Abstract
Industry and researchers have begun to shift their focus towards more sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing processes in recent years. They have recognized the vital role of functional micro surfaces for a wide range of advanced applications to address this issue. By physically altering the surface structure of a material in micrometric scale, tribological, optical, fluidic properties and many other surface characteristics can be altered. Several researchers have reported that micro surface patterns can reduce friction between lubricated sliding surfaces, which in turn alleviate energy consumption and increase service life of components. Micro ball end milling is another viable technique for creating patterned surfaces, especially for metallic parts. By tilting the spindle and tool at an inclined angle, the spindle speed and feed rate can be adjusted so that the flutes of the cutter create periodic patterns in a workpiece surface. Machining is an efficient and versatile manufacturing technique, making the micro dimple machining technique an ideal method to fabricate dimpled surfaces. In this study, the fabricated surfaces are evaluated at a tribological level to illustrate their effectiveness at reducing friction. The development of efficient methods to produce micro patterns onto large surface areas can promote a sustainable future for a variety of novel products. The development of efficient surface pattern algorithms for generating different dimple geometries is also a focus; and, trends in cutting forces are identified by changing different machining parameters. Depth of cut and dimple shape, spacing and arrangement are crucial parameters, all of which factor into the performance of a functional surface. The results of this study strongly indicate micro dimple machining as an environmentally sustainable method of producing functional surfaces for advanced technological applications.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- A w :
-
workpiece area
- D :
-
dimple density
- F :
-
feed rate
- N :
-
number of flutes
- R :
-
nose radius of ball end mill
- T d :
-
dimple period
- d :
-
cutting depth
- n :
-
spindle speed
- s d :
-
dimple spacing
- t :
-
machining time
- x pitch :
-
number of dimples per mm in feed direction
- γ :
-
spindle inclination angle
- κ :
-
circumferential angle along axis of end mill
- φ :
-
tool rotation angle
- θ :
-
angle between feed direction and x axis
References
Bruzzone, A. A. G., Costa, H. L., Lonardo, P. M., and Lucca, D. A., “Advances in engineered surfaces for functional performance,” CIRP Annals -Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 750–769, 2008.
Kästner, J. and Kayapinar, H., “Efficient Machining of Microdimples for Friction Reduction,” Proc. of the 7th International Conference on MicroManufacturing (ICOMM), No. MoB1.2, 2012.
Etsion, I., “Improving tribological performance of mechanical components by laser surface texturing,” Tribology Letters, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 733–737, 2004.
Dubrujeaud, B., Vardavoulias, M., and Jeandin, M., “The role of porosity in the dry sliding wear of a sintered ferrous alloy,” Wear, Vol. 174, No. 1–2, pp. 155–161, 1994.
Wakuda, M., Yamauchi, Y., Kanzaki, S., and Yasuda, Y., “Effect of surface texturing on friction reduction between ceramic and steel materials under lubricated sliding contact,” Wear, Vol. 254, No. 3–4, pp. 356–363, 2003.
Qiu, Y. and Khonsari, M. M., “Experimental investigation of tribological performance of laser textured stainless steel rings,” Tribology International, Vol. 44, No. 5, pp. 635–644, 2011.
Zhou, R., Cao, J., Wang, Q. J., Meng, F., Zimowski, K., and Xia, Z. C., “Effect of EDT surface texturing on tribological behavior of aluminium sheet,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 211, pp. 1643–1649, No. 10, 2011.
Ryk, G. and Etsion, I., “Testing piston rings with partial laser surface texturing for friction reduction,” Wear, Vol. 261, No. 7–8, pp. 792–796, 2006.
Hua, M., Tan, H. Y., Ma, H. Y., and Mok, C. K., “Patterned PVD TiN spot coatings on M2 steel: Tribological behaviors under different sliding speeds,” Wear, Vol. 260, No. 11–12, pp. 1153–1165, 2006.
Sano, T., Yanai, M., Ohmura, E., Nomura, Y., Miyamoto, I., Hirose, A., and Kobayashi, K. F., “Femtosecond laser fabrication of microspike-arrays on tungston surface,” Applied Surface Science, Vol. 247, No. 1–4, pp. 340–346, 2005.
Greco, A., Raphaelson, S., Ehmann, K., and Wang, Q. J., “Surface Texturing of Tribological Interfaces Using the Vibromechanical Texturing Method,” Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Vol. 131, No. 6, 2009.
Yan, J., Horikoshi, A., Kuriyagawa, T., and Fukushima, Y., “Manufacturing structured surface by combining microindentation and ultraprecision cutting,” CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 41–47, 2012.
Kogusu, S., Ishimatsu, T., and Ougia, Y., “Rapid generation of surface dimples using end milling,” International Journal of Automation Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 45–51, 2007.
Matsumura, T. and Takahashi, S., “Micro dimple milling on cylinder surfaces,” Proc. of NAMRI/SME, Vol. 39, 2011.
Fleischer, J. and Kotschenreuther, J., “The manufacturing of micro molds by conventional and energy assisted processes,” Journal of Advanced Manufacturing, Vol. 33, No. 1–2, pp. 75–85, 2007.
Matsumura, T. and Ono, T., “Cutting process of glass with inclined ball end mill,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 200, No. 1–3, pp. 356–363, 2008.
Matsumura, T., Horii, J., and Takahashi, S., “Micro dimple machining with ball end mill,” Proc. of the 7th International Conference on MicroManufacturing (ICOMM), No. MoB1.4, 2012.
Yan, J., Zhang, Z., Kuriyagawa, T., and Gonda, H., “Fabricating micro-structured surface by using single-crystalline diamond endmill,” International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 51, No. 9–12, pp. 957–964, 2010.
Nakano, M., Korenaga, A., Korenaga, A., Mikyake, K., Murakami, T., Ando, Y., Usami, H., and Sasaki, S., “Applying micro-texture to cast iron surfaces to reduce the friction coefficient under lubricated conditions” Tribology Letter, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 131–137, 2007.
Kovalchenko, A., Ajayi, O., Erdemir, A., Fenske, G., and Etsion, I., “The effect of laser surface texturing on transitions in lubrication regimes during unidirectional sliding contact,” Tribology International, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 219–225, 2005.
Nuruzzaman, D. M. and Chowdhury, M. A., “Effect of normal load and sliding velocity on friction coefficient of aluminum sliding against different pin materials,” American Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 2, pp. 26–31, 2012.
Li, J., Xiong, D., Dai, J., Huang, Z., and Tyagi, R., “Effect of surface laser texture on friction properties of nickel-based composite,” Tribology International, Vol. 43, No. 5–6, pp. 1193–1199, 2010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Graham, E., Park, C.I. & Park, S.S. Fabrication of micro-dimpled surfaces through micro ball end milling. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 14, 1637–1646 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-013-0221-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-013-0221-9