Research status and challenges in the manufacturing of IR conformal optics

The infrared conformal window is one of the most critical components in aircraft.Conformal windows with high performance bring low aberrations,high aerodynamic performance,reliability in extreme working environments,and added value for aircraft.Through the past decades,remarkable advances have been achieved in manufacturing technologies for conformal windows,where the machining accuracy approaches the nanometer level,and the surface form becomes more complex.These advances are critical to aircraft development,and these manufacturing technologies also have significant reference values for other directions of the ultra-precision machining field.In this review,the infrared materials suitable for manufacturing conformal windows are introduced and compared with insights into their performances.The remarkable advances and concrete work accomplished by researchers are reviewed.The challenges in manufacturing conformal windows that should be faced in the future are discussed.

On-machine Precision Preparation and Dressing of Ball-headed Diamond Wheel for the Grinding of Fused Silica

In the grinding of high quality fused silica parts with complex surface or structure using ball-headed metal bonded diamond wheel with small diameter,the existing dressing methods are not suitable to dress the ball-headed diamond wheel precisely due to that they are either on-line in process dressing which may causes collision problem or without consideration for the effects of the tool setting error and electrode wear.An on-machine precision preparation and dressing method is proposed for ball-headed diamond wheel based on electrical discharge machining.By using this method the cylindrical diamond wheel with small diameter is manufactured to hemispherical-headed form.The obtained ball-headed diamond wheel is dressed after several grinding passes to recover geometrical accuracy and sharpness which is lost due to the wheel wear.A tool setting method based on high precision optical system is presented to reduce the wheel center setting error and dimension error.The effect of electrode tool wear is investigated by electrical dressing experiments,and the electrode tool wear compensation model is established based on the experimental results which show that the value of wear ratio coefficient K’ tends to be constant with the increasing of the feed length of electrode and the mean value of K’ is 0.156.Grinding experiments of fused silica are carried out on a test bench to evaluate the performance of the preparation and dressing method.The experimental results show that the surface roughness of the finished workpiece is 0.03 μm.The effect of the grinding parameter and dressing frequency on the surface roughness is investigated based on the measurement results of the surface roughness.This research provides an on-machine preparation and dressing method for ball-headed metal bonded diamond wheel used in the grinding of fused silica,which provides a solution to the tool setting method and the effect of electrode tool wear.

Numerical simulation of materials-oriented ultra-precision diamond cutting:review and outlook

Ultra-precision diamond cutting is a promising machining technique for realizing ultra-smooth surface of different kinds of materials.While fundamental understanding of the impact of workpiece material properties on cutting mechanisms is crucial for promoting the capability of the machining technique,numerical simulation methods at different length and time scales act as important supplements to experimental investigations.In this work,we present a compact review on recent advancements in the numerical simulations of material-oriented diamond cutting,in which representative machining phenomena are systematically summarized and discussed by multiscale simulations such as molecular dynamics simulation and finite element simulation:the anisotropy cutting behavior of polycrystalline material,the thermo-mechanical coupling tool-chip friction states,the synergetic cutting responses of individual phase in composite materials,and the impact of various external energetic fields on cutting processes.In particular,the novel physics-based numerical models,which involve the high precision constitutive law associated with heterogeneous deformation behavior,the thermo-mechanical coupling algorithm associated with tool-chip friction,the configurations of individual phases in line with real microstructural characteristics of composite materials,and the integration of external energetic fields into cutting models,are highlighted.Finally,insights into the future development of advanced numerical simulation techniques for diamond cutting of advanced structured materials are also provided.The aspects reported in this review present guidelines for the numerical simulations of ultra-precision mechanical machining responses for a variety of materials.

