International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012)

State of the Art of Micro Turning Process

V. Senthilkumar1, S. Muruganandam2
Associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.A.M. College of engineering, Siruganur, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India - Pin 621 105. 2 Principal, K. Ramakrishnan college of Technology, Samayapuram,Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India Pin 621 105.
2

pvsenthilss@gmail.com thilakarthi@yahoo.co.in

Abstract - Micromachining is the most basic technology for the production of miniaturized parts and components. Micro turning is one type of micromachining process which uses a solid tool and its material removal process is almost similar to conventional turning operation. The objective of this paper is to provide a state of the art in the field of micro turning. In recent years, researchers have explored a number of ways to improve the micro turning process performance by analyzing the different factors that affect the quality characteristics. The experimental and theoretical studies show that the process performance can be improved considerably by proper selection of micro turning parameters. This paper reviews the research work carried out so far in the area of micro turning and reports about the experimental and theoretical studies on micro turning to achieve more efficient material removal rate coupled with reduction in tool wear and improved surface quality. Keywords : Material removal rate, micromachining, micro turning, surface quality and tool wear.

Although an upper limit of 500m has recently been considered to set the border between micro- and macromachining. According to Alberto Herrero et. al. [3] the reasonably accepted limits for micro technologies are from 0.5 to 499 m. II. M ICRO T URNING

Masuzawa, T. and H.K. Tonshoff [4] classifies micromachining process into two basic groups: mask based and tool based micromachining. The mask based technology has the limitations of fabricating 3D structures as it is applied only to two dimensional shapes. Examples of these processes are etching, electroforming. On the other hand, the processes using tools, especially those using solid tools, can specify the outlines of various 3D shapes owing to the clear border at the tool surface and easily defines the tool path. One group of tool based micromachining technology is micro turning. It is a conventional material removal process that has been miniaturized. For carrying out the process of cutting, the workpiece and the cutting tool must be moved relative to each other in order to separate the excess layer of material in the form of chips. Fig. 1 illustrates the concept of micro turning.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Recent developments in micro and nano technology have introduced greater demand for industrial products not only with increased number of functions but also of reduced dimensions. Micromachining is the most basic technology for the production of such miniaturized parts and components. Since miniaturization of industrial products had been the trend of technological development, micromachining is expected to play an increasingly important role in today's manufacturing technology. The accelerating trend of miniaturization is increasing day by day and micromachining technology contributes to this trend. Micromachining bridges the gap between MEMS manufacturing and the capabilities of conventional machining. M. A. Rahman et. al. [1] stated that miniaturization has advantages as it reduces energy consumption and materials requirement for manufacturing. Micromachining is sometimes used as a synonym of micro processing. However, machining contains some nuance of processing with machine tools. J. Mc Geough [2] says that micromachining is generally used to define the practice of material removal for the production of parts having dimensions that lies between 1 and 999 m.

Fig. 1 Micro turning

A.Bhattacharyya [5] pointed out that the motion of cutting tool with respect to workpiece is important. M.A.Rahman et. al. [6] suggested that micro turning has the capability to produce three dimensional features on micro scale and uses a solid cutting tool, it can clearly define and produce 3D shape following various cutting path.

36

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012) M. P. Groover [7] suggested that the relative motion is required between the tool and work to perform a machining operation. The primary motion is accomplished at a certain cutting speed. In addition, the tool must be moved laterally across the work at a much slower motion, called the feed. The remaining dimension of the cut is the penetration of the cutting tool below the original work surface, called the depth of cut. Collectively, speed, feed, and depth of cut are called the cutting conditions. The predominant cutting action in machining involves shear deformation of the work material to form a chip; as the chip is removed, a new surface is exposed as shown in Fig. 2. The value of the cutting force must be lower than the plastic deformation of the workpiece to avoid deflection. The process parameter that may affect the machining characteristics is shown in Fig. 3. K. M. Rezaur Rahman et. al. [12] investigated the effects of different machining parameters like spindle speed, feed rate and dwell time on machining performance like tool wear, cutting force and surface roughness of micro turning of nickel plated material. They concluded that the cutting force increases with increase in cutting speed and feed, and has no effect on the surface roughness and tool wear. A. S. Patil., et. al. [13] conducted some preliminary metallurgical Studies on Grain Size and density of work material used in Micro Turning Operation. They also concluded that It is not advisable to select the material based on the general properties available through standard data available because micro turning is a high precision machining method and the slight deviation in the micro structure like grain size and other properties may lead to poor machinability, deflection of micro shaft and other similar problems. M. Azizur Rahman et. al [14] developed and applied micro turning to fabricate millistructure with micro feature, they fabricated micro pin of brass material using the miniature machine tool. They observed that the main drawback of tool based micromachining is the workpiece deflection which reduces process precision. They developed step cutting process to eliminate the workpiece deflection in microturning. Choudhury, I.A., EI-Baradie, M.A. [15] stated that in machining of parts, surface quality is one of the most specified customer requirements where major indication of surface quality on machined parts is surface roughness. Surface roughness is mainly a result of process parameters such as tool geometry (i.e. nose radius, edge geometry, rake angle, etc.) and cutting conditions (feed rate, cutting speed, depth of cut, etc.). In finish turning, tool wear becomes an additional parameter affecting surface quality of finished parts.

