Foundational study on micro machining with instantaneous tiny grinding wheel based on electro-magneto-rheological effect

Abstract

Based on electro-magneto-rheological (EMR) effect, this paper presents a novel micro machining method to form an instantaneous tiny-grinding wheel to polish the surface of optical glass, ceramic and other rigid-fragile materials under both electric and magnetic field. Experiments were conducted to reveal the synergistic effect of electrorheological and magnethorheological effect, and the effects of process parameters, such as intensity of electric field, intensity of magnetic field, working time, machining gap between the workpiece and the needle-like tool, on material removal rate of glass surface. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the micro machining technique with EMR effect-based tiny-grinding wheel and the machining efficiency under the combination of electric and magnetic field is much greater than the one under applied external electric or magnetic field. The material removal rate of workpiece is directly proportional to the intensity of external electric field and will maintain stable when the voltage of external electric field reaches 2000v, while the material removal rate is directly proportional to the intensity of external magnetic field. The material removal rate markedly descends with the increase of the machining gap. In addition, the working time is directly proportional to the amount of material removal of workpiece, but inversely proportional to material removal rate.