Development of Hybrid Machining System and Hybrid Process Technology for Ultra-fine Planing and Micro Punching

Abstract

Ultra-fine planing and micro punching are separately used for improving surface roughness and machining dot patterns, respectively, of metal molds. If these separate machining processes are applied for machining of identical molds, there could be an aligning mismatch between the machine tool and the mold. A hybrid machining system combining ultra-fine planing and micro punching was newly developed in this study in order to solve this mismatch; hybrid process technology was also developed for machining dot patterns on a mirror surface of a metal mold. The hybrid machining system has X, Y, and Z axes, and a cam axis for ultra-fine planing. The cam axis and attachable and removable solenoid actuators for micro punching can make large and small sizes of dot patterns, respectively. Ultra-fine planing was applied in the first place to improve the surface roughness of a metal mold; the measured surface roughness was about 20nm. Then, micro punching was applied to machine dot patterns on the same mold. It was possible to control the diameter of the dot patterns by changing the input voltage of the solenoid actuator. Before machining, severe inhomogeneous plastic deformation around the machined dot patterns was also removed by annealing heat treatment. Therefore, it was verified that metal molds with dots patterns for optical products can be machined using a hybrid machining system and the hybrid process technology developed in this study.