Fig. 2 Cross-sectional view of the machining process [7]

Friedrich. C. R. [8] stated the advantage of this process and the ability to machine any machinable material, quick process planning and material removal, and threedimensional geometry only limited by the machine tools used. Masuzawa, T. [9] suggested that the major drawback of micro turning process is that the machining force which influences machining accuracy and also limit the machinable size. Lim et. al. [10] reported that during machining, the thrust force tends to deflect the workpiece. However, the workpiece can vibrate in the tangential direction of the tool-workpiece contact region because the vibration along the normal direction is blocked by the cutting tool. Lu. Z. and Takeshi Yoneyama [11] observed that as the diameter of the workpiece reduces the rigidity of the workpiece decreases. Therefore, controlling the reacting force during cutting is one of the important factors in improvement of machining accuracy.
Cutting tool parameters Tool material Feed rate Tool geometry Depth of cut

Cutting parameters Cutting speed

Hot or cold worked

Machining characteristics Surface finish Tool wear Material removal rate (MRR) Cutting force

Hardness

37

Work material parameters

Fig. 3 Process parameters associated with machining characteristics in micro turning process

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012) This paper reviews the research work carried out so far in the area of micro turning and also the problems associated with micro turning process. A. Surface roughness Oezel, T. and Karpat,Y [16] mentioned that the quality of the surface is a factor of importance in the evaluation of machine tool productivity. Hence, it is important to achieve a consistent tolerance and surface finish which helps to maximize productivity. Kai Liu and Shreyes N. Melkote [17] conducted experiments to predict the surface roughness in microturning of Aluminium alloy by considering the effects of plastic side flow, tool geometry, and process parameters. They observed that the surface roughness in microturning decreases with feed, reaches a minimum, and then increases with further reduction in feed. K. A. Mahajan et. al. [18] investigated the viability of diamond turning on Oxygen Fuel High Conductivity Copper (OHFC). They determined the effects of the four process parameters namely spindle speed, feed, depth of cut and tool nose radius on surface roughness and concluded that nano-meter level surface roughness value can be achieved by diamond turning and also that tool nose radius is a dominating parameter amongst all the parameters and from the Fig. 4 it is found that as bigger tool nose radius is used the surface roughness improves with higher depth of cut, high speed and high feed rate. J. Paulo Davim et. al. [19] studied the machinability of PA66 polyamide with and without glass fibre reinforcing. They concluded that the surface roughness increases with increase in feed rate. P.Ranjithkumar and S. Gowri [20] used cement inserts to machine copper rods under different cutting conditions and observed the parametric influence on surface roughness. They concluded that the surface finish increase with increase in cutting speed and feed. K.C. Chan., et. al. [21] conducted a detailed investigation of the factors affecting the surface generation in ultraprecision diamond turning of Al6061/SiCp metal matrix composites. They concluded that the surface roughness and surface integrity can be significantly improved by using high spindle speed and fine tool feed rate. Depth of cut appears not to be a factor affecting the surface roughness except under low spindle speed condition. They also derived an empirical surface roughness using non-linear multiple regression analysis method, for the prediction of arithmetic roughness. G Lanza et. al. [22] analyzed the possible influence of workpiece material, cutting edge radius, cutting speed, and depth of cut on the surface roughness and specific cutting force. They showed that depth of cut, cutting speed, and material have a significant influence on the surface roughness Based on the experimental data and the statistical modelling studies they proposed a linear model for the surface roughness and specific cutting force.