Theoretical and Experimental Research on Error Analysis and Optimization of Tool Path in Fabricating Aspheric Compound Eyes by Precision Micro Milling

Structure design and fabricating methods of three-dimensional （3D） artificial spherical compound eyes have been researched by many scholars. Micro-nano optical manufacturing is mostly used to process 3D artificial compound eyes. However, spherical optical compound eyes are less at optical performance than the eyes of insects, and it is difficult to further improve the imaging quality of compound eyes by means of micro-nano optical manufacturing. In this research, nonhomogeneous aspheric compound eyes （ACEs） are designed and fabricated. The nonhomogeneous aspheric structure is applied to calibrate the spherical aberration. Micro milling with advantages in processing three-dimensional micro structures is adopted to manufacture ACEs. In order to obtain ACEs with high imaging quality, the tool paths are optimized by analyzing the influence factors consisting of interpolation allowable error, scallop height and tool path pattern. In the experiments, two kinds of ACEs are manufactured by micro-milling with different too path patterns and cutting parameter on the miniature precision five-axis milling machine tool. The experimental results indicate that the ACEs of high surface quality can be achieved by circularly milling small micro-lens individually with changeable cutting depth. A prototype of the aspheric compound eye （ACE） with surface roughness （Ra） below 0.12 p.m is obtained with good imaging performance. This research ameliorates the imaging quality of 3D artificial compound eyes, and the proposed method of micro-milling can improve surface processing quality of compound eyes.

Dynamic Accuracy Design Method of Ultra-precision Machine Tool

Ultra-precision machine tool is the most important physical tool to machining the workpiece with the frequency domain error requirement, in the design process of which the dynamic accuracy design(DAD) is indispensable and the related research is rarely available. In light of above reasons, a DAD method of ultra-precision machine tool is proposed in this paper, which is based on the frequency domain error allocation.The basic procedure and enabling knowledge of the DAD method is introduced. The application case of DAD method in the ultra-precision flycutting machine tool for KDP crystal machining is described to show the procedure detailedly. In this case, the KDP workpiece surface has the requirements in four different spatial frequency bands, and the emphasis for this study is put on the middle-frequency band with the PSD specifications. The results of the application case basically show the feasibility of the proposed DAD method. The DAD method of ultra-precision machine tool can effectively minimize the technical risk and improve the machining reliability of the designed machine tool. This paper will play an important role in the design and manufacture of new ultra-precision machine tool.

Integrated Simulation Method for Interaction between Manufacturing Process and Machine Tool

The interaction between the machining process and the machine tool （IMPMT） plays an important role on high precision components manufacturing. However, most researches are focused on the machining process or the machine tool separately, and the interaction between them has been always overlooked. In this paper, a novel simplified method is proposed to realize the simulation of IMPMT by combining use the finite element method and state space method. In this method, the transfer function of the machine tool is built as a small state space. The small state space is obtained from the complicated finite element model of the whole machine tool. Furthermore, the control system of the machine tool is integrated with the transfer function of the machine tool to generate the cutting trajectory. Then, the tool tip response under the cutting force is used to predict the machined surface. Finally, a case study is carried out for a fly-cutting machining process, the dynamic response analysis of an ultra-precision fly-cutting machine tool and the machined surface verifies the effectiveness of this method. This research proposes a simplified method to study the IMPMT, the relationships between the machining process and the machine tool are established and the surface generation is obtained.

Study of machining indentations over the entire surface of a target ball using the force modulation approach

A modified five-axis cutting system using a force control cutting strategy was to machine indentations in different annuli on the entire surface of a target ball.The relationship between the cutting depths and the applied load as well as the microsphere rotation speed were studied experimentally to reveal the micromachining mechanism.In particular,aligning the rotating center of the high precision spindle with the microsphere center is essential for guaranteeing the machining accuracy of indentations.The distance between adjacent indentations on the same annulus and the vertical distance between adjacent annuli were determined by the rotating speed of the micro-ball and the controllable movement of the high-precision stage,respectively.In order to verify the feasibility and effect of the proposed cutting strategy,indentations with constant and expected depths were conducted on the entire surface of a hollow thin-walled micro-ball with a diameter of 1 mm.The results imply that this machining methodology has the potential to provide the target ball with desired modulated defects for simulating the inertial confinement fusion implosion experiment.

Practical Control of a Ball-Screw-Driven Stage for Long-Range Nanometer Positioning

A DC motor and ball-screw-driven stage is studied for long-range nanometer positioning.The closed-loop system with high-gain PID controller is specially designed for high-precision point-to-point (PTP) positioning.A particular input shape of the closed-loop system is proposed to avoid overshoot and vibration by taking into account the nonlinear characteristics of the feed drive.Friction modeling and identification are avoided and the effect of friction is greatly suppressed by the controller.Experimental and simulated results demonstrate long-range nanometer positioning is achieved without overshoot.In PTP positioning from 10 mm down to 5 nm,the positioning error is within ±5 nm and response dynamic is satisfactory.

