Effects of honing treatment on AIP-TiN and TiAlN coated end-mill for high speed machining

The objective of this work is to compare the tool performance of TiN and TiAlN coated carbides end-mills deposited by an arc ion plating (AIP) method, using honing treatment to polish the cutting edge surface sleekly. The curve of surface roughness versus honing time showed a rapid improvement initially and thereafter became steady, manifesting a saturation effect. The optimal honing time related to surface roughness was determined to be approximately 20 s. As the surface roughness increased, the critical loads reduced. At an average surface roughness (Ra) of 0.028 μm, the highest critical loads of TiN and TiAlN coating layers were 98 and 114 N, respectively. Tool performances of uncoated and coated tools were conducted under high speed machining (HSM) of AISI D2 cold-worked die steel (62 HRC). Consequently, the TiAlN coated end-mill using honing treatment showed excellent tool life under HSM conditions.

Characteristic evaluation of Al_2O_3/CNTs hybrid materials for micro-electrical discharge machining

The characteristic evaluation of aluminum oxide (Al2O3)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) hybrid composites for micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) was described. Alumina matrix composites reinforced with CNTs were fabricated by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition method. Al2O3 composites with different CNT concentrations were synthesized. The electrical characteristic of Al2O3/CNTs composites was examined. These composites were machined by the EDM process according to the various EDM parameters, and the characteristics of machining were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The electrical conductivity has a increasing tendency as the CNTs content is increased and has a critical point at 5% Al2O3 (volume fraction). In the machining accuracy, many tangles of CNT in Al2O3/CNTs composites cause violent spark. Thus, it causes the poor dimensional accuracy and circularity. The results show that conductivity of the materials and homogeneous distribution of CNTs in the matrix are important factors for micro-EDM of Al2O3/CNTs hybrid composites.

Improvement of machining quality of copper-plated roll mold by controlling temperature variation

Micro prism film used in LCD industry can be manufactured by roll to roll method with copper-plated roll mold. As copper-plated roll mold is getting larger, pitch error is getting severer. The pitch error drops the quality of micro prism film. The main cause of the pitch error was investigated during machining large roll mold whose machined length was 1 200 mm. The temperature of machining system was elevated during machining roll mold, and this elevation induced thermal expansion of the system. The temperature variation around the roll mold also made thermal expansion of the roll mold. The amount of thermal expansion had strong relationship to the amount of pitch error. Therefore, the roll mold was machined after warming-up of machining system and precise temperature controller around copper-plated roll mold was installed, which minimized the temperature variation. Finally, precise micro prism patterns without pitch error were machined on the large roll mold.

Machining characteristics of complex prism pattern on electroplated roll by copper

The BLU (back light unit) is the core component of the LCD for notebook, mobile-phone, navigation, as well as large sized TV, PID (public information display), etc. In order to enhance optical efficiency of LCD, optical films with the uniform prism patterns have been used for BLU by stacking two films up orthogonally. In this case, light interference-phenomenon occurred such as Morie, wet-out, u-turning, etc. It caused several problems such as low brightness, spots and stripes in LCD. Recently, the high-luminance micro complex prism patterns are actively studied to avoid the light interference-phenomenon and enhance the optical efficiency. In this study, the roll master to manufacture complex micro prism pattern film was machined by using the high precision lathe. The machined patterns on the roll master were 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 μm in the pitch with 25.0, 22.5, 20.0, 17.5, 15.0, 12.5, 10.0, 7.5, 5.0 and 2.5 μm in the peak height, respectively. The roll was 2 000 mm in length and 320 mm in diameter. The electroplated roll by copper and the natural single crystal diamond tool was used for machining the patterns. The cutting force was measured and analyzed for each cutting condition by using the dynamometer. The chips and the surfaces after being machined were analyzed by SEM and microscope.

Dielectrophoretic assembly of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube transistor

A novel burning technique for making a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) transistor assembled by the dielectrophoretic force was suggested. The fabrication process consisted of two steps. First, to align and attach a bundle of SWNTs between the source and drain, the alternating (AC) voltage was applied to the electrodes. When a bundle of SWNTs was connected between two electrodes, some of metallic nanotubes and semi-conducing nanotubes existed together. The second step is to burn the metallic SWNTS by applying the voltage between two electrodes. With increasing the voltage, more current flowed through the metallic SWNTs, thus, the metallic SWNTs burnt earlier than the semiconducting one. This technique enables to obtain only semi-conducting SWNTs connection in the transistor. Through the I—V characteristic graph, the moment of metallic SWNTs burning and the characteristic of semi-conducing nanotubes were verified.