Fig. 4 Relationship of spindle speed vs. surface roughness with change in feed rate, depth of cut and tool nose radius [18]

38

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012) B. Material removal rate (MRR) The Material removal rate, MRR, can be defined as the volume of material removed per unit machining time. MRR = volume of material removed / machining time. Deepak mittal et. al. [23] mentioned MRR is affected by all the process parameters viz. spindle speed, depth of cut and feed rate. It can be used to estimate the power required to sustain the cutting operation. M. Azizur Rahman et. al. [24] studied the machinability of brass, aluminium alloy and stainless steel during external cylindrical longitudinal microturning process for different workpiecetool combinations. They carried out experiments for fabricating microshafts by varying the depth of cut, feed rate and spindle speed. They stated that in micro turning process, if the feed rate is increased, the contact area of tool and workpiece would also increases which will raise the material removal rate. JiwangYan. [25] performed diamond turning experiments on Reaction-bonded Silicon Carbide (RBSiC) to investigate the microscopic material removal mechanism. They said that the mechanism for removal of material involves ductile cutting, cleavage cracking and grain dislodgement. The material removal behavior depends on the size and depth of the grains and the bonding strength at the grain boundaries. C. Tool wear Tool wear according to Australian Standard, appendix B P35 is the change of shape of the tool from its original shape, during cutting, resulting from the gradual loss of tool material. During machining, cutting tools remove material from the component to achieve the required shape, dimension and surface roughness (finish). However, wear occurrs during the cutting action, and it will ultimately result in the failure of the cutting tool. When the tool wear reaches a certain extent, the tool or active edge has to be replaced to guarantee the desired cutting action. Ding et. al. [26] found that tool wear greatly dependent on the tool type, the hardness of the machined workpiece and the cutting parameters used. Zhiyu Zhang et. al [27] studied the tool wear characteristics in turning of reactionbonded silicon carbide and concluded that tool wear is one of the most critical problems in machining hard, brittle materials and tool-swinging cutting method can significantly reduce tool wear and remarkably improve the cutting performance of the tools. Ranjith Kumar et. al. [28] measured tool wear for different conditions and also recorded acoustic emission signals (AE rms) in micro turning of OFHC copper. They concluded that cutting is mostly restricted to nose portion with cutting edge radius playing a significant role on tool performance. Also finer feed facilitates plowing, resulting the higher order wear and with higher feed rate, reduced order of tool wear occurs and AE rms could be used for online monitoring of tool wear. Jiwang Yan et. al. [29] investigated the performance of diamond cutting tools during single point diamond turning of single-crystal silicon substrates at a machining scale smaller than 1m and observed that tool wear significantly influences the resulting surface roughness, chip formation and microcutting forces. M. Aruna et. al. [30] measured tool wear in finish turning of Inconel 718 by varying the process parameters. They found that less tool wear are obtained at low speeds as shown in Fig. 5. Zhiyu Zhang et. al. [31] studied tool wear characteristics in diamond turning of Reaction bonded Silicon carbide RB-SiC by SEM observation and concluded flank wear is significant and it consists of two regions having different wear patterns: periodical microgrooves and non-periodical scratch marks. The non periodical scratch marks may disappear as the cutting distance increases. Also the tool-swinging cutting method can significantly reduce tool wear and remarkably improve the cutting performance of the tools.

Fig. 5 Effect of cutting speed on flank wear [31]

D.

Cutting force

Considerable amount of investigations has been directed towards the prediction and measurement of cutting forces. Cutting forces generated during metal cutting have direct influence on the generation of heat, and thus tool wear, quality of machined surface and accuracy of the workpiece. Due to the complex tool configurations / cutting conditions of metal cutting operations and some unknown factors and stresses, theoretical cutting force calculations failed to produce accurate results. Zinan Lu and Takeshi Yoneyama [32] used a single point diamond tool to cut various shapes and studied the usefulness of such micro tools for various forms. They also investigated the cutting force by force sensor and found that the cutting force decreases as the cutting speed increases. Kohichi Miura, et. al. [33] investigated the thrust force in turning of micro shafts.

39

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012) They derived a linear relationship between thrust force and depth of cut, under a controlled condition of approach angle based on the experiments. Also concluded that cutting force increases as workpiece hardness increases. TK.Liu., et. al. [34] carried out experiments to evaluate the characteristics of high speed cutting of tungsten carbide material using a high speed machine tool with cubic boron nitride (CBN) tool inserts. They concluded that cutting forces increased with the increase of feed rate and depth of cut. M. Azizur Rahman et. al. [35] fabricated micropin with carbide cutting tools. They carried out several experiments by varying the cutting condition such as depth of cut ( t), feed rate (f) and speed (s) and analyzed thrust forces and tangential forces. From Fig. 6 it was found that with increasing depth of cut, thrust force dominates over tangential force to a certain value and after that tangential force dominates over thrust force. But from Fig. 7&8 it was found that tangential force dominates over thrust force as speed and feed increases. W B Lee et. al. [36] presented a multidisciplinary approach to the quantitative investigation of frictioninduced analysis of cutting forces in the diamond turning of crystalline materials. They indicated that the periodicity of the fluctuation in cutting forces depends not only on the crystallographic orientation of materials being cut but also on the frictional condition during cutting. The proposed model is not only applicable to single crystals but also to polycrystalline materials in which there is a strong crystallographic texture. III. FUTURE SCOPE

