A study on the chemical mechanical micro-machining (C3M) process and its application

Micro-machining technology has been studied for fabricating smaller size structures and enhancing form accuracy. The dimensions of structures are generally determined by the size of the mechanical tool in the mechanical micro-machining process. However, the size of the mechanical tool is limited by the mechanical properties of the tool, such as elasticity limit, yield strength, fracture and buckle that is caused by the machining resistance force. To overcome these drawbacks and enhance the surface quality and form accuracy in mechanical micro-machining, this paper proposes a new method of micro-machining with the aid of chemical solutions. The chemically reacted layer on the substrate restricts the plastic deformation of work material and results in the lower machining force, tool wear reduction and high form accuracy compared to other methods. In this study, we carried out the experiment on both the brittle and ductile material. The characteristics of the chemically reacted layer were analyzed in terms of thickness, hardness change, dynamic friction coefficient, and working force. From the grooving and drilling test results, the proposed process proved to be effective.