Optimal design considering structural efficiency of compressed natural gas fuel storage vessels for automobiles

The shape and thickness of the dome were investigated with the aim of optimizing the type II CNG storage vessels by using a finite element analysis technique. The thickness of the liners and reinforcing materials was optimized based on the requirement of the cylinder and dome parts. In addition, the shape of the dome, which is most suitable for type II CNG storage vessels, was proposed by a process of review and analysis of various existing shapes, and the minimum thickness was established in this sequence: metal liners, composite materials and dome parts. Therefore, the new proposed shape products give a mass reduction of 4.8 kg(5.1%)

Surface effects of hybrid vibration-assisted femtosecond laser system for micro-hole drilling of copper substrate

The ultrafast laser based hybrid machining system was studied and a novel approach was demonstrated to improve laser machining quality on metals by vibrating the optical objective lens with a low frequency (500 Hz) and various displacements (0-16.5 μm) during a femtosecond laser machining process.The laser used in this experiment is an amplified Ti:sapphire femtosecond (10-15 s) laser system that generates 100 femtosecond pulses having an energy of 3.5 mJ/pulse with a 5 kHz repetition rate at a central wavelength of 790 nm.It is found that both the wall surface finish of the machined structures and the aspect ratio obtained using the frequency vibration assisted laser machining are improved compared with those derived via laser machining without vibration assistance.

Wear characteristics of Ⅴ shape diamond tool for micro prism pattern with Al alloys

The ultra-precision machining process using a single crystal diamond tool has been mainly used for machining molds of optical components.Since the micro patterns of various shapes having excellent surface roughness can be machined by using ultra-precision machine tools,the micro pattern on a large light guide plate (LGP) is mainly machined using a diamond tool.The tool wear occurs due to long machining distances and time while machining a large-area LGP mold.The deformation and dimensional error of micro pattern are caused by tool wear,as a result,the light efficiency of LGP declines.The characteristics of tool wear should be analyzed in order to precisely machine large-area LGP mold from all sorts of materials.The experiments were performed in order to compare wear characteristics of a V90° diamond tool using Al3003,5052,6061 and 7075.The prism pattern of depth 10 μm was machined in order to analyze characteristics of tool wear according to machining distances (0.5,1 and 1.5 km).The effects of tool wear on pattern shape were analyzed by applying overlapped cutting depths (Rough machining is (10+8+7) μm and Finish machining is (5+3+2+1) μm) by continuously machining a prism pattern of W shape of 25 μm in depth.

Laser micromachining of CNT/Fe/Al_2O_3 nanocomposites

CNT/Fe/Al2O3 mixed powders were synthesized from Fe/Al2O3 nanopowders using thermal CVD for the homogeneous dispersion of carbon nanotubes CNTs. CNTs consisted of MWNT, and the diameter was approximately 20-30 nm. After sintering, CNTs were homogenously located throughout Al2O3 grain boundary and were buckled. A femto-second laser installed with special optical systems was used for micromachining of the nanocomposites. The relationship between material ablation rate and energy fluence was theoretically investigated and compared with experimental results from cross-sectional SEM analysis. The nanocomposites which have higher content of CNT show a fairly good machining result due to its higher thermal conductivity and smaller grain size as well as lower light transmittance.

Comparative study on discharge conditions in micro-hole electrical discharge machining of tungsten carbide (WC-Co) material

WC-Co is used widely in die and mold industries due to its unique combination of hardness, strength and wear-resistance. For machining difficult-to-cut materials, such as tungsten carbide, micro-electrical discharge machining(EDM) is one of the most effective methods for making holes because the hardness is not a dominant parameter in EDM. This paper describes the characteristics of the discharge conditions for micro-hole EDM of tungsten carbide with a WC grain size of 0.5 μm and Co content of 12%. The EDM process was conducted by varying the condenser and resistance values. A R-C discharge EDM device using arc erosion for micro-hole machining was suggested. Furthermore, the characteristics of the developed micro-EDM were analyzed in terms of the electro-optical observation using an oscilloscope and field emission scanning electron microscope.

Structural considerations in friction welding of hybrid Al_2O_3-reinforced aluminum composites

Comparative studies on the relationship between the welding parameters and joining efficiency in the friction welding of hybrid Al2O3-reinforced aluminum composites were conducted. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) with 37% (volume fraction) aluminum particle were joined by friction welding. The results show that the effects of the rotation speed on the reduction rate of particle size are greater than those of the upset pressure, and the area of the MMC weld zone decreases as the joining efficiency increases, while it is considered that the joining efficiency does not increase as the reduction rate of particle size decreases. During the macro-examination of the bonding interface, a gray discolored region was observed on the bonding interface, and the center of the region was dark gray. After the micro-examination of the bonding interface, base metal made some second particulate formed by condensed alumina particulate but discoloration part distributed minute alumina particulate without second particulate. Consequently, it was also observed that rotational speed of 3 000 r/min and upset pressure of 63.6 MPa showed a very good joint.

