Papers by Author: Yoke San Wong

Abstract: Tungsten carbide is widely used as molds and dies material due to its superior strength, hardness and wear resistance. However, these characteristics also make it very difficult to be machined. Because the material is removed by spark erosion, micro-EDM has been found to be an effective machining process to machine difficult-to-cut materials such as tungsten carbide. Notwithstanding that micro-EDM using deionized water yields many advantages compared to hydrocarbon oil such as higher removal rate, lower tool wear and thinner recast layer, it has not been widely used due to the poor dimensional accuracy of machined part. This is the result of stray material dissolution caused by the slight conductivity of deionized water. This unanticipated material removal is especially severe for tungsten carbide which is highly susceptible to corrosion. This paper presents an attempt to improve the accuracy of micro-EDM using deionized water by using short voltage pulses. A short pulses generator has been in-house developed for this purpose. The effects of pulse parameters on the stray material dissolution are investigated. It is observed that the stray material dissolution is localized when short voltage pulses are used. As a result, dimensional accuracy of machined parts is significantly enhanced.

Abstract: This paper presents micro-ball end milling of tungsten carbide using a CBN cutter to investigate its capability for machining slots for micro-moulds. Crack-free slots were machined at different axial depths of cut by inclining the work piece surface at different angles to the spindle axes to study the influence of these machining parameters on the cutting mechanism and surface finish. The experimental results show that up to 150 µm deep slots can be finished efficiently on tungsten carbide work pieces without leaving any fracture marks. It was identified that the chip disposal ability of micro-ball end milling reduced with increase in axial depth of cut. The cutting action was more efficient in up milling cuts compared to that in down milling when machining a slot. The inclination of the work piece proved propitious for machining slots with high-quality finish on tungsten carbide work pieces and a larger inclination angle also facilitated chip disposal.

Abstract: nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) and collagen were utilized to fabricate the bio-inspired organic-inorganic composite coating (OICC) via the Drop-on-Demand (DoD) micro-dispensing technique, which could flexibly construct multi-layer structures with varied materials composition within a layer and /or among layers reliably. This technique has been further investigated on its capability of OICC fabrication with regards to various materials (hydroxyapatite and collagen) as well as its dispensing parameters. A four-layered structure was formed, with the sequence of nHA-collagen-nHA-collagen from bottom to top. The dispensing parameters were also investigated with regards to the characteristics of the OICC fabrication. The coating was then subjected to various characterizations including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and adhesion test. SEM and XRD results revealed that the DoD micro-dispensing technique did not change the morphology and phase of these two coating materials. And the results of EDS further demonstrated the corresponding elemental distributions within the four-layered coating structure which demonstrated the feasibility of the DoD micro-dispensing technique for the fabrication of thin-layered OICC.

Abstract: Micro-structured surfaces on brittle materials, e.g. ceramic and glass, are gaining increasing application in a range of areas. In this paper, fast tool servo (FTS) diamond turning has been applied to machine micro-structured surfaces on brittle materials and the machined surfaces has been observed to study its machining mechanism. A machining model is presented to enable ductile-regime machining of the brittle material. Based on the model, machining characteristics can be predicted for given cutting conditions. Experimental investigation on machining of a micro-structured surface verified that ductile-regime machining can be ensured on the entire surface through path planning simulation based on the machining model.

Abstract: Brittle and hard materials are problematic to mechanically micro machine due to damage resulting from material removal by brittle fracture, cutting force-induced tool deflection or breakage and tool wear. As a result, the forces arising from the cutting process are important parameter for material removal. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of cutting conditions on cutting forces and the machined surface during the glass micro grinding using on-machine fabricated (Poly Crystalline Diamond) PCD tool. Experimental results showed that an increase in depth of cut and feed rate can result in increase of cutting forces and surface roughness as well. Among the forces in 3 axes, force along feed direction is found to be larger, which played a major role in material removal. Finally, it is observed that PCD tool exhibits promising behaviour to machine brittle material like BK-7 glass for producing micro molds and micro fluidic devices, since it has better wear resistance, experiences less cutting forces and generates smooth surfaces with Ra value of as low as 12.79 nm.

