Machining of micro-systems

Abstract

An increasing trend towards miniaturization of mechanical components necessitates the further development of micro-machining techniques in order to produce components within given tolerances. For the dressing of multilayered, metallically bonded, fine-grained grinding wheels that are used for micro-grinding the technique of electro contact discharge dressing was developed. In the following, the determined interrelations between the variables dressing voltage, limitation of dressing current, infeed and feed of electrode, and the volume flow rate in conditioning as well as the quality factor in conditioning are presented and illustrated. Thanks to the development of new geometries of CVD-diamond micro-grinding-pencils, a reduction of edge disruptions as well as a reduction of tool diameters to a minimum of 250 μm for the machining of brittle materials could be achieved. For the micro-drilling of ductile materials the maximal drilling depth could be increased by means of an adjusted process control. The smallest examined drill diameter was 50 μm. The utilizability of the developed processes and tools was proven in the production of aerostatic micro-bearings in the scope of the collaborative research center (SFB) 516.