Distribution of electric field for carbon nanotube assembly: Simulation (I)

The distribution of electric field for the alignment and attachment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was simulated. To be attached at the desired place, the aligned and attracted CNTs should be stayed in the desired area called the stable region or the quasi-stable region for an instant where the change of electric field is minimized. Since the conical electrode has the very narrow sized quasi-stable region, few CNTs can be attached. The rectangular electrodes have a wide stable region, so lots of CNTs can be attached. The results indicate that the round electrode which has a proper sized quasi-stable region is more effective for aligning and attaching a single CNT than the conical or rectangular shaped electrodes.

Internal modification in transparent hybrid germanium-silica plates using plasma formation induced by a femtosecond laser

The fabrication of an internal diffraction grating with photoinduced refractive index modification in planar hybrid germanium-silica plates was demonstrated using low-density plasma formation excited by a high-intensity femtosecond (150 fs) Ti:sapphire laser (λp=790 nm).The refractive index modifications with diameters ranging from 400 nm to 3 μm were photoinduced after plasma formation occurred upon irradiation with peak intensities of more than 2×1013 W/cm2.The graded refractive index profile was fabricated to be a symmetric around from the center of the point at which low-density plasma occurred.

Rapid manufacturing of SiC molds with micro-sized holes using abrasive water jet

Silicon carbide (SiC) is highly wear resistant with good mechanical properties, including high temperature strength, excellent chemical resistance, and high thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance. SiC molds, which can be produced with diverse microstructural features, are now widely used in glass molding owing to their excellent characteristics, and also have potential applicability in IT industries. SiC molds are traditionally fabricated by silicon micromachining or dicing. The fabrication cost of silicon micromachining is very high, however, because several expensive masks are needed. Furthermore, the fabrication time is very long. Meanwhile, it is difficult to make micro-patterned molds with arbitrary shapes using dicing saws. Abrasive water jet (AWJ) is widely applied to cut and drill very brittle, soft and fibrous materials. It offers high energy density, the absence of a heat affected zone(HAZ), high performance, and an environment friendly process. In spite of these advantages, micro-hole drilling via conventional AWJ processing suffers from notable shortcomings. We proposed a new abrasive supplying method of AWJ. The proposed method reduces frosting phenomena, and provides micro-machining of AWJ. The characteristics of a hole machined was investigated by the proposed AWJ process according to the ratio of water and abrasives. With the optimal experimental conditions, 3×3 array SiC molds with the diameter of 700 μm and depth of 900 μm were successfully manufactured.

Optical diffraction gratings embedded in BK-7 glass by low-density plasma formation using femtosecond laser

The optical embedded diffraction gratings with the internal refractive index modification in BK-7 glass plates were demonstrated using low-density plasma formation excited by a high-intensity femtosecond (130 fs) Ti: sapphire laser (λp=790 nm). The refractive index modifications with diameters ranging from 400 nm to 4 μm were photoinduced after plasma formation occurred upon irradiation with peak intensities of more than 1×1013 W/cm2. The graded refractive index profile was fabricated to be a symmetric around the center of the point at which low-density plasma occurred. The maximum refractive index change (Δn) was estimated to be 1.5×10-2. Several optical embedded gratings in BK-7 glass plate were demonstrated with refractive index modification induced by the scanning of low-density plasma formation.

Distribution of electric field for carbon nanotube assembly: Experiments (II)

The distribution effect of electric field on the alignment and attachment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were investigated. The experimental results were compared with the simulation results according to three different shaped electrodes. In previous simulation, the round shaped electrodes were expected to be more effective for aligning and attaching a single CNT between two electrodes than conical or rectangular shaped electrodes. To verify the simulation results, three different shaped electrodes were introduced and a single multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) was attached. The optimal conditions for aligning and attaching MWNTs such as the frequency, applied voltage and concentration of MWNTs solution were investigated. Through repeated experiments, frequency of 100 kHz-10 MHz, applied voltage of 0.3-1.3 Vrms/μm, concentration of 5 μg/mL in MWNTs solution were obtained as a possible condition range to attach MWNTs. Under these conditions, the yield of MWNTs attachment between two electrodes was up to 70%. In previous simulation, furthermore, it was verified that the size of the stable or quasi-stable region made CNTs aligned and attached on different shaped electrodes from the comparison of the experimental and simulation results. Most single MWNT attachment was accomplished on the round shaped electrodes.

Characteristics of damaged layer in micro-machining of copper material

The study on damaged layer is necessary for improving the machinability in micro-machining because the damaged layer affects the micro mold life and micro machine parts. This study examined the ultra-precision micro-machining characteristics, such as cutting speed, feed rate and cutting depth, of a micro-damaged layer produced by an ultra-high speed air turbine spindle. The micro cutting force, surface roughness and plastic deformation layer were investigated according to the machining conditions. The damaged layer was measured using optical microscope on samples prepared through metallographic techniques. The scale of the damaged layer depends on the cutting process parameters, particularly, the feed per tooth and axial depth of the cut. According to the experimental results, the depth of the damaged layer is increased by increasing the feed per tooth and cutting depth, also the damaged layer occurs less in down-milling compared with up-milling during the micro-machining operation.