ON-GOING
Micromachining is a promising technology for the production of miniaturized parts. Laser micromachining is widely used for this purpose. Laser micromachining has advantages because of its high material removal rate (MRR). However, its main disadvantage is the poor machining quality due to widely spread heat affected zone (HAZ). On the other hand, micro-electro-discharge machining (microEDM) can fabricate better quality micro features due to the absence of the dominant HAZ zone. Though, this enhancement comes at the cost of very low MRR. Toward overcoming the problems associated with these two types of machining, a hybrid technique is required to integrate the advantages of LASER micromachining and microEDM. In the hybrid process, rough machining is carried out first by LASER followed by a fine operation using microEDM. This research targets to investigate LASER-microEDM based combined micromachining technique. Click here to know more.
COMPLETED
Multiwalled CNT array, also known as VACNTs/CNT forest, exhibits remarkable optical reflection when bent and flattened in bulk. This exceptional reflection from the patterned CNT surface could help to develop flexible micromirrors array. Our research investigated the mechanical bending process of the CNT forest and various optical properties of the flattened CNT surface. We found that a controlled rolling process could create an aligned and highly smooth CNT surface and exhibits anisotropic optical reflection that can be exploited to develop an angular sensor. Click here to know more.
Micromachining technologies have been at the forefront due to massive demands in many engineering, production and manufacturing sectors. Micro Electric Discharge Machining (μ-EDM) is one of the most commonly used tool based micromachining techniques available to produce microscopic features and components for various industries. However, one of the drawbacks of μEDM is the slow speed of the process. In order to improve the machining performance by reducing the machining time, researchers have tried to implement ultrasonic-assisted (UA) μEDM operation. However, no product is available in the market that is dedicated to μEDM machine to produce ultrasonic vibration. This project aimed to develop an ultrasonic vibration device that can be integrated into a commercial μEDM machine. We designed and fabricated the fixture as well as the control circuitry for the vibration device. Click here to know more.