Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The demand for glass devices has recently increased in the material development, the medical diagnosis and the environ-mental analysis. The glass devices are usually manufactured using etching with photolithography. In wet etching of glass, hydro-fluoric acid is used for chemical reaction. For the sake of safety in the operation and control of the machining rate, the chemical liquid is diluted and the manufacturing rate is low. An additional cost for the waste disposal has to be considered for the environmental impact. Dry etching with plasma is also applied to micro fabrication on the glass surfaces. Although the machining size in the dry etching is much smaller than that of other processes,the process is performed for a long time on expensive facilities. Although the machining size in the dry etching is much smaller than that of other processes,the process is performed for a long time on expensive facilities.Therefore, alternative processes have been required to improve themanufacturing cost and environment.An additional cost for the waste disposal has to be considered for the environmental impact. Dry etching with plasma is also applied to micro fabrication on the glass surfaces. Although the machining size in the dry etching is much smaller than that of other processes,the process is performed for a long time on expensive facilities.Therefore, alternative processes have been required to improve the manufacturing cost and environment.This study applies abrasive water jet to machining and polishing of glass. The abrasive water jet processes are originally performed to cut materials with water containing abrasive grains at a high pressure. The abrasive water jets have also been applied to milling, drilling, and polishing. Many studies have discussed the removal process and the surface finish.The abrasive flow process was associated with erosion and the analytical models proposed for controlling the process.In manufacturing of the glass devices, crack-free surfaces should be finished without brittle fracture. Erosion of glasses by solid particles has also been discussed. Because brittle fracture largely depends on the impingement angles of particles, the particle collision should be controlled at a shallow impingement angle.
Stagnation effect
The process is associated with erosion, in which the surface profiles changes with deformation, fracture and material removal at collision of the particles. Erosion can be controlled by the sizes,the velocities, and the impingement angles of the solid particles.The impingement angle is defined as the angle shown inFig. 2.When the impingement angle is large, erosion of brittle materials normally is accompanied by brittle fracture. Meanwhile, when small particles collide onto a surface at small impingement angles, the surface profile changeswithout fracture as erosion of ductile materials. In order to finish a crack-free surface, the particles should be controlled to collide onto a surface at shallow angles and move horizontally at high velocities to keep high removal rates with kinetic energies.
Fig. 3 shows CFD analysis of fluid flow around the machining area between the masks tapered at 45 degrees, where the taper angle is defined as the slope of the sidewall, as shown inFig. 1.
Fig. 4 shows the fluid velocity in machining using the masks tapered at 30 degrees. The stagnation area is smaller than that of Fig. 3(b). Because the size of the stagnation area changes with the taper angle of the masks, the impingement angles of the abrasive particles can be controlled by the taper angle.
Machining test
Fig. 5 shows the machining tests conducted for glass. The tapered masks were set on the workpiece surface, as shown in Fig. 5(b). The nozzle is mounted on the turret of a NC lathe to control the traverse motion at a specified feed rate along the exposed area between the masks. Abrasives are mixed in the mixing tube of the jet nozzle and supplied to the material at high velocities.
Fig. 6 shows an example of the micro grooves, where the width and the depth of groove are 20mm and 2.5mm, respectively. The pictures were taken with a laser confocal microscope and an AFM.
Fig. 7shows the surface profile along the flow direction on theexposed area. A fine surface is finished within roughness of 30 nm.Fig. 8shows a magnified picture of the surface in machining with the masks tapered at 30 degrees. The stagnation area becomes smaller than that of masks tapered at 45 degrees, as shown inFig. 4.Therefore, the stagnation area is not large enough to flow the particle horizontally. Consequently, brittle fracture occurs on the surface due to large impingement angles of the abrasive particles.
Stagnation effect The fluid flow in the groove is compared with that of the flat surface in the CFD analysis. The fluid velocity is 120 m/s at the exit of the jet nozzle. The feed of the jet nozzle is ignored in the analysis. Fig. 10(a) shows the fluid velocity in the cross section containing the center of the nozzle when the abrasive liquid is supplied to a flat surface. The stagnation area under the nozzle is not large enough to change the vertical flow to the horizontal one. Therefore, the particles are expected to collide onto the surface at large impingement angles. Fig. 10(b) shows the fluid velocity in the cross section along the groove when the abrasive liquid is
supplied to the groove. The stagnation area becomes larger than that ofFig. 10(a).The abrasive particles are expected to collide onto the surface apart from the nozzle and flow horizontally. The change in the stagnation area is induced by the sidewall of the groove.
Polishing tests Fig. 11shows the surface damages after supplying the abrasive slurry to a flat surface and a micro groove 20mm deep. The pressure of the water pump was 15 MPa and the nominal fluid velocity at the exit of the nozzle was 90 m/s. 2.5% CeO2 slurry was supplied in a volume of 800 ml. The nozzle position was adjusted at a height of 1.5 mm from workpiece.
The polishing tests were conducted for the micro grooves machined in milling.Fig. 12 shows the change in the surface after polishing with 4000 ml of CeO2. The nozzle was traversed at a feed rate of 1.5 mm/s. The original surface before polishing, which is finished by the worn tool, is shown inFig. 12(a). Although the surface finish was 46 nm Ra, the adhered chips and the cutter traces were observed. The surface finish was improved to be 25 nm after polishing, as shown inFig. 12(b).
Fig. 13compares the AFM image of the polished surface with that of the original surface. The polishing performance is verified by removal of the cutter traces.
Conclusion
The abrasive water jet was applied to micro machining and fluid polishing of glass using stagnation generated under the jet nozzle.In order to finish a crack-free surface, the process should be controlled so that the abrasive particles flow horizontally and collide onto the surface at small impingement angles. In machining of the micro groove, the machining area is controlled by the V-shaped masks on the surface. The jet nozzle is traversed above the exposed area with supplying the abrasive slurry at a low pressure. The vertical flow from the jet nozzle changes to horizontal flow around the stagnation area. Then, the abrasive particles remove the subsurface. The stagnation area can be controlled by the taper angle of the Vshaped masks. When the taper angle is small, the stagnation area does not become large and the abrasive particles collide onto the surface at large impingement angles. As a consequence, brittle fracture occurs on the surface. The taper angle should be large to flow abrasive particles horizontally. In polishing of the micro groove, the sidewall of the grooves promotes development of the stagnation area and controls the flow direction along the grooves.
References