3 research outputs found
Uniform Micro-Patterning of an Arbitrary Surface
Get PDFAccording to the literature, creating specific micro-level patterns on some surfaces can significantly reduce friction. To this effect, a method is presented to create a regular pattern of micro-level indentations on any irregular surface. Creating a uniform pattern on a regular surface is possible using commercial CAD software, where regular surface is the surface obtained by extrusion or revolution of a 2D sketch along any curve. But, it is complicated and often incorrect for irregular surfaces. The thesis presents the approach followed to create parameterized regular patterns on arbitrary surfaces. Three different algorithms are presented, each achieving a progressively increased quality solution. The last and best method provides a set of points with their corresponding normals to the surface to enable the creation of the patterning feature. The algorithm reads an STL file, a format neutral output of any CAD software and implements the method on the approximated surface. Each facet surface upon which the pattern has to be created is sliced by planes at specific distances from each other. The intersections of the facets and the planes are calculated and chains are formed from the intersections in each plane. Points are interpolated at the required pitch in different chains formed at the intersection of a single plane and the facets. This procedure is repeated for each plane. Thus, a pattern of points of specified pitch distance that can be as low as microns can be generated. Given specifications of a machine, this method generates the X, Y, and Z translations and the axis rotation angles needed to generate a g-code specific to a micro-milling machine. This code can be used directly for any metal removing process that has to create micro-level indentations on an arbitrary surface. If instead, the features are protrusions on some irregular surface, then the resultant points obtained with the developed approach can be used to apply the pattern at each of the identified locations