Abstract: Present study introduces low-frequency workpiece vibration during micro-EDM drilling of difficult-to-cut tungsten carbide with an objective to overcome the difficulty in flushing of debris and machining instability in deep-hole machining. The effects of vibration frequency, amplitude and electrical parameters on the machining performance, as well as surface quality and accuracy of the micro-holes have been investigated. It is found that the overall machining performance improves significantly with significant reduction of machining time, increase in material removal rate (MRR), and decrease in electrode wear ratio (EWR). The surface quality improves and the overcut and taper angle of the micro-holes reduces after applying the workpiece vibration in micro-EDM. The frequency and amplitude of 750 Hz and 1.5 μm were found to provide optimum performance.

Abstract: Fast tool servo diamond turning is a promising machining method for precision and complex micro-structured surfaces with spatial wavelength above tens of microns. It is crucial to measure and characterize the micro-structured surfaces to sub-micrometer form accuracy. The general purpose measurement instruments are not able to evaluate the true form accuracy between the measured surface and designed surface. Therefore, in this paper an automatic surface characterization method is proposed to evaluate the form accuracy for micro-structured surfaces. The fabricated surfaces can be measured by any high-resolution measurement instruments. After the surface measurement, an iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is modified to align the measured surfaces to the designed surfaces with the form error evenly distributed over the whole surface. After alignment, the designed surface height corresponding to each measured point is calculated to form the areal error map. 3D surface parameters are chosen and calculated from the error map to characterize the surface form error. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed surface characterization method.

Abstract: Glass is an important engineering material. It is widely used in semiconductor, optical, micro-electronics and many other fields. However, glass is not amenable to machining with conventional approach because of its low fracture toughness. To achieve high quality surface finish on optical components, glass must be machined in ductile mode. Compared to single point cutting processes, end-milling can achieve improved material removal rate in machining fracture free surface on brittle material. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation into microcutting of glass by end-milling. Side-cutting tests have been performed on soda-lime glass workpiece at multiple feeds and radial depth of cuts to obtain fracture free machined surface. The tests were designed to investigate the effect of feed per edge and radial depth of cut on the cutting mechanism at low cutting speed. Experimental results indicate that feed per edge is the most dominant factor that dictates the occurrence of brittle-ductile transition point in the milling process of glass. It has been proved experimentally that fracture free surface can be machined on glass at high radial depth of cut if the feed per edge is sufficiently small.

Abstract: Compound micro-machining is the most promising technology for the production of miniaturized parts and this technology is becoming more and more important and popular because of growing demand for industrial products with not only increased number of functions but also of reduced dimensions, higher dimensional accuracy and better surface finish. In this paper, the development efforts in micro/nano-machining based on solid tools (tool-based micro/nano-machining) in NUS are introduced. In order to achieve meaningful implementation of micro-machining techniques, this research seeks to address four important areas; namely (a) development of machine tool capable to do both conventional micro-machining, (b) process control, (c) process development to achieve necessary accuracy and quality, and (d) on-machine measurement and inspection. An integrated effort in these areas has resulted in successful fabrication of micro-structures that is able to meet the miniaturization demands of the industry. In the area of nano-machining machine tool and process developments have also been carried out for electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) grinding and ultra precision machining using single point and poly crystalline diamond tools to produce nano surface finish on hard and brittle materials. An ultra-precision diamond turning machine has been developed which incorporates a fast and fine tool servo system to produce nano-precision surfaces and features.

Abstract: Present study aims to investigate the migration of materials onto the surface of workpiece and electrode during fine-finish die-sinking and milling micro-EDM of tungsten carbide using pure tungsten electrode. The effect of materials transfer on the machined surface characteristics is also presented. The machined surfaces have been examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) in order to investigate the changes in chemical composition due to the migration of materials. It has been observed that materials from both workpiece and electrode transfer to each other depending on machining conditions and discharge energy. A significant amount of carbon migrates to both electrode and workpiece surface due to the decomposition of dielectric hydrocarbon during breakdown. The migration occurs more frequently at lower gap voltages during finish die-sinking micro-EDM due to low spark gap and stationary tool electrode. Milling micro-EDM suffers from lower amount of carbon migration and fewer surface defects which improve the overall surface finish and reduce surface roughness significantly.