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Previous studies found that the peripheral cutting edge and end cutting edge in micro end milling had different cutting phenomena considering the size effect in micro cutting processes. This paper is a further study on this point considering different workpiece materials and cutting edge radii. Finite element simulations have been conducted to determine the minimum undeformed chip thickness (MUCT) by the chip morphology and the results are verified by micromilling experiments. Both the simulations and experiments show that the MUCT of the peripheral cutting edge and the end cutting edge are different even if the cutting edge radii remain unchanged. The MUCT is directly proportional to the cutting edge radius. Material properties also have some effects on the MUCT of the peripheral cutting edge. But it has limited effects on that of the end cutting edge. The results indicate that the feed engagement other than the axial depth of cut should be carefully selected in micro end milling when considering different workpiece materials.

In order to improve the machining quality and reduce the dimensional errors of micro high-aspect-ratio straight thin walls, the on-line cutting parameter compensation device has been introduced and corresponding micromilling processes have been investigated. Layered milling strategies for the micromilling of thin walls have been modeled and simulated for thin walls with different thicknesses based on the finite element method. The radial cutting parameters compensation method is adopted to compensate the thin wall deformation by raising the radial cutting parameters since the thin wall deformation make the actual radial cutting parameters smaller than nominal ones. The experimental results show that the dimensional errors of the thin wall have been significantly reduced after the radial cutting parameter compensation. The average relative dimensional error is reduced from 6.9% to 2.0%. Moreover, the fabricated thin walls keep good shape formation. The reduction of the thin wall dimensional error shows that the simulation results are reliable, which has important guiding significance for the improvement of thin wall machining quality, especially the improvement of dimensional accuracy. The experimental results show that the developed device and the machining strategy can effectively improve the micromilling quality of thin walls.

Wire electrochemical micromachining (WECMM) technology is regarded a promising method to fabricate high aspect ratio microstructures on hard-to-machining materials, however, the by-product accumulation in the machining gap limits its application. In this paper, a new method called ultrasonic-assisted wire electrochemical micromachining (UA-WECMM) is proposed to improve the machining performance of WECMM. Firstly, a flow-field simulation in the machining gap was carried out, the results showed that the ultrasonic vibration of electrode can remarkably enhance the mass transport in the machining gap and improve the machining condition. Secondly, experiments were performed to confirm the effect of ultrasonic vibration, which illustrated that the vibration with proper amplitude can reduce the slit width and improve the morphology of machined surface. Moreover, the influence of other machining parameters were also discussed. Finally, a T-type micro connector with good surface roughness (Ra 0.286 &mu, m) was fabricated on a 300-&mu, m-thick 304 stainless steel workpiece and a micro gear (diameter: 3.362 mm, Ra: 0.271 &mu, m) with an aspect ratio of 7 was fabricated on a 2-mm-thick workpiece. It is proved that the proposed ultrasonic-assisted wire electrochemical micromachining method has considerable potential and broad application prospects.

K9 optical glass has superb material properties used for various industrial applications. However, the high hardness and low fracture toughness greatly fluctuate the cutting force generated during the grinding process, which are the main factors affecting machining accuracy and surface integrity. With a view to further understand the grinding mechanism of K9 glass and improve the machining quality, a new arithmetical force model and parameter optimization for grinding the K9 glass are introduced in this study. Originally, the grinding force components and the grinding path were analyzed according to the critical depth of plowing, rubbing, and brittle tear. Thereafter, the arithmetical model of grinding force was established based on the geometrical model of a single abrasive grain, taking into account the random distribution of grinding grains, and this fact was considered when establishing the number of active grains participating in cutting Nd-Tot. It should be noted that the tool diameter changed with machining, therefore this change was taking into account when building the arithmetical force model during processing as well as the variable value of the maximum chip thickness amax accordingly. Besides, the force analysis recommends how to control the processing parameters to achieve high surface and subsurface quality. Finally, the force model was evaluated by comparing theoretical results with experimental ones. The experimental values of surface grinding forces are in good conformity with the predicted results with changes in the grinding parameters, which proves that the mathematical model is reliable.