Ultrasonically Assisted Cutting of Histological Sections for Reducing the Environmental and Financial Impact of Microtomy

Modern-day microtomy requires high precision equipment to thinly section biological tissues.The sectioned tissue must be of good quality not showing cutting tracks or so-called artefacts.The quality of these sections is dependent on the blade wear,which is related to the hardness of the tissue sample,cutting angle and cutting speed.A test rig has been designed and manufactured to allow these parameters to be controlled.This has allowed for the blade wear to be analysed and quantified,and this has been completed for both ultrasonically assisted and conventional cutting.The obtained results showed a 25.2%decrease in average blade roughness after 38 cuts when using the ultrasonically assisted cutting regime.The data also showed no adverse effect on the quality of the slides produced when using this cutting methodology.Finally,the cutting force measured for both cutting regimes showed that ultrasonically assisted cutting required less force compared to conventional cutting.With the reduction of surface roughness and force,it is possible to state that ultrasonically assisted cutting reduces the wear of the blade,thereby increasing the life of the blades.An increase of just 10%in blade life would yield a cost saving of approximately 25%thereby reducing the environmental and financial impact of microtomy.

Prediction and Analysis of Surface Quality of Northeast China Ash Wood during Water-Jet Assisted CO_(2) Laser Cutting

As a natural and environmentally friendly renewable material,Northeast China ash wood(NCAW)(Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr.)was cut by water-jet assisted CO_(2) laser(WACL),the surface quality was evaluated by surface roughness of cut section.The surface roughness was measured by three-dimensional(3D)profilometry.Furthermore,the micromorphology of machined surface was observed by scanning electronic microscopy(SEM).Carbon content changes of machined surface were measured by energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS).A relationship between surface roughness and cutting parameters was established using response surface methodology(RSM).It is concluded that the cutting speed,laser power and water pressure played an important role in surface roughness of cut section.The surface roughness increased as an increase in laser power.It decreased caused by increasing of cutting speed and water pressure.Measurements revealed that the surface quality of NCAW part was improved using the optimized combination of cutting parameters.The established quadratic mathematical model of a good prediction is helpful for matching suitable cutting parameters to obtain expected surface quality.

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation on Interfacial Carbon Diffusion of Diamond Tool and Ferrous Metals

We numerically simulated and experimentally studied the interfacialcarbon diffusion between diamond tooland workpiece materials.A diffusion modelwith respect to carbon atoms of diamond toolpenetrating into chips and machined surface was established.The numericalsimulation results of the diffusion process revealthat the distribution laws of carbon atoms concentration have a close relationship with the diffusion distance,the diffusion time,and the originalcarbon concentration of the work material.In addition,diamond face cutting tests of die steels with different carbon content are conducted at different depth of cuts and feed rates to verify the previous simulation results.The micro-morphology of the chips is detected by scanning electron microscopy.Energy dispersive X-ray analysis was proposed to investigate the change in carbon content of the chips surface.The experimentalresults of this work are of benefit to a better understanding on the diffusion wear mechanism in single crystaldiamond cutting of ferrous metals.Moreover,the experimentalresults show that the diffusion wear of diamond could be reduced markedly by applying ultrasonic vibration to the cutting toolcompared with conventionalturning.

Experimental investigation for ultra-precision cutting of nickel based superalloy with the assistance of magnetic field

Nickel based superalloy is an important material because of its excellent properties under high temperatures.However,it is a difficult-to-machine material due to its low thermal conductivity,which can cause undesired localized high temperatures in the processing area.In this study,magnetic field-assisted end face turning experiments of nickel-based superalloy is carried out under the assistance of external magnetic fields of different strengths formed by permanent magnets.The experiment results show that,compared with ordinary machining,the chip morphology is improved,the oscillation of cutting force F_(c),F_(a),and Ffare significantly reduced by 90%,88%,and 78%,and the surface roughness Ra is improved from 23 to 13 nm,the P-V value of the fan-shaped area of the machined surface is reduced,and hardness and ductility are improved after the magnetic field is applied.The experiment results indicate that the application of a magnetic field is an efficient and convenient approach to improve the cutting performance of nickel based superalloy.