al₂O₃) are used with average sizes (80, 40, 20, 7 μm) respectively. After 2 min lapping for each fraction of grains the following RMS are obtained 1.39, 0.57, 0.51, 0.33 μm. The corresponding peak to valley are respectively 7.5, 3.66, 2.88, 2.10 μm. The grains wear was characterized by the grains edges wear (roundness) and by their fractures. An optical microscope (CMM Scope Check) and a SEM are used for their observation. The alumina grains size distribution was also studied using a laser diffraction particle size analyzer (Shimadzu Sald-2001).     

Influence of detonation gun sprayed alumina coating on AA 6063 samples under cyclic loading with and without fretting

The influence of detonation gun sprayed alumina coating on Al–Mg–Si alloy (AA 6063) test samples subjected to cyclic loading with and without fretting was studied in the present work. Coated samples were grounded to have coatings of two different thickness values, 40 and 100 μm. Both 40- and 100-μm-thick coated specimens experienced almost the same but slightly higher friction force compared with uncoated samples. Under plain fatigue loading, 100 μm coated specimens exhibited inferior lives due to the presence of lower surface compressive residual stress compared with uncoated and 40-μm-thick coated samples. Under fretting fatigue loading, uncoated specimens exhibited inferior lives compared with coated samples owing to the very low hardness of the uncoated specimens (80 against 1020 HV_0.2). The reason for the superior fretting fatigue lives of 40-μm-thick coated samples compared with 100-μm-thick coated samples was the presence of relatively higher surface compressive residual stress in 40-μm-thick coated specimens.     

Erosive wear behaviour of weld hardfacing high chromium cast irons: effect of erodent particles

Five commercial hardfacing high chromium cast iron alloys were deposited by flux cored arc-welding method. The solid particle erosion studies were carried out using air blast type erosion test rig with 125–150 μm cement clinker, 125–150 μm blast furnace sinter, 100–150 μm silica sand and 125–150 μm alumina particles at a velocity of 50 m s⁻¹ and at impingement angles of 15–90°. The observed erosion rates were rationalised in terms of relative hardness of erodent particles and ability of erodent particle to cause gross fracture of the carbides. The dependence of erosion rate on impingement angle was found to be quite weak for hardfacing high chromium cast iron alloys. However, significant differences were observed in the ranking of the alloys when eroded with different erodent particles. The presence of large volume fraction of carbides proved to be beneficial to the erosion resistance when the erodent particle were softer than the carbides. With silica sand particles at normal impact and with alumina particles large volume fraction of carbides proved detrimental to the erosion resistance. The operating erosion mechanisms involved small-scale chipping, edge effect, indentation and fracture and fatigue.     

A feasibility study of microscale fabrication by ultrasonic-shoe centerless grinding

The present authors proposed a new centerless grinding technique, namely ultrasonic-shoe centerless grinding, which they validated experimentally in a previous study [Wu Y, Fan Y, Kato M, Wang J, Syoji K, Kuriyagawa T. A new centerless grinding technique without employing a regulating wheel. Key Eng Mater 2003;238–239:355–60]. Rather than a regulating wheel as in conventional centerless grinding, the new method uses a plate-shaped ultrasonic shoe, on the end face of which micro elliptic motion is generated, to support the workpiece and control its rotational motion. This enables the fabrication of a microscale cylindrical component less than 100 μm in diameter with an extremely large aspect ratio, which is extremely difficult to produce by conventional machining techniques. In the present study, in order to develop a novel technique for the fabrication of microscale cylindrical components, first an apparatus capable of microscale fabrication was designed and constructed based on the ultrasonic-shoe centerless grinding method. Following initial performance tests, the apparatus was tested by conducting a grinding run on a tungsten carbide test-piece, 0.6 mm in diameter and 15 mm in length. The result was a microscale cylindrical component, around 60 μm in diameter and 15 mm in length, with an aspect ratio of over 250, which validated the new technique proposed for microscale fabrication.     

Friction, wear and material transfer of sintered polyimides sliding against various steel and diamond-like carbon coated surfaces

