An investigation on the mechanics of nanometric cutting and the development of its test-bed

The mechanics of machining at a very small depth of cut (100 nm or less) is not well understood. The chip formation physics, cutting forces generation, resulting temperatures and the size effects significantly affect the efficiency of the process and the surface quality of the workpiece. In this paper, the cutting mechanics at nanometric scale are investigated in comparison with conventional cutting principles. Molecular Dynamics (MD) is used to model and simulate the nanometric cutting processes. The models and simulated results are evaluated and validated by the cutting trials on an atomic force microscope (AFM). Furthermore, the conceptual design of a bench-type ultraprecision machine tool is presented and the machine aims to be a facility for nanometric cutting of three-dimensional MEMS devices. The paper concludes with a discussion on the potential and applications of nanometric cutting techniques/equipment for the predictabilty, producibility and productivity of manufacturing at the nanoscale.

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