Fabrication of Ordered Micro/Nanostructures Using Probe‑Based Force‑Controlled Micromachining System

This paper presents a probe-based force-controlled nanoindentation method to fabricate ordered micro/nanostructures.Both the experimental and finite element simulation approaches are employed to investigate the influence of the interval between the adjacent indentations and the rotation angle of the probe on the formed micro/nanostructures.The non-contacting part between indenter and the sample material and the height of the material pile-up are two competing factors to determine the depth relationship between the adjacent indentations.For the one array indentations,nanostructures with good depth consistency and periodicity can be formed after the depth of the indentation becoming stable,and the variation of the rotation angle results in the large difference between the morphology of the formed nanostructures at the bottom of the one array indentation.In addition,for the indentation arrays,the nanostructures with good consistency and periodicity of the shape and depth can be generated with the spacing greater than 1μm.Finally,Raman tests are also carried out based on the obtained ordered micro/nanostructures with Rhodamine probe molecule.The indentation arrays with a smaller spacing lead to better the enhancement effect of the substrate,which has the potential applications in the fields of biological or chemical molecular detection.

A New Method for the Ultra-smooth Machining of the Silicon Based Materials

A New method,named atmospheric pressure plasma polishing,for the ultra-smooth machining of the silicon based materials is introduced.By inputting the CF4 gas into the atmospheric pressure plasma flame,high density reactive radicals will be generated,which will then react with the silicon based materials.The reaction product is the vaporization of the SiF4,which can be easily processed.In this way,the atomic scale material removal can be realized and the defect free ultra-smooth surface can be obtained.An experimental setup is built up,and the SiC polishing experiment is carried out.The AFM test result shows that the finished surface roughness (Ra) can be improved from 4.529 nm to 0.926 nm in 3 minutes.

Research on Positioning Error Compensation for Micro Milling Machine Tool

Micro milling has many advantages in fabricating three-dimensional(3D) structure in micrometer scale. The micro milling machine tool with high positioning accuracy is of great importance for getting micro structure with high profile precision and good surface quality. Meanwhile, the method of position error compensation is a good way to improve the accuracy of the micro milling machine tools. In this paper,a software method is adopted to compensate the positioning error and improve the positioning accuracy. According to error cancellation theory,the compensation values are generated and compensation tables are built to adjust the positioning error in the NC system based on Industrial Motion and Automation Control( IMAC). The positioning accuracy of linear motor is ± 0. 3 μm without backlash after compensation. In order to verify the effectiveness of compensation on the machining performance,concave spherical surfaces are processed on the micro milling machine tool. The experimental results show that the profile radius error of the spherical surface machined with compensation decreases more than 60%.

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CARBON NANOTUBE PROBE AND CONVENTIONAL ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY PROBE ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS

In this paper, three different tips are employed, i.e., the carbon nanotube tip, monocrystalline silicon tip and silicon nitride tip. Resorting to atomic force microscope （AFM）, they are used for measuring the surface roughness of indium tin oxide （ITO） film and the immunoglobulin G （IgG） proteins within the scanning area of 10 μm×10 μm and 0.5 μm×0.5 μm, respectively. Subsequently, the scanned surface of the ITO film and IgG proteins are analyzed by using fractal dimension. The results show that the ffactal dimension measured by carbon nanotube tip is biggest with the highest frequency components and the most microscopic information. Therefore, the carbon nanotube tip is the ideal measuring tool for measuring super-smooth surface, which will play a more and more important role in the high-resolution imaging field.

