Compound machining of silicon carbide ceramics by high speed end electrical discharge milling and mechanical grinding

A compound process that integrates end electrical discharge (ED) milling and mechanical grinding to machine silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics is developed in this paper. The process employs a turntable with several uniformly-distributed cylindrical copper electrodes and abrasive sticks as the tool, and uses a water-based emulsion as the machining fluid. End electrical discharge milling and mechanical grinding happen alternately and are mutually beneficial, so the process is able to effectively machine a large surface area on SiC ceramic with a good surface quality. The machining principle and characteristics of the technique are introduced. The effects of polarity, pulse duration, pulse interval, open-circuit voltage, discharge current, diamond grit size, emulsion concentration, emulsion flux, milling depth and tool stick number on performance parameters such as the material removal rate, tool wear ratio, and surface roughness have been investigated. In addition, the microstructure of the machined surface under different machining conditions is examined with a scanning electron microscope and an energy dispersive spectrometer. The SiC ceramic was mainly removed by end ED milling during the initial rough machining mode, whereas it is mainly removed by mechanical grinding during the later finer machining mode; moreover, the tool material can transfer to the workpiece surface during the compound process.     

Phase Change-based Fixturing for Arbitrarily Shaped Components

Issues in industrialization of RFPE (Reference Free Part Encapsulation) are discussed in this paper. The issues are associated with three topics:① The location of the workpiece in the initial blank.② Problems related to material properties of the filler.③ Supported RFPE technique. A new method - adaptable location system (ATLS) is presented in this paper. ATLS consists of an array of pins which are controlled manually or automatically by an actuator. The actuation force comes from a shape memory alloy (SMA). Material properties of filler are very important for RFPE. The experiment has shown that machining error can be reduced by using conservative cutting parameters. Based on finite element analysis, the relationship between the deformation of the workpiece, the filler and the machining parameters has been achieved. A new approach, partial cage with active side wall (PCASW), allows machine tools to easily access any feature of the workpiece from different directions. It is convenient for every new se     

Effect of Electrospark Alloying Process on Microstructure and Properties of the coating

Using electrospark alloying machine, a series of experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of electrospark surface strengthening process on the microstructure and the properties of the coatings with ultrafine cemented carbide as electrode material and white cast iron as substrate material. The results indicated that the optimum process parameters to be used reached a satisfying coating surface. Wear test results showed the coatings had a high wear-resistance.     

Viscosity behavior of magnetic suspensions in fluid-assisted finishing

Magnetic fluid-assisted finishing has been verified both theoretically and experimentally as an effective fabrication technology for optical mirrors and lenses. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel design of polishing tool and demonstrate the possible applications of this technology. The work includes studying the viscosity of the magnetic suspensions of micrometer-sized Carbonyl iron particles under the influence of a magnetic field. Both the cases of magnetizable suspension with and without abrasive cerium oxide particles are studied for their ensuing polishing effectiveness. Determination of material removal function is conducted using a Wyko Nat1100 interferometer. Experiments to reduce surface roughness with the proposed tool are also performed using a K9 mirror as the work-piece. Results show that the surface accuracy is improved over three times to less than 0.5 nm after two cycles of polishing.     

Material Removal Behavior and Surface Integrity in Grinding of Ultrafine-Grained WC-Co Materials

Due to the excellent combination of wear resistance and fracture toughness,the ultrafine-grained WC-Co composites can significantly improve the durability and reliability of industrial tools.However,the grinding of ultrafine-grained WC-Co remains a challenge.In order to provide an experimental basis for improving grinding quality of ultrafine-grained WC-Co,a series of surface grinding experiments on ultrafine-grained WC-Co hardmetals were conducted by diamond wheel under various grinding conditions,and the material removal behavior and surface integrity in grinding of ultrafine-grained WC-Co materials were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray microstress analyzer and surface roughness analyzer in this paper.The results indicate that the material removal behavior in grinding of ultrafine-grained WC-Co materials is determined not only by the abrasive grain size on the wheel,but also by the depth of cut.The roughness values of ground surface increase with increasing grit size of diamond wheel,and increase initially,then decrease with increase in depth of cut.Grinding causes the residual compressive stress in the surface layer of ground cemented carbides under various grinding conditions;the magnitude of residual surface stress increases with increasing grit size of diamond wheel,and isn’t changed obviously along with the change of depth of cut.     

Viscosity behavior of magnetic suspensions in fluid-assisted finishing

Magnetic fluid-assisted finishing has been verified both theoretically and experimentally as an effective fabrication technology for optical mirrors and lenses. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel design of polishing tool and demonstrate the possible applications of this technology. The work includes studying the viscosity of the magnetic suspensions of micrometer-sized Carbonyl iron particles under the influence of a magnetic field. Both the cases of magnetizable suspension with and without abrasive cerium oxide particles are studied for their ensuing polishing effectiveness. Determination of material removal function is conducted using a Wyko Nat1100 interferometer. Experiments to reduce surface roughness with the proposed tool are also performed using a K9 mirror as the work-piece. Results show that the surface accuracy is improved over three times to less than 0.5 nm after two cycles of polishing.     

