Homogeneous and Localized Deformation in Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Nanocutting
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Abstract
Nanoscale manufacturing imposes demands on prediction of cutting processes on small scales. Predictive modeling schemes based on the underlying physical mechanisms could potentially be more generally applicable in manufacturing. In this work, the experimental and numerical studies on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) nanocutting are reported. The cutting experiments were performed on an ultramicrotome instrumented with piezoelectric transducers to measure the cutting forces on cutting down to about 60 nm thickness. Using atomic force microscopy, the surface damage was identified as shear yield bands triggered by adiabatic heating. A suitable physical model including these observed phenomena made it possible to link the processing conditions with the onset of damage, i.e., the transition between a high-quality transparent surface and a damaged uneven surface. Finite element analysis was carried out to investigate the deformation modes of PMMA under different cutting conditions and to predict the formation of the undesired shear bands. From an engineering perspective, such an approach could be potentially useful in improving manufacturing control.
Keywords
Nanocutting Shear band Adiabatic shearing Deformation mode1 Introduction
The fast development in device miniaturization demands increased abilities to manipulate matter at nanoscale and even atomic level. Cutting of polymers at nanoscale (sub-microscale) is of great significance in manufacturing components and devices for electrical and optical applications [1]. As cutting goes down to small scales, the mechanical mechanisms related to material volume (e.g., the plastic work) are increasingly restricted, while the mechanisms related to surface area (e.g., adhesion, fracture) become relatively more significant [2].
Polymers can deform plastically, with chain molecules sliding past each other over relatively large distances. The plastic behavior of amorphous polymers strongly depends on the temperature and deformation rate [3]. Far below the glass transition temperature Tg, chain molecules cannot easily slide past each other because the secondary bonds between molecules are tight. As polymers are subjected to external loading, brittle failure usually takes place by breaking the intermolecular bonds [4]. When the temperature approaches about 0.8Tg, the molecules gain some mobility and polymers exhibit certain ductility. When the temperature approaches Tg, the chain molecules become more mobile and can rearrange under loading. Under sufficient large deformation, molecular chains are drawn and orientated in parallel, leading to local hardening in the direction of loading. If the temperature exceeds Tg, the molecules obtain very high mobility and polymers show relatively viscous behavior. Varying the strain rate also influences the deformation mode. Generally, increasing the strain rate, i.e., decreasing the testing time, is equivalent to decrease the temperature. However, increasing the strain rate may lead to the isothermal–adiabatic transition. Under high rate plastic deformation, the heat converted from the plastic work in polymer cannot dissipate to the surrounding regions rapidly due to the low thermal diffusivities (~ 10−7 m2/s, two orders of magnitude lower than metals [5]), and thus it results in thermal softening, which can lead to brittle-ductile deformation transition [6]. In addition, a glassy polymer exhibits apparent scale effects (or cube–square scaling effects) [2]; namely it tends to deform in a ductile manner at small scale while behaves in a brittle fashion at large scale. Since cutting is a shear-dominated dynamic process, glassy polymer may exhibit different deformation modes when the cutting speed or cutting thickness (depth of cut) varies, which directly influence the surface qualities in manufacturing of engineering applications.
Investigating the mechanical response of glassy polymers during cutting process is important for both scientific studies and engineering applications. The main objective of this study is to reveal the mechanisms that govern the deformation behavior of polymeric material during nanocutting by well-controlled experiments and modeling. Such knowledge can be useful in controlling and limiting damage formation in manufacturing of small-scale polymer components, and in models predicting the mechanical behavior on the sub-micrometer level in polymer–matrix composites.
2 Nanocutting Experiments
In order to have a complete structure and content, some experimental work and results already published in Refs [7] and [8] are briefly summarized in the beginning of this paper.
2.1 Experiment Setup
An ultramicrotome instrumented with piezoelectric sensors for nanocutting test, adopted from [7]
2.2 Materials and Methods
A commercial extruded polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, 2 mm thickness, tensile strength of 70 MPa and Young’s modulus of 3.2 GPa) plate provided by Quinn Plastics was chosen for the nanocutting. PMMA was selected as a model material, since it is amorphous and widely used in optical and electronics applications. The PMMA samples were prepared according to the ultramicrotome manual.
Experimental settings for cutting thickness and speed
tu (nm) | v0 (mm/s) | |
---|---|---|
Varying tu | 60, 85, 110, 140, 170, 200 | 1.0 |
Varying v0 | 85 | 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 10.0 |
3 Experimental Results
This section presents the results of the two sets of nanocutting experiments described above in terms of the macroscopic features of the formed PMMA chips, the cut surfaces of the work material, and the mechanical behavior. More details about the experiments can be found in [7, 8].
3.1 Nanocutting with Varying t u
3.1.1 Chip and Surface Morphologies
Macroscopic appearances of the formed PMMA chips, from [7]
Chip thickness and shear plane angle as a function of the cutting thickness
AFM images of the cut surfaces created at tu = 60 and 140 nm, with arrows indicating the cutting directions
3.1.2 Fracture Energy
Average values of cutting force Fc and thrust force Ft during nanocutting at different thicknesses, v0 = 1.0 mm/s
tu (nm) | Fc/wu (N/m) | Ft/wu (N/m) |
---|---|---|
60 | 30 | 13 |
85 | 43 | 23 |
110 | 46 | 21 |
140 | 54 | 20 |
170 | 64 | 19 |
200 | 68 | 19 |
The calculated results show that τy is ~ 110 MPa and R is around ~ 10 J/m2 for the present PMMA at nanoscale cutting. It is notable that value of R at nanoscale deformation and the theoretical free energy that required in creating new surfaces by breaking of covalent bonds (~ 1.5 J/m2) are found to be in the same order of magnitude. The macroscopic fracture energy Gc is several orders of magnitude larger than R of nanocutting. For instance, Wyeth and Atkins [13] obtained Gc = 640 J/m2 for microcutting of PMMA, and Patel et al. [14] found the value of Gc for PMMA is around 1 kJ/m2 in macroscale cutting. This is because the size of the plastic zone in front of the crack tip is significantly restricted in nanocutting while it is much larger in macroscale deformation.
