Research Themes

Micro-cutting tools were developed by EDM. Microdrilling and micromilling were carried out using the fabricated tools and their cutting performance was investigated. Microholes of 4 µm diameter were successfully drilled. A microslot of 4 µm width was also fabricated.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Precision Engineering, Vol.35, No.4, 2011, pp.547-553)

Diamond cutting was carried out to fabricate micropins of a difficult-to-cut material. Turning and milling of sintered tungsten carbide micropins were performed using polycrystalline diamond microtools. As a result, a 2-µm-diameter micropin was fabricated.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Precision Engineering, Vol.74, 2022, pp.278-289)

The fabrication of nanoscale free-cutting brass micropins was performed using a monocrystalline diamond turning tool and a micro turning machine. As a result, a 500-nm-diameter and 3-µm-long micropin was successfully turned, which is the smallest-diameter micropin fabricated by turning.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Leading Edge Manufacturing in 21st Century (LEM 2017), 2017, 123)

A micro turn-milling machine, a device having two spindles that rotate a tool and workpiece, was newly developed. Square micropins with a cross-section side of 18 µm and micropins with triangular or cross-shaped cross sections were successfully fabricated.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Precision Engineering, Vol.44, 2016, pp.81-86)

Cemented tungsten carbide micro turning tools were fabricated by EDM and used for the micro boring and micro face grooving of brass. Successful boring and face grooving using micro turning tools were achieved for the first time.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (CIRP Annals, Vol.60, No.1, 2011, pp.81-84)

The turning of straight micropins with a diameter smaller than 10 µm was carried out using micro turning tools made of cemented tungsten carbide. As a result, a straight micropin of 3 µm diameter was successfully turned. This micropin was the pin with the smallest ever diameter fabricated by turning at the time of publication.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Key Engineering Materials, Vols.523-524, 2012, pp.293-298)

The cutting of nanoscale-diameter pins was attempted using microtools made of cemented tungsten carbide. As a result, a straight micropin of 800 nm in diameter was successfully fabricated by turning. This micropin is the first nanoscale-diameter pin fabricated by turning, to the best of our knowledge.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Proceedings of the International Conference on Leading Edge Manufacturing in 21st Century (LEM 2015), 2015, 2104)

(a) Character carving was performed by ultrasonic cutting using 8-µm-diameter end mills fabricated by EDM. (b) Drills of 5 µm diameter were fabricated and used for drilling microholes.

Reference
5th contest
4th contest

Ultrasmall-diameter ball end mills have been developed. Tools having a radius of ball nose of 10 µm were fabricated. Milling of brass was performed using the fabricated tools.

Paper (Journal of the Japan Society for Precision Engineering, Vol.69, No.10, 2003, pp.1449-1453)

Microholes with a diameter of 10 µm were drilled in glass by ultrasonic vibration cutting using a microtool. Cutting was performed in the ductile regime at a depth of cut of 0.05 µm, leaving neither fractures nor cracks around the rim of the hole.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Annals of the CIRP, Vol.51, No.1, 2002, pp.339-342)

The microdrilling of monocrystalline silicon using a cutting tool was tested with the aim of fabricating three-dimensional and high aspect ratio microshapes. The smallest machinable hole was of 6.7 µm diameter.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Precision Engineering, Vol.26, No.3, 2002, pp.263-268)

Many reports on the cutting of hard and brittle materials have been published so far, however, obtainable shapes have been limited. In this study, an end mill-like microtool was employed in order to fabricate by cutting three-dimensional microshapes with a high aspect ratio on these materials.

Paper (Journal of the Japan Society of Precision Engineering, Vol.67, No.1, 2001, pp.157-161)

The microdrilling and micromilling of brass using a 10-µm-diameter cutting tool were examined. A 50-µm-deep microhole was successfully drilled. A 100-µm-long slot was also fabricated.

Paper (Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Progress of Machining Technology, 2002, pp.213-217)

With the aim of realizing ultrasmall-diameter cutting tools with high performance, gun barrel drills of 15 µm diameter made of superhard materials, such as sintered diamond (PCD) and cubic boron nitride (CBN), were fabricated. Their drilling performance was also investigated and compared with that of cemented carbide drills.

Paper (Journal of Japan Society for Abrasive Technology, Vol.53, No.4, 2009, pp. 226-229)

The breakage resistance of ultrasmall-diameter cutting tools must be improved to extend tool life because such tools can be easily broken during machining. Extending the tool life of ultrasmall-diameter gun barrel drills was attempted by optimizing the shapes of their cutting parts.

Paper (Journal of Japan Society for Abrasive Technology, Vol.52, No.2, 2008, pp.106-109)

The edge finishing and deburring of the back surfaces of microthrough holes from the front surfaces were carried out using micro-cutting tools. A hole drilled using a 0.15-mm-diameter drill in a 0.2-mm-thick plate was successfully deburred and edge-finished.

Paper Paper (KIT only) (Precision Engineering, Vol.37, No.2, 2013, pp.248-254)

The bending strength of cemented tungsten carbide 10-µm-diameter micropins fabricated by micro EDM was investigated. Although the bending strength increased with a decrease in the electrical discharge energy at the finish machining of micropins, it decreased at lower discharge energy. This result was then applied for the EDM fabrication of cemented tungsten carbide ultrasmall-diameter cutting tools.

Paper (Journal of Japan Society for Abrasive Technology, Vol.56, No.6, 2012, pp.395-399)