Papers by Author: Otmann Riemer

Abstract: Micro milling is an appropriate technology for the flexible production of precise micro molds with complex shapes for metal forming processes (e.g. micro deep drawing). Besides high form accuracy micro ball end milling also provides a specific surface topography which can enhance the tribological behavior during the forming processes. This paper is focusing on the tribological behavior of micro structured surfaces generated by micro milling compared to smooth surfaces. The coefficient of friction was investigated on a pin-on-disc test stand for different materials. The results of the tribological tests suggest a relationship between micro structure and coefficient of friction. Finally, the correlations between machining parameters and tribological behavior will be discussed.

Abstract: In order to realize ductile machining of optical glasses using mono-layer nickel electroplated coarse-grained diamond grinding wheel, a novel conditioning technique features using a copper bonded diamond grinding wheels of 15m grain size dressed by ELID (electrolytic inprocess dressing) to condition the 46m grain sized diamond wheel has been developed. During the conditioning process, a force transducer was used to monitor the conditioning force, a coaxial optical distance measurement system was used to in-situ monitor the modified wheel surface status. White-light interferometry (WLI), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the conditioned wheel surface status as well as the ground optical glass surface topography correspondingly. The experimental result indicates that a minimized wheel radial run-out error of less than 2μm as well as the top-flattened diamond grains of constant wheel peripheral envelop profile were generated on a 5-axis ultra-precision machine tool. The grinding experiment proved that the well conditioned 46μm coarse-grained diamond wheel can be used in realizing the ductile grinding of optical glass BK7, which indicates that the newly developed conditioning technique is feasible and applicable to introduce the coarse-grained diamond wheels into precision machining of brittle and hard-to-machine materials.

Abstract: The manufacturing of optics is an important field of technology and will serve keymarkets today and in the future. Nevertheless, the application of complex optical elements is much restricted today despite of their outstanding functional advantages. Furthermore, the replication of structured optical components requires high precision molds. Diamond machining processes like diamond milling and cutting as well as abrasive polishing are appropriate micro-structuring techniques for optical molds. The combination of these key machining technologies with replication techniques within closed process chains will open the possibility to produce high precision complex optical elements as mass-product articles for many optical applications. Important machining techniques for optical mold manufacture are presented and discussed.

Abstract: This paper aims to evaluate the surface and sub-surface integrity of optical glasses which were correspondingly machined by coarse and fine-grained diamond grinding wheels on Tetraform ‘C’ and Nanotech 500FG. The experimental results show that coarse-grained diamond grinding wheels are capable of ductile grinding of optical glasses with high surface and sub-surface integrity. The surface roughness values are all in nanometer scale and the sub-surface damages are around several micros in depth, which is comparative to those machined by fine-grained diamond wheels.

Abstract: In this paper, a novel conditioning technique features using copper bonded diamond grinding wheels of 91μm grain size assisted with ELID (electrolytic in-process dressing) as a conditioner to precisely and effectively condition nickel electroplated monolayer coarse-grained diamond grinding wheels of 151μm grain size was firstly developed. Under optimised conditioning parameters, the super abrasive diamond wheel was well conditioned in terms of a minimized run-out error and flattened diamond grain surfaces of constant peripheral envelope, with the conditioning force monitored by a force transducer as well as the modified wheel surface status in-situ monitored by a coaxial optical distance measurement system. Finally the grinding experiment on BK7 was conducted using the well conditioned wheel with the corresponding surface morphology and subsurface damage measured by AFM (atomic force microscope) and SEM (scanning electron microscope) respectively. The experimental result shows that the newly developed conditioning technique is applicable and feasible to ductile grinding optical glass featuring nano scale surface roughness, indicating a prospect of introducing super abrasive diamond wheels into ductile machining of brittle materials.

Abstract: A novel conditioning technique to precisely and effectively condition the nickel electroplated mono-layer coarse-grained diamond grinding wheel of 91m grain size was developed to fabricate a Diamond Micro Tool Array (DMTA) in ductile machining of brittle materials. During the fabricating process, a copper bonded diamond grinding wheels (91m grain size) dressed by ELID (electrolytic in-process dressing) was applied as a conditioner, a force transducer was used to monitor the conditioning force, and a coaxial optical distance measurement system was used to insitu monitor the modified wheel surface status. The experimental result indicates that the newly developed conditioning technique is applicable and feasible to generate required wheel topography of less than 2μm run-out error and grain geometries. The taper cutting test on BK7 proves the fabricated DMTA is capable of realizing ductile machining of brittle materials.