Applications of Digital Correlation Method to Structure Inspection

In structure inspections, applications of optical techniques are rare, but the advantages of a non-contact, full field technique using a simple apparatus are attractive. The main requirements for structure in- spection are the full-field strain measurement with the required precision and on-site measurement ability. The digital correlation method (DCM), a new optical deformation measurement tool, can satisfy all of the re-quirements for structure inspection. A smoothing algorithm which can greatly improve the strain measure-ment precision, and a 3-D DCM have been developed in this paper. For verifying this improvement, a com-parison of strain measurements by computer-simulated speckle images has been carried out. Additionally, three structure inspection examples that cover typical materials and structure styles are presented: the inter-face shear stress distribution for reinforced concrete piles bedded on rock, the 3-D strain distribution of a composite vessel structure, and stresses in a hookup that connects two steel bridge structures. All the ex- amples show that the new structural inspection tool is exemplary and illustrates the obvious advantages of this optical non-destructive technique.     

Research on the molecular scale material removal mechanism in chemical mechanical polishing

This paper investigates a novel molecular scale material removal mechanism in chemical mechanical polishing （CMP） by incorporating the order-of-magnitude calculations, particle adhesion force, defect of wafer, thickness of newly formed oxidized layer, and large deformation of pad/particle not discussed by previous analysis. The theoretical analysis and experimental data show that the indentation depth, scratching depth and polishing surface roughness are on the order of molecular scale or less. Therefore, this novel mechanism has gained the support from wide order-of- magnitude calculations and experimental data. In addition, with the decrease in the particle size, the molecular scale removal mechanism is plausibly one of the most promising removal mechanisms to clarify the CMP polishing process. The results are useful to substantiating the molecular-scale mechanism of the CMP material removal in addition to its underlying theoretical foundation.     

Experimental Study on the Feasibility of Methane Drainage i n Coal Seams with Compound Technique of Perforating and Fracturin g

Compound technique of perforating and fracturing can effectively control the perforating direction and the fracturing expansion．The feasibility of this technique used in fracturing coal seams is analyzed．In this paper,the experiments of perforating and fracturing are carried out on samples of coal and the experimental effects are satisfactory．Compound technique of perforating and fracturing is promising in coal seams．     

Effective Factors on Forming Precision in Patternless Casting Manufacturing Technique

The patternless casting manufacturing (PCM) technique, which adopts a new concept of double scanning method, combines the principle of discreteness and deposition with resin-bonded sand technique. This paper is to evaluate the dimensional accuracy of sand mould on PCM. The two important factors-the liquid penetration rule in the space of particles and the shape and dimension of the agglomeration unit body, which influence the process parameters such as scanning speed, layer thickness, liquid flux on dimension accuracy, and surface qualities, were investigated systematically, thus the theoretical basis for these parameters was provided. Experiments on rapid manufacturing of sand mould were carried out, and the results of the free penetration and the constraint penetration well verified the relationship of the two factors and the process parameters.     

Development on Technique of Tube Reducing in Double 3-Roll Dies

Based on the experiments, a new technique of reducing tube with two linked 3-roll roller dies was developed. The external friction conditions, velocity and the non-uniform deformation of metal were distinctly improved, and the friction between metal and tool was decreased. Corrosion strip layers and photo-elastic coatings methods were adopted in the experiment for measuring residual stress, and the residual stresses in the drawn tube with 3-roll dies are reduced.     

Experimental Studies on Ultrasonic Vibration Grinding of the Workpiece Made from Fine-crystalline Zirconia Ceramics

The performances of fme-crystalline zirconia ceramics in workpiece ultrasonic vibration grinding （WUVG） and conventional grinding （CG） with diamond wheel were researched. The effects of WUVG and CG on material removal rate, grinding forces, surface roughness and microstructure of zirconia ceramic were investigated. Experimental results indicated that： （1） The material removal rate （MRR） in ultrasonic grinding process is two times as large as that of in conventional grinding. The material removal rate increases with increasing grinding depth in both ultrasonic grinding and conventional grinding. （2） The ultrasonic vibration grinding force is lower than that of conventional grinding force, and the increase of the worktable speed leads to a decrease of the grinding force, while the grinding force increases with larger grinding depth in both WUVG and CG. （3） The surface of ultrasonic vibration grinding has no spur and build-up edge and its surface roughness is smaller than that of CG significantly. Surface quality of WUVG is superior to that of conventional grinding, it is easy for ultrasonic vibration grinding that material removal mechanism is ductile grinding.     

