This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature, mostly of the last 10–15 years, that is enhancing our understanding of the mechanics of the rapidly growing field of micromachining. The paper focuses on the mechanics of the process, discussing both experimental and modeling studies, and includes some work that, while not directly focused on micromachining, provides important insights to the field. Experimental work includes the size effect and minimum chip thickness effect, elastic-plastic deformation, and microstructure effects in micromachining. Modeling studies include molecular dynamics methods, finite element methods, mechanistic modeling work, and the emerging field of multiscale modeling. Some comments on future needs and directions are also offered.

This paper examines the surface generation process in the micro-endmilling of both single-phase and multiphase workpiece materials. We used 508 μm dia endmills with edge radii of 2 and 5 μm to machine slots in ferrite, pearlite, and two ductile iron materials at feed rates ranging from 0.25 to 3.0 μm/flute. A surface generation model to predict the surface roughness for the slot floor centerline is then developed based on the minimum chip thickness concept. The minimum chip thickness values were found through finite element simulations for the ferrite and pearlite materials. The model is shown to accurately predict the surface roughness for single-phase materials, viz., ferrite and pearlite. Two phenomena were found to combine to generate an optimal feed rate for the surface generation of single-phase materials: (i) the geometric effect of the tool and process geometry and (ii) the minimum chip thickness effect. The surface roughness measurements for the ductile iron workpieces indicate that the micromilling surface generation process for multiphase workpiece materials is also affected by the interrupted chip-formation process as the cutting edge moves between phases resulting in burrs at the phase boundaries and the associated increases in surface roughness.

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Under normal machining conditions, the cutting forces are primarily due to the bulk shearing of the workpiece material in a narrow zone called the shear zone. However, under finishing conditions, when the uncut chip thickness is of the order of the cutting edge radius, a ploughing component of the forces becomes significant as compared to the shear forces. Predicting forces under these conditions requires an estimate of ploughing. A slip-line field is developed to model the ploughing components of the cutting force. The field is based on other slip-line fields developed for a rigid wedge sliding on a half-space and for negative rake angle orthogonal cutting. It incorporates the observed phenomena of a small stable build-up of material adhered to the edge and a raised prow of material formed ahead of the edge. The model shows how ploughing forces are related to cutter edge radius -a larger edge causing larger ploughing forces. A series of experiments were run on 6061-T6 aluminum using tools with different edge radii -including some exaggerated in size -and different levels of uncut chip thickness. Resulting force measurements match well to predictions using the proposed slip-line field. The results show great promise for understanding and quantifying the effects of edge radius and worn tool on cutting forces.

In micromachining, the uncut chip thickness is comparable or even less than the tool edge radius and as a result a chip will not be generated if the uncut chip thickness is less than a critical value, viz., the minimum chip thickness. The minimum chip thickness effect significantly affects machining process performance in terms of cutting forces, tool wear, surface integrity, process stability, etc. In this paper, an analytical model has been developed to predict the minimum chip thickness values, which are critical for the process model development and process planning and optimization. The model accounts for the effects of thermal softening and strain hardening on the minimum chip thickness. The influence of cutting velocity and tool edge radius on the minimum chip thickness has been taken into account. The model has been experimentally validated with 1040 steel and Al6082-T6 over a range of cutting velocities and tool edge radii. The developed model has then been applied to investigate the effects of cutting velocity and edge radius on the normalized minimum chip thickness for various carbon steels with different carbon contents and Al6082-T6.