Micro Model of Carbon Fiber/Cyanate Ester Composites and Analysis of Machining Damage Mechanism

Machining damage occurs on the surface of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites during processing. In the current simulation model of CFRP, the initial defects on the carbon fiber and the periodic random distribution of the reinforcement phase in the matrix are not considered in detail, which makes the characteristics of the cutting model significantly different from the actual processing conditions. In this paper, a novel three-phase model of carbon fiber/cyanate ester composites is proposed to simulate the machining damage of the composites. The periodic random distribution of the carbon fiber reinforced phase in the matrix was realized using a double perturbation algorithm. To achieve the stochastic distribution of the strength of a single carbon fiber, a novel method that combines the Weibull intensity distribution theory with the Monte Carlo method is presented. The mechanical properties of the cyanate matrix were characterized by fitting the stress-strain curves, and the cohesive zone model was employed to simulate the interface. Based on the model, the machining damage mechanism of the composites was revealed using finite element simulations and by conducting a theoretical analysis. Furthermore, the milling surfaces of the composites were observed using a scanning electron microscope, to verify the accuracy of the simulation results. In this study, the simulations and theoretical analysis of the carbon fiber/cyanate ester composite processing were carried out based on a novel three-phase model, which revealed the material failure and machining damage mechanism more accurately.

Modelling of the In uence of Tool Runout on Surface Generation in Micro Milling

Micro milling is a flexible and economical method to fabricate micro components with three-dimensional geometry features over a wide range of engineering materials. But the surface roughness and micro topography always limit the performance of the machined micro components. This paper presents a surface generation simulation in micro end milling considering both axial and radial tool runout. Firstly, a surface generation model is established based on the geometry of micro milling cutter. Secondly, the influence of the runout in axial and radial directions on the surface generation are investigated and the surface roughness prediction is realized. It is found that the axial runout has a significant influence on the surface topography generation. Furthermore, the influence of axial runout on the surface micro topography was studied quantitatively, and a critical axial runout is given for variable feed per tooth to generate specific surface topography. Finally, the proposed model is validated by means of experiments and a good correlation is obtained. The proposed surface generation model o ers a basis for designing and optimizing surface parameters of functional machined surfaces.

Fabrication of Periodic Nanostructures Using AFM Tip-Based Nanomachining:Combining Groove and Material Pile-Up Topographies

This paper presents an atomic force microscopy(AFM)tip-based nanomachining method to fabricate periodic nanostructures.This method relies on combining the topography generated by machined grooves with the topography resulting from accumulated pile-up material on the side of these grooves.It is shown that controlling the distance between adjacent and parallel grooves is the key factor in ensuring the quality of the resulting nanostructures.The presented experimental data show that periodic patterns with good quality can be achieved when the feed value between adjacent scratching paths is equal to the width between the two peaks of material pile-up on the sides of a single groove.The quality of the periodicity of the obtained nanostructures is evaluated by applying one-and two-dimensional fast Fourier transform(FFT)algorithms.The ratio of the area of the peak part to the total area in the normalized amplitude–frequency characteristic diagram of the cross-section of the measured AFM image is employed to quantitatively analyze the periodic nanostructures.Finally,the optical effect induced by the use of machined periodic nanostructures for surface colorization is investigated for potential applications in the fields of anti-counterfeiting and metal sensing.

Effect of cathode composition on microstructure and tribological properties of TiBN nanocomposite multilayer coating synthesized by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition

Nanocomposite multilayer TiBN coatings were prepared on Si(100) and 9Cr18Mo substrates using TiBN composite cathode plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition technique(PIIID). Synthesis of TiBN composite cathodes was conducted by powder metallurgy technology and the content of hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN) was changed from 8% to 40%(mass fraction). The as-deposited coatings were characterized by energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction(GIXRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR) and high resolution transmission electron microcopy(HRTEM). EDS results show that the B content of the coatings was varied from 3.71% to 13.84%(molar fraction) when the composition of the h-BN in the composited cathodes was changed from 8 % to 40%(mass fraction). GIXRD results reveal that the TiBN coatings with a B content of 8% has the main diffraction peak of TiN(200),(220) and(311), and these peaks disappear when the B content is increased. FTIR analysis of the multilayer coatings showed the presence of h-BN in all coatings. TEM images reveal that all coatings have the characteristics of self-forming nanocomposite multilayers, where the nanocomposites are composed of face-centered cubic Ti N or h-BN nanocrystalline embedded in amorphous matrix. The tribological tests reveal that the Ti BN coatings exhibit a marked decrease of coefficient at room temperature(~0.25). The improved properties were found to be derived from the comprehensiveness of the self-forming multilayers structure and the h-BN solid lubrication effects in the coatings.