Polyimide cylinders are slid under 50 N normal load and 0.3 m/s sliding velocity against carbon steel (R_a=0.2 and 0.05 μm), high-alloy steel (R_a=0.05 μm), diamond-like carbon (DLC, R_a=0.05 μm) and diamond-like nanocomposite (DLN, R_a=0.05 μm). Only for a limited range of test parameters, the friction of polyimide/DLN is lower than for polyimide/steel, while polyimide shows higher wear rates after sliding against DLN compared to steel counterfaces. The DLN coating shows slight wear scratches, although less severe than on DLC-coatings that are worn through thermal degradation. Therefore, also friction against DLC-coatings is high and unstable. Calculated bulk temperatures for steel and DLN under mild sliding conditions remain below the polyimide transition temperature of 180 °C so that other surface characteristics explain low friction on DLN counterfaces, as surface energy, structural compatibility and transfer behaviour. Friction is initially determined through adhesion and it is demonstrated that higher surface energy provides higher friction. After certain sliding time, different polyimide transfer on each counterface governs the tribological performance. Polyimide and amorphous DLC structures are characterised by C–C bonds, showing high structural compatibility and easy adherence of wear debris on the coating. However, it consists of plate-like transfer particles that act as abrasives and deteriorate the polyimide wear resistance. In sliding experiments with high-alloy steel, wear debris is washed out of the contact zone without formation of a transfer film. Transfer consists of island-like particles for smooth carbon steel and it forms a more homogeneous transfer film on rough carbon steel. The latter thick and protective film is favourable for low wear rates; however, it causes higher friction than smooth counterfaces.     

A dual-purpose positioner-fixture for precision six-axis positioning and precision fixturing: Part II. Characterization and calibration

The kinematics, stiffness, and repeatability of a moving groove, dual-purpose positioner-fixture were determined experimentally. A dual-purpose positioner-fixture is an alignment device that may be operated in a fixture mode or a six-axis nanopositioning mode. When operated in fixture mode, experiments show standard deviation in repeatability of 11, 11, and 38 nm in x, y, and z; and 0.7, 0.3, and 0.3 μrad in θ_x, θ_y, and θ_z. The stiffness characteristics were shown to match predictions within 5%. When operated in nanopositioner mode, the device demonstrated 4 nm resolution and a range, of 40 μm × 40 μm × 80 μm in translation and 800 μrad × 800 μrad × 400 μrad in rotation. The fixture possesses a load capacity of 450 N and a natural frequency of 200 Hz when the fixture is preloaded to 225 N.     

Fiber deflection probe for small hole metrology

This paper presents the development of a new probing method for coordinate measuring machines (CMM) to inspect the diameter and form of small holes. The technique, referred to as fiber deflection probing (FDP), can be used for holes of approximately 100 μm nominal diameter. The expanded uncertainty obtained using this method is 0.07 μm (k = 2) on diameter. The probing system consists of a transversely illuminated fiber (with a ball mounted on the end) whose shadows are imaged using a camera. We can infer the deflection of the probe from the motion of the image seen by the camera, and we infer the position of the measured surface by adding the fiber deflection along x- and y-directions to the machine scale readings. The advantage of this technique is the large aspect ratio attainable (5 mm deep for a 100 μm diameter hole). Also, by utilizing the fiber as a cylindrical lens, we obtain sharp crisp images of the fiber position, thus enabling high resolution for measured probe deflection. Another potential advantage of the probe is that it exerts an exceptionally low force (ranging from a few micronewtons down to hundreds of nanonewtons). Furthermore, the probe is relatively robust, capable of surviving more than 1 mm over-travel, and the probe should be inexpensive to replace if it is broken. In this paper, we describe the measurement principle and provide an analysis of the imaging process. Subsequently, we discuss data obtained from characterization and validation experiments. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of this technique for small hole metrology by measuring the internal geometry of a 129 μm diameter fiber ferrule and conclude with an uncertainty budget.     

The transition between high and low wear regimes under multidirectional reciprocating sliding

The wear phenomena and wear characteristics of reciprocating sliding wear with superimposed lateral vibrations were investigated using a ball-on-disc tribometer. The tribometer enabled two orthogonal oscillations, whereas one oscillation had a constant amplitude of 1 mm (primary oscillation) and the other one had a variable amplitude from 0 to 20.2 μm (secondary oscillation). Ball and disc were made of AISI 52100 steel. The ball surface was polished and the disc surface was unidirectionally grinded parallel to the direction of primary oscillation. Two regimes with different wear rates were found, being separated by a characteristic transition amplitude of 2.7 ± 0.4 μm in the secondary oscillation. This transition correlated with a change of wear mechanisms from tribochemically to mechanically dominated wear. A wear model based on surface topography and particle motion was developed. The wear model is able to predict the value of the transition amplitude by means of characteristic topographical data and the size of wear particles.     

Micro-drilling of monocrystalline silicon using a cutting tool

The micro-drilling of monocrystalline silicon using a cutting tool was tested with the aim of fabricating three-dimensional and high aspect ratio micro-shapes. Micro-tools with a D-shaped cross-section and cutting edge radius of 0.5 μm were fabricated by wire electrodischarge grinding (WEDG). The results showed that, with a depth of cut of 0.1 μm, ductile-regime cutting was realized, and that a tool clearance angle larger than 0° was necessary to prevent fractures at the hole entrance. The smallest machinable hole was of 6.7 μm diameter, which is the smallest not just in the present study, but of all holes drilled using a cutting tool so far. Furthermore, an aspect ratio of more than four was obtained in the drilling of a 22 μm diameter and 90 μm deep hole.