Multigrid technique incorporated algorithm for CMP lubrication equations

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP)is a manufacturing process used to achieve required high levels of global and local planarity,which involves a combination of chemical erosion and mechanical action.The study on mechanical removal action of CMP with hydrodynamic lubrication involved will help us to get some insights into the mechanism of CMP and to solve the lubrication problem of CMP.In this paper,a full approach scheme of multigrid technique incorporated with line relaxation is introduced for accelerating the convergence.The effects of various parameters on load and moments are simulated and the results of computation are reported.     

Experimental study on stemming effect in rock blasting

<正>Based on the blasting theory and stress wave theory,stemming mechanism and movement of stemmed material in rock blasting were analyzed and the calculation expression of stemming lengths was deduced.The blasting experiment with different stemming lengths was carried out and the results show that the theoretical stemming length,which is 0.73～0.8 time of burden,is in the range of the experiential length,which is 0.63～0.88 time of burden.The blasting results of field experiments with theoretical stemming length are satisfactory,which shows the theoretical derivation and analysis are correct and reliable.The results will supply rock blasting with the theoretical gist of parameters design.     

Assessing Fabrics Wrinkling by Image Analysis

In this paper, the features of fabric wrinkle structure are analyzed, by image processing technique. The wrinkle images are processed and character parameters are extracted. The wrinkle side surface area ratio of image gray level intensity, the standard deviation of total pixels' gray level intensity and the standard deviation of wrinkle block area are adopted to evaluate fabric wrinkling. The results show that these three character parameters can be served for ranking the wrinkling. It provides a feasible objective method for fabrics wrinkling degree assessing.     

Progress in material removal mechanisms of surface polishing with ultra precision

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is commonly regarded as the best method for achieving global planarization in the field of surface finishing with ultra-precision. The development of investigation on material removal mechanisms for different materials used in computer hard disk and ultra-large scale integration fabrication are reviewed here. The mechanisms underlying the interaction between the abrasive particles and polished surfaces during CMP are addressed, and some ways to investigate the polishing mechanisms are presented.     

Study on high efficient electric discharge milling of silicon carbide ceramic with high resistivity

A new method which employs a group pulse power supply for electric discharge milling of the silicon carbide ceramic with the resistivity of 500 Ω·cm is presented. Due to the good machining stability and high pulse utilization, the material removal rate （MRR） can reach 72.9 mm^3/min. The effects of high-frequency pulse duration, high-frequency pulse interval, peak voltage, peak current, polarity, rotate speed and group frequency on the process performance have been investigated. Also the EDMed surface microstructure is examined with a scanning electron microscope （SEM）, an X-ray diffraction （XRD）, an energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS） and a micro hardness tester. The results show that the conditions of smaller high-frequency pulse duration and pulse interval, higher peak voltage and peak current, and positive tool polarity are suitable for machining the SiC ceramic. The optimal rotate speed is 1090 r/min and the preferable group frequency is 730 Hz. In addition, there is a small quantity of iron on machined surface when machining with steel electrode. The average grain size of the EDMed surface is smaller than that of the unprocessed, and the micro hardness of machined surface is superior to that of the unprocessed.     

Numerical surface characterization of wear debris from artificial joints using atomic force microscopy

Study on surface features of wear particles generated in wear process provides an insight into the progress of material failure of artificial joints. It is very important to quantify the surface features of wear particles in three dimensions. In this study, a new approach using atomic force microscopy was proposed to carry out 3D numerical surface characterization of wear debris generated from artificial joints. Atomic force microscopy combined with image processing techniques was used to acquire appropriate 3D images of wear debris. Computerized image analysis techniques were then used to quantify surface texture features of wear debris such as surface roughness parameters and surface texture index. The method developed from the present study was found to be feasible to quantity the surface characterization of nanoand micro-sized wear debris generated from artificial joints.     

Effective use of the spectral information in speech processing of cochlear implant

Based on the results of the acoustic research on Mandarin, two novel algorithms using the spectral information in speech processing of cochlear implants are purposed and certified effectively by the spectral information of tonal language in acoustic simulation experiments. We bring forward novel algorithms conveying the spectral information based on the choices of the frequency bands. These new algorithms can not only improve the speech recognition ability of cochlear implant users in the noisy environments but also reduce the complexity of computing and the memory occupied, and make it more suitable to be carried out in clinical practice.     

Effective use of the spectral information in speech processing of cochlear implant

Based on the results of the acoustic research on Mandarin, two novel algorithms using the spectral information in speech processing of cochlear implants are purposed and certified effectively by the spectral information of tonal language in acoustic simulation experiments. We bring forward novel algorithms conveying the spectral information based on the choices of the frequency bands. These new algorithms can not only improve the speech recognition ability of cochlear implant users in the noisy environments but also reduce the complexity of computing and the memory occupied, and make it more suitable to be carried out in clinical practice.