Abstract
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is of growing interest in the application of microfluidic devices and high precision optical elements due to its excellent moldability and formability. Micromilling is one of the micromachining methods which has been extensively used to manufacture polymer components. In this study, a high-speed micromilling method was used to manufacture polymer with high form accuracy and surface quality. The processing temperature effects on the surface quality were investigated in detail. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) experiment was used to study the material mechanical property under different temperatures. According to the DMA results, the PMMA sample is in the glass and viscoelastic state during the milling process. The cutting chips under various processing temperatures are classified into three kinds according to their shapes: roll, sheet, and sinter. The surface roughness of samples with sheet and roll cutting chips is smaller than that of sinter cutting chips. To obtain a better machining bottom surface and edge shape, the processing temperature below 70 °C is recommended according to the results. This work is of great value for the study of polymer removal mechanism and optimization of processing parameters for the industry.
Highlights
IntroductionPolymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been widely applied in modern industries due to their distinctive properties, biocompatibility, low thermal conductivity, optical characteristics, and so on [1,2]
Polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been widely applied in modern industries due to their distinctive properties, biocompatibility, low thermal conductivity, optical characteristics, and so on [1,2].polymer devices with microstructures are broadly used in many important fields such as precision energy and optical system, microfluidic chips, and drug delivery devices [3,4,5,6]
There is a strong demand for miniature polymer devices and components with high form accuracy and surface quality [7,8]
Summary
Polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been widely applied in modern industries due to their distinctive properties, biocompatibility, low thermal conductivity, optical characteristics, and so on [1,2]. The chip formation, groove integrity, surface roughness, and cutting force were analyzed They concluded that it was challenging to minimize or eliminate the burr-formation while obtaining high-quality features due to the low glass transition temperature of PMMA. Xiao et al [23] found that cutting speed was a critical parameter during macroscale polymer machining due to its viscoelastic property They reported that the viscoelastic property of polymers affected the machining process output, and it was challenging work to achieve a good surface finish. This work may contribute to the process parameter optimization of polymer machining in microscale and ultra-precision machining
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