Fig. 6 Cutting forces comparison as depth of cut changes [35]

The investigation of micro turning process is new and further research is required. In future research, it would be interesting to study the parameters such as grain size and temperature and also their effects and interactions on machining characteristics, geometric and dimensional accuracy. Although nanometric surface finishes can be obtained in micro turning, tool life is a major obstacle in the use of turning tools commercially used in production. Optimization of machining parameters can be done to improve surface finish, material removal rate and reduced tool wear for machining difficult to machine materials. Furthermore the overall cost of micro-manufacturing, especially the cost of tools and equipment is crucial for industrial applications because some of the expensive equipment serves mainly for research purposes. The research and technological development should explore more on the add-on facilities to micro-manufacturing which enables the existing industry to gradually transform and expand its business to without taking significant risks.

IV.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper has attempted to review the micro turning process, a field which has been actively researched by precision and manufacturing engineers. From the review we can conclude that Some complex micro-features and shapes of extremely smaller dimensions can be successfully fabricated using micro turning process.
Fig. 7 Cutting forces comparison as feed rate changes [35]

Extensive research in chip formation, predicting cutting force, material properties to provide accuracy and productivity in micro-scales is needed as the material removal is similar to the macro-machining processes, but the direct scaling of macro-knowledge to the micro dimensions was not successful. Furthermore the optimization of machining parameters can be done to improve the surface finish, material removal rate and reduced tool wear.

Fig.8 Cutting forces comparison as feed rate changes [35]

40

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012) More investigation of micro turning processes is needed for a variety of work material and tool combinations to answer many challenging questions. References
[1] M.A.Rahman, M.Rahman, A.Senthil Kumar, H.S.Lim, A.B.M.A.Asad, Fabrication Of Miniature Components Using Microturning, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechanical Engineering 2003(ICME2003), Dec 2003, 1-6. McGeough J, Micromachining of engineering materials, Dekker, New York, 2002, iii iv. Alberto Herrero, Igor Goenaga, Sabino Azcarate, Luis Uriarte, Atanas Ivanov, Andrew Rees, Christian Wenze and Claas Muller, Mechanical Micro-Machining Using Milling, Wire EDM, DieSinking EDM and Diamond Turning, Journal of Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 52, 2006, 484-494. Masuzawa, T. and H.K. Tonshoff. Three-Dimensional Micromachining by Machine Tools, Annals of the CIRP, 46/2, 1997, 621-628. Bhattacharyya, A. Metal Cutting: Theory and Practice., Calcutta: New Central Book Agency (P) Ltd. 1984, 21-32. M.A.Rahman, M.Rahman, A.Senthil Kumar, H.S.Lim, A.B.M.A.Asad, Fabrication Of Miniature Component s Using Microturning, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechanical Engineering 2003(ICME2003), Dec 2003, 1-6. Groover, M. P., Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010, pp. 484. Friedrich, C. R. Micromechanical machining of high aspect ratio prototypes, Microsystem Technologies, 8, 2002, 343-347. Masuzawa, T. State of the Art of Micromachining, Annals of the CIRP, 49/2, 2000, 473-488. [17] Kai Liu, Shreyes N. Melkote, Effect of plastic side flow on surface roughness in micro-turning process, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, Vol 46, 2006, 17781785. [18] K.A.Mahajan, Dr. M. Sadaiah and S. H. Gawande, Experimental investigations of surface roughness on OFHC copper by diamond turning machine, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 2(10), 2010, 5215-5220. [19] J. Paulo Davim, Leonardo R. Silva, Antonio Festas and A.M. Abrao, Machinability study on precision turning of PA66 polyamide with and without glass fiber reinforcing, Materials and Design Vol. 30, 2009, 228234. [20] P. Ranjithkumar, S.Gowri, Effects of machining parameters on surface roughness in micro turning of OHFC copper, Journal of advanced materials research, Vol. 76-78, 2009, 532-537. [21] K.C. Chan, C.F. Cheung, M.V. Ramesh, W.B. Lee, S. To, A theoretical and experimental investigation of surface generation in diamond turning of an Al6061/SiCp metal matrix composite, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol 43, 2001, 20472068. [22] G Lanza, J Fleischer, J Kotschenreuther, J Peters and M Schlipf, Statistical modelling of process parameters in micro cutting, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 2008, 15-22. [23] Deepak mittal, Garg. M. P and Rajesh khanna, An investigation of the effect of process parameters on mrr in turning of pure titanium (Grade-2), International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol 3, Issue 8, 2011, 6345-6349. [24] M. Azizur Rahman, M. Rahman, A. Senthil Kumar, H.S. Lim, CNC microturning: an application to miniaturization, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, Vol. 45, 2005, 631639. [25] JiwangYan , ZhiyuZhang,TsunemotoKuriyagawa, Mechanism for material removal in diamond turning of reaction-bonded silicon carbide, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, Vol. 49, 2009, 366374. [26] X. Ding, W.Y.H. Liew, B.K.A. Ngoi, J.G.K. Gan and S.H. Yeo, Wear of CBN tools in ultra-precision machining of STAVAX, Tribology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2002, 3-12. [27] Zhiyu Zhang & Jiwang Yan & Tsunemoto Kuriyagawa, Study on tool wear characteristics in diamond turning of reaction-bonded silicon carbide, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 57, 2011, 117125. [28] Ranjith Kumar. P., Gowri. S., Krishnamurthy. R., Experimental study on tool wear in microturning of OFHC copper, International Journal on Design and Manufacturing Technologies, Vol.3, No.2, 2009, 30-35. [29] Jiwang Yan, Katsuo Syoji and Junichi Tamaki, Some observations on the wear of diamond tools in ultra-precision cutting of single-crystal silicon, Wear 255, 2003, 13801387. [30] M. Aruna, V. Dhanalakshmi and S. Mohan, Wear analysis of ceramic cutting tools in finish turning of INCONEL 718, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 2(9), 2010, 4253-4262. [31] Zhiyu Zhang & Jiwang Yan & Tsunemoto Kuriyagawa, Study on tool wear characteristics in diamond turning of reaction-bonded silicon carbide, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 57, 2011, 117125.