Mechanism of micro-waviness induced KH_2PO_4 crystal laser damage and the corresponding vibration source

The low laser induced damage threshold of the KH2PO4 crystal seriously restricts the output power of inertial confinement fusion.The micro-waviness on the KH2PO4 surface processed by single point diamond turning has a significant influence on the damage threshold.In this paper,the influence of micro-waviness on the damage threshold of the KH2PO4 crystal and the chief sources introducing the micro-waviness are analysed based on the combination of the Fourier modal theory and the power spectrum density method.Research results indicate that among the sub-wavinesses with different characteristic spatial frequencies there exists the most dangerous frequency which greatly reduces the damage threshold,although it may not occupy the largest proportion in the original surface.The experimental damage threshold is basically consistent with the theoretical calculation.For the processing parameters used,the leading frequency of micro-waviness which causes the damage threshold to decrease is between 350-1 μm-1 and 30-1 μm-1,especially between 90-1 μm-1 and 200-1 μm-1.Based on the classification study of the time frequencies of microwaviness,we find that the axial vibration of the spindle is the chief source introducing the micro-waviness,nearly all the leading frequencies are related to the practical spindle frequency（about 6.68 Hz,400 r/min） and a special middle frequency（between 1.029 Hz and 1.143 Hz）.

The interaction between grain boundary and tool geometry in nanocutting of a bi-crystal copper

Anisotropy is one central influencing factor on achievable ultimate machined surface integrity of metallic materials.Specifically,grain boundary has a strong impact on the deformation behaviour of polycrystalline materials and correlated material removal at the microscale.In the present work,we perform molecular dynamics simulations and experiments to elucidate the underlying grain boundaryassociated mechanisms and their correlations with machining results of a bi-crystal Cu under nanocutting using a Berkovich tool.Specifically,crystallographic orientations of simulated bi-crystal Cu with a misorientation angle of 44.1°are derived from electron backscatter diffraction characterization of utilized polycrystalline copper specimen.Simulation results reveal that blocking of dislocation motion at grain boundaries,absorption of dislocations by grain boundaries and dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries are operating deformation modes in nanocutting of the bi-crystal Cu.Furthermore,heterogeneous grain boundary-associated mechanisms in neighbouring grains lead to strong anisotropic machining behaviour in the vicinity of the grain boundary.Simulated machined surface morphology and machining force evolution in the vicinity of grain boundary qualitatively agree well with experimental results.It is also found that the geometry of Berkovich tool has a strong impact on grain boundary-associated mechanisms and resultant ploughing-induced surface pile-up phenomenon.

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Processing of Fused Silica in Different Discharge Modes

One of the major advantages of utilizing atmospheric pressure plasma processing （APPP） technology to fabricate ultra-precision optics is that there is no subsurface damage during the process. In APPP, the removal footprint and removal rate are critical to the capability and efficiency of the figuring of the optical surface. In this paper, an atmospheric plasma torch, which can work in both remote mode and contact mode, is presented. The footprints and the removal rates of both modes are compared by profilometer measurements. The influences of process recipes and substrate thickness for both modes are investigated through a series of experiments. When the substrate is thinner than 12 mm, the removal rate in contact mode is higher. However, the removal rate and width of the footprint decrease dramatically as the substrate thickness increases in contact mode.

Study of the near-field modulation property of microwaviness on a KH_2PO_4 crystal surface

The KH2PO4 crystal is a key component in optical systems of inertial confinement fusion （ICF）. The microwaviness on a KH2PO4 crystal surface is strongly related to its damage threshold which is a key parameter for application. To study the laser induced damage mechanism caused by microwaviness, in this paper the near-field modulation properties of microwaviness to the incident wave are discussed by the Fourier modal method. Research results indicate that the microwaviness on the machined surface will distort the incident wave and thus lead to non-uniform distribution of the light intensity inside the crystal; in a common range of microwaviness amplitude, the light intensity modulation degree increases about 0.03 whenever the microwaviness amplitude increases 10 nm; 1 order diffraction efficiencies are the key factors responsible for light intensity modulation inside the crystal; the light intensity modulation is just around the microwaviness in the form of an evanescent wave, not inside the crystal when the microwaviness period is below 0.712μm; light intensity modulation degree has two extreme points in microwaviness periods of 1.064μm and 1.6μm, remains unchanged between periods of 3μm and 150μm, and descends above the period of 150μm to 920μm.