On cutting mechanisms during nano machining of metals

The paper investigates the effect of depth of cut on the cutting mechanism for two commonly used coated materials, namely, Copper and Nickel, during nano machining operations. A nano indenter equipped with a nano scratching attachment was used for the nano machining operations and in situ observations of the machined surface. Plastic deformation of the material leads to pile up volume that occurrs along the scratch length. This pile up volume was utilized to distinguish between the ploughing and cutting type of abrasive wear mechanisms of the coated materials. It was found that the relationship between the depth of cut and the cutting tool tip radius governs the cutting mechanism significantly. The ploughing mechanism was responsible for generation of the nano scale groove when the depth of cut was smaller than the cutting tool tip radius. Otherwise both the cutting mechanism and ploughing mechanism were the contributing modes of abrasive wear for producing the nano scale groove.