3.2 Nanocutting with Varying v 0
3.2.1 Chip and Surface Morphologies
Macroscopic appearances of formed PMMA chips, from [8]
Chip thickness and shear plane angle as a function of the cutting speed
AFM images of the cut surfaces created at v0 = 0.5 and 3.0 mm/s, with arrows indicating the cutting directions
Experimental surface heights along the cutting direction, from [8]
3.2.2 Mechanical Response
Average values of cutting force and thrust force during nanocutting at different speeds, tu = 85 nm
v0 (mm/s) | Fc/wu (N/m) | Ft/wu (N/m) |
---|---|---|
0.25 | 30 | 4 |
0.5 | 35 | 2 |
1.0 | 42 | 4 |
3.0 | 39 | 15 |
10.0 | 37 | 63 |
4 Analysis and Discussions
By comparing the surface morphology results shown above with findings in literature [10, 15], we attribute the periodic structures to the adiabatic shearing deformation mechanism during nanocutting. In this section, analytical and finite element modeling work including these physical mechanisms was conducted and compared with the experimental results.
4.1 Adiabatic Shearing Modeling
During plastic deformation, the increase in temperature has a negative effect on the material strength. If this effect overweighs the positive effect due to the strain rate hardening, a shear instability occurs [6]. Essentially, if the stress in the primary shear zone (PSZ), τPSZ, is surpassed by the stress in the bulk material, τBulk, a shear localization event takes place.
Schematic illustration of the shear localization during cutting: (1) undeformed surfaces, (2) part of the shear failed surface separated from the following segment due to intense shear, (3) intense shear band formed due to shear in the flattening stage of the segment being formed, (4) intensely sheared surfaces of a segment in contact with the knife and subsequent slid on the tool face, and (5) intense localized deformation in the PSZ (Redrawn after Komanduri and Hou [15])
Shear stresses in the primary shear zone and in the bulk material as a function of the cutting speed, from [8]
4.2 Finite Element Analysis
2D model used in the cutting simulation
In this simulation, the PMMA cutting at the thicknesses tu = 85 nm and tu = 200 nm was implemented, respectively, with the cutting speeds v0 varying from 0.01 to 1.0 mm/s. In the case of tu = 85 nm, a total of 20 elements were assigned along the chip thickness. In the case of tu = 200 nm, 40 elements were applied to have a similar mesh size for both chip parts.
4.2.1 t u = 85 nm
Simulated plastic strains in PMMA cutting at a cutting thickness tu = 85 nm under different cutting speeds
The simulation reveals that the deformation in the chip transmits from a rather homogeneous mode to a localized mode as the cutting speed increases from 0.01 to 1.0 mm/s. As a result, the shape of the chip transmits from a continuous profile to a serrated one (localized shape). The predicted value of the critical speed for the onset of shear band is not discussed in this study since it can be easily obtained by a parametric study. Apparently, the value is much smaller than the experimental value of 1.0 mm/s.
4.2.2 t u = 200 nm
Simulated plastic strains in PMMA cutting at a cutting thickness tu = 200 nm under different cutting speeds
Comparing Fig. 13b with Fig. 12b as well as Fig. 13c with Fig. 12c, which were cut at identical speeds, we can find that the shear bands in a thicker cutting (Fig. 13, tu = 200 nm) have more intense plastic deformation and a smaller average spacing than those in a relative thinner cutting (Fig. 12, tu = 85 nm). It implies that the critical speed for the onset of localized deformation decreases as the cutting thickness increases.
The above simulation results confirm that there is a transition of the deformation mode in the chip as the cutting speed (or thickness) varies, although the simulation gives a much smaller critical cutting speed than the experiment.
4.2.3 Element-Type Sensitivity
In the above simulation models, the chip parts use inclined 4-node quadratic plane strain elements, CPE4R, which would facilitate the formation of shear bands during cutting process. To investigate the mesh-type sensitivities of the simulation, the quadratic elements were replaced by triangle plane strain elements, CPE3, in the chip part meshing.
Simulated plastic strains in PMMA using triangle plane strain elements, at a cutting thickness tu = 85 nm
5 Conclusions
Periodic, wavy structures were found to form on the cut surface of PMMA at/above critical cutting thickness and speed. Below the critical cutting conditions, cut surfaces were flat and smooth, while above which periodic wavy structures formed. These wavy structures were identified as shear localizations originated from the yield deformation in the primary shear plane. The analytical modeling of the stress variation in the primary shear zone and in the bulk material in front of the shear zone predicts a critical speed for the onset of shear bands in cutting, which is relatively close to the experimental result of nanocutting. The finite element analysis also confirms that shear bands are formed when critical cutting conditions are reached.
Notes
Acknowledgements
China Scholarship Council is acknowledged for the financial support. Dr. H. Li from Uppsala University is gratefully acknowledged for valuable discussions and experiment help.
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