Surface Texturing in Cutting with Micro-Scale Structured Tools

Abstract

Functional surfaces have been widely used for control of physical and/or chemical properties of substances on the surface. In the manufacturing industries, some of micro fabrication approaches such as laser processing have been applied to form textured surfaces, which control the surface functions with topographies. This study presents the surface texturing in cutting with micro-scale structured end mills. Micro-scale nicks are fabricated on the cutting edges of PCD (Poly-Crystalline Diamond) end mills in laser finishing. The cutting operation is conducted to form the chips on each nick with the cutter axis inclination in the feed direction. An analytical model is applied to control the surface structure for the spindle speed, the feed rate, the nick geometry and the inclination angle of the cutter axis. Then, the surface structures were fabricated in the actual cutting process. The machining operation in this study is available in fabrication of the micro-scale structures at high production rates and the structures shape can be controlled in the surface simulation.