Performance improvement studies for cutting tools with perforated surface in turning of titanium alloy

In turning process, the cutting tool is essential for shaping materials. The cutting tools with various perforated surfaces help to increase the cutting tool life. Also, advances in CNC machining technologies have enhanced the productivity of machining process. One of the best or futuristic approaches in modern manufacturing engineering is the use of FEM Simulation for the metal cutting process. FEM simulation helps in understanding the metal deformation process and also helps in the reduction of experiments. The simulation helps the researchers to predict the major influencing cutting variable values without carrying out any experiment which is time-consuming and expensive. This research presents the simulation study of the performance of micro-hole patterned Polycrystalline Diamond cutting insert in machining Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V). Micro-holes are drilled using Electrical Discharge Wire Drilling machine on the rake face of Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) cutting inserts. FEM analysis is carried out to evaluate the effect of perforations on the mechanical integrity of insert. The micro-hole patterned insert is modeled in PRO-E modeler and simulated using DEFORM-3D software. The effective stress, strain, and temperature distribution are analyzed and the results are compared with the normal insert

Investigation of focused ion beam induced damage in single crystal diamond tools

In this work, transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to characterise the focused ion beam (FIB) induced damage layer in a single crystal diamond tool under different FIB processing voltages. The results obtained from the experiments and the simulations are in good agreement. The results indicate that during FIB processing cutting tools made of natural single crystal diamond, the energetic Ga+ collision will create an impulse-dependent damage layer at the irradiated surface. For the tested beam voltages in a typical FIB system (from 8 kV to 30 kV), the thicknesses of the damaged layers formed on a diamond tool surface increased from 11.5 nm to 27.6 nm. The dynamic damage process of FIB irradiation and ion-solid interactions physics leading to processing defects in FIB milling were emulated by MD simulations. The research findings from this study provide the in-depth understanding of the wear of nanoscale multi-tip diamond tools considering the FIB irradiation induced doping and defects during the tool fabrication process

A Rotating-Tip-Based Mechanical Nano-Manufacturing Process: Nanomilling

We present a rotating-tip-based mechanical nanomanufacturing technique, referred to here as nanomilling. An atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe tip that is rotated at high speeds by out-of-phase motions of the axes of a three-axis piezoelectric actuator is used as the nanotool. By circumventing the high-compliance AFM beam and directly attaching the tip onto the piezoelectric actuator, a high-stiffness arrangement is realized. The feeding motions and depth prescription are provided by a nano-positioning stage. It is shown that nanomilling is capable of removing the material in the form of long curled chips, indicating shearing as the dominant material removal mechanism. Feature-size and shape control capabilities of the method are demonstrated

Nanogrids and Beehive-Like Nanostructures Formed by Plasma Etching the Self-Organized SiGe Islands

A lithography-free method for fabricating the nanogrids and quasi-beehive nanostructures on Si substrates is developed. It combines sequential treatments of thermal annealing with reactive ion etching (RIE) on SiGe thin films grown on (100)-Si substrates. The SiGe thin films deposited by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition form self-assembled nanoislands via the strain-induced surface roughening (Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld instability) during thermal annealing, which, in turn, serve as patterned sacrifice regions for subsequent RIE process carried out for fabricating nanogrids and beehive-like nanostructures on Si substrates. The scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy observations confirmed that the resultant pattern of the obtained structures can be manipulated by tuning the treatment conditions, suggesting an interesting alternative route of producing self-organized nanostructures