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In situ investigation of nanometric cutting of 3C-SiC using scanning electron microscope

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Abstract

Experimentally revealing the nanometric deformation behavior of 3C-SiC is challenging due to its ultra-small feature size for brittle-to-ductile transition. In the present work, we elucidated the nanometric cutting mechanisms of 3C-SiC by performing in situ nanometric cutting experiments under scanning electron microscope (SEM), as well as post-characterization by electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In particular, a new method based on the combination of image processing technology and SEM online observation was proposed to achieve in situ measurement of cutting force with an uncertainty less than 1 mN. Furthermore, the cutting cross-section was characterized by atomic force microscope (AFM) to access the specific cutting energy. The results revealed that the specific cutting energy increase non-linearly with the decrease of cutting depth due to the size effect of cutting tool in nanometric cutting. The high-pressure phase transformation (HPPT) may play the major role in 3C-SiC ductile machining under the parameters of this experiment.

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All data and material information in this study are included in this published article.

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The software application and custom code cannot be shared at this time as these also forms part of an ongoing study.

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Acknowledgements

The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51761135106, 51575389), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB1102203), the State key laboratory of precision measuring technology and instruments (Pilt1705), the ‘111’ project by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and the Ministry of Education of China (No. B07014), and the Harbin Core Tomorrow Science & Technology Co., Ltd.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51761135106, 51575389), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB1102203), and the ‘111’ project by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and the Ministry of Education of China (No. B07014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology & Instruments, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Dongyu Tian, Zongwei Xu, Lei Liu, Zhanqi Zhou & Le Song

  2. Center for Precision Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Junjie Zhang & Xuesen Zhao

  3. Interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Materials Simulation (ICAMS), Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Alexander Hartmaier

  4. School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, 300134, China

    Bing Liu

  5. Centre for Precision Manufacturing, Department of Design, Manufacture & Engineering Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Xichun Luo

Authors
  1. Dongyu Tian
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  2. Zongwei Xu
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  3. Lei Liu
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  4. Zhanqi Zhou
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  8. Bing Liu
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  9. Le Song
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  10. Xichun Luo
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Contributions

Zongwei Xu contributed to the conception of the study;

Zongwei Xu and Dongyu Tian performed the main part of the experiment;

Zongwei Xu, Junjie Zhang, Alexander Hartmaier, Bing Liu, and Lei Liu contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation;

Zongwei Xu and Dongyu Tian performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript;

Junjie Zhang, Alexander Hartmaier, Xichun Luo, Le Song, Lei Liu, and Zhanqi Zhou helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions;

Xuesen Zhao and Le Song helped perform part of the experiment.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zongwei Xu or Junjie Zhang.

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Tian, D., Xu, Z., Liu, L. et al. In situ investigation of nanometric cutting of 3C-SiC using scanning electron microscope. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 115, 2299–2312 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07278-x

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