Investigation on surface structuring generated by electrochemical micromachining

Surface geometrical features and their function- ality depend on the manufacturing process which is employed for fabrication of surface structures. Maskless electrochemical micromachining （EMM） is used to generate various surface structures for diminishing and controlling friction and wear to increase the lifetime, reliability, and efficiency of mechanical systems. This paper presents a method for the generation of structured surfaces on stainless steel （SS-304） surfaces by using maskless EMM. The micropatterned tool is composed of 800 μm diameter circular holes in a 5 × 5 matrix form. The indigenously developed EMM set up consists of an EMM cell, electrical power supply system, and a controlled vertical cross-flow electrolyte circulation arrangement to control the influence of process parameters during the generation of the micro features of structured surfaces. The single structured cathode tool is used for the mass production of structured surfaces with a short fabrication time in the industrial context by avoiding the use of an individual masking process for each workpiece. The process has been characterized in terms of the effects of predominant process parameters such as machining voltage, electrolyte concentration, duty ratio, pulsed frequency, and machining time on the machined surface characteristics such as current efficiency, machining accuracy, and depth of the circular pattern on the stainless steel surfaces. A mathematical model is also developed to determine the theoretical depth of the dimple pattern and correlate the theoretical depths with actual depths as obtained by experimentation. Moreover, an effort has been made to study the structuringcharacteristics on the basis of micrographs obtained duringthe EMM.

Cutting force prediction for circular end milling process

A deduced cutting force prediction model for circular end milling process is presented in this paper. Traditional researches on cutting force model usually focus on linear milling process which does not meet other cutting conditions, especially for circular milling process. This paper presents an improved cutting force model for circular end milling process based on the typical linear milling force model. The curvature effects of tool path on chip thickness as well as entry and exit angles are analyzed, and the cutting force model of linear milling process is then corrected to fit circular end milling processes. Instantaneous cutting forces during circular end milling process are predicted according to the proposed model. The deduced cutting force model can be used for both linear and circular end milling processes. Finally, circular end milling experiments with constant and variable radial depth were carried out to verify the availability of the proposed method. Experiment results show that measured results and simulated results corresponds well with each other.