[2] [3]

[4]

[5] [6]

[7] [8] [9]

[10] Lim, H.S., A. Senthil Kumar and M. Rahman. Improvement of Form Accuracy in Hybrid Machining of Microstructures, Journal of Electronic Materials, 31, 2002, 1032-1038. [11] Lu, Z. and Takeshi Yoneyama. Micro cutting in the micro lathe turning system, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, 39, 1999, 1171-1183. [12] K.M. Rezaur rehman, M. Rahamn, K.S. Neo, M. Sawa, Y. Maeda, Micro grooving on electroless nickel plated materials using a single crystal diamond tool, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 27, 2006, 911-917. [13] S. Patil, H. K. Dave, R. Balasubramaniam, K. P. Desai, H. K. Raval, Some Preliminary Metallurgical Studies on Grain Size and Density of Work Material used in Micro Turning Operation, Journal of Minerals & Materials Characterization & Engineering, Vol. 9, No.9, 2010, 845-853. [14] M. Azizur Rahman, M. Rahman, A. Senthil Kumar, H.S. Lim and A.B.M.A. Asad, Development of micropin fabrication process using tool based micromachining, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 27, 2006, 939944. [15] Choudhury, I.A., EI-Baradie, M.A.: Surface roughness prediction in the turning of high-strength steel by factorial design of experiments. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 67(13), 1997, 5561. [16] Oezel, T., Karpat,Y., Predictive modeling of surface roughness and tool wear in hard turning using regression and neural networks, Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 45(45), 2005, 467479.

41

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2012)
[32] Zinan Lu, Takeshi Yoneyama, Micro cutting in the micro lathe turning system, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, Vol 39, 1999, 11711183. [33] Kohichi MiuraTakazo Yamada and Hwa-Soo Lee, Study on Turning of Micro Shaft : Control of Thrust Force Considering Vickers Hardness of Workpiece(Advanced machining technology), Proceedings of International Conference on Leading Edge Manufacturing in 21st century : LEM21 2009(5), 347-352. [34] K. Liu, X.P. Li, M. Rahman, Characteristics of high speed microcutting of tungsten carbide, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol 140 2003, 352357. [35] M. Azizur Rahman, M. Rahman, A. Senthil Kumar, H.S. Lim and A.B.M.A. Asad, Development of micropin fabrication process using tool based micromachining, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 27, 2006, 939944. [36] W B Lee, C F Cheung and S To, Friction -induced fluctuation of cutting forces in the diamond turning of aluminium single crystals, Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Vol. 217 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture, IMechE 2003, 615-631.

42