Anuj Sharma

Context Nanoscale machining of aluminium (Al) has gained considerable attention in precision-manufacturing industries like defence, aerospace, and optics, where high surface quality and dimensional accuracy are of critical importance. The present study adopts molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to perform nanoscale machining of single-crystal Al with a diamond tool. This paper offers a comparative MD analysis of dislocation structures and subsurface damage in Al nanocutting for fresh vs worn tool edges with explicit DXA-based characterisation. The study investigates the impact of the tool geometry on different mechanisms like material removal, dislocation flow, forces, and stress distribution in nanoscale machining. Results show that a sharp tool contributes to easy chip formation with less deformation of the FCC cubic crystal structure of Al, owing to lower cutting forces (~ 15 nN) and a smoother surface. However, a radiused tool causes higher normal forces (~ 50 nN), leading to more subsurface deformation, increased dislocations and structural transformation. Methods Large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS) was employed for carrying out the simulation for nanoscale machining, and open visualization tool (OVITO) was used for post-processing and visualisation. The atomic interactions between tool and workpiece were modelled by using interatomic potential models like Tersoff, Morse, and embedded atom method (EAM). In OVITO, common neighbour analysis (CNA) was carried out to characterise the local structural transformations in the MD system. Dislocation extraction algorithm (DXA) was implemented to analyse the dislocation formation and propagation.

In the current study, molecular dynamics modeling and simulation are carried out to analyse mechanisms in tool-workpiece interaction in nanoscale cutting. Various combinations of a / r ratios for constant r ( r = tool edge radius and a = uncut chip thickness) are considered and different crystal orientations of the workpiece specimen are employed in the nanoscale cutting model. From the simulation, material anisotropy behavior is observed during the nanoscale cutting of copper material. Analysis at the molecular scale reveals that the crystal orientations family {1 1 0} is hard to machine and the family of crystal planes {1 1 1} is easiest to cut. While comparing in different crystal planes and directions, it was noticed that the material deformation in nanoscale machining takes place only in slip directions, that is, family of directions. It is also found that as the uncut chip thickness is decreased, the cutting mechanism changes from shear plane cutting to plowing to sliding in Cu.

The heterogeneous nature of the copper beryllium (CuBe) workpiece because of the presence of hard particles tends to affect material removal. When machining a CuBe material, it is anticipated that the mechanism of cutting and surface formation may differ from those seen when cutting a homogenous Cu material. Although these mechanisms are popular for the diamond turning of homogeneous materials, they have not been thoroughly studied in relation to CuBe alloys, which contain hard beryllium precipitates. Therefore, the effect of hard particles in the workpiece specimen on the nano-regime diamond turning of CuBe alloy needs to be understood. To explain the influence of Beryllium (Be) particles on the cutting tool and the workpiece surface, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was performed. It is revealed that the material removal mechanism in the case of CuBe is phase-dependent. Ductile machining is dominant in the Cu phase, and brittle fracture is dominant in the Be rich phase. It is also observed that the a/r ratio equal to 1 is suitable for cutting in the Cu phase and for ductile regime machining conditions in the Be phase. The a/r ratio higher than 1 causes higher cutting forces, and thus shear plane cutting takes place, which leads to a higher amount of material removal.

The demand for polished silicon wafers has increased significantly in recent years to cater to the development of the semiconductor industry. For example, polished silicon wafer has direct applications in integrated circuits, radio frequency amplifiers, micro-processors, micro-electromechanical systems, etc. To carry out mechanical polishing, lapping, grinding, or single-point diamond turning of silicon, diamond abrasives were extensively used before the implementation of chemo-mechanical polishing. During the diamond-based polishing, a few problems have already been identified, such as the formation of an amorphous phase, heat-affected zones, low material removal, etc. Some research work has also reported that nano-structured abrasives lead to a thin layer of the amorphous phase and a better material removal rate. In the same direction, a molecular dynamics simulation is carried out in this paper to investigate the mechanism of material removal from monocrystalline silicon during the diamond-abrasive-based polishing process. The present work is mainly focused on the dynamics of material removal phenomena near the abrasive particles at the nanometric scale by considering stress, lattice, cohesive energy, etc. This reveals that a higher value of indentation force results in surface buckling, which creates a zone of both compressive and tensile stresses, which increases the coordination number and forms β-silicon just ahead of the abrasive particle. This mechanism happens by developing a β-silicon phase on the surface with a thickness beyond a certain value of indentation force on the zone of compression. Buckling on this phase happens due to stress localisation in compression, as the flow stress of this phase is less than that of diamond cubic lattices. To avoid the mechanism of surface buckling and process silicon material on the surface, the indentation force needs to be maintained below a critical value. In the present case, it was found that the indentation force of less than or equal to 190 nN for the abrasive size of ϕ8 nm does the material removal by surface processing only without surface buckling. It was also found that surface processing helps to reduce the depth of the amorphous layer significantly without compromising the material removal rate or the generation of a wavy surface. Thus, the present mechanism will help in the polishing of silicon with minimum defects and reduce processing time for the final stage of polishing towards manufacturing ultra-smooth and planer surfaces.

Nanofinishing or polishing helps to reduce surface roughness, which further improves both the optical and chemical properties of engineering materials. During the polishing of any engineering material, the size of abrasive particles plays a significant role in efficient polishing. In this paper, stainless steel 304 (or SS304) is selected for polishing through diamond abrasives with varying particle sizes using molecular dynamics simulations (MDS). It is found that the diamond abrasive particle initially causes elastic deformation due to the attractive force between the abrasive particle and the workpiece surface. As the size of the abrasive particle increases, plastic deformation occurs by spreading the dislocations on the surface only, which helps to annihilate the dislocations after polishing. It is revealed that the smaller abrasive particles (<3 nm) get trapped due to strong chemical bonding with the surface of the workpiece, and the abrasive particles start depositing on the workpiece instead of material removal. In this paper, it is proposed that an optimum size of abrasive particles is required for a given set of polishing parameters to achieve efficient material removal and minimum surface and subsurface defects. Thus, the present study is worthwhile for efficient polishing or nanocutting of stainless steel through monocrystalline diamond.

Electrical discharge machined surfaces inherently possess recast layer on the surface with heat affected zone (HAZ) beneath it and these have a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties viz. hardness, elastic modulus, etc. It is very difficult to experimentally characterise each machined surface. Therefore, an attempt is made in this study to numerically calculate the mechanical properties of the parent material, HAZ and the recast layer on a hemispherical protruded micro feature fabricated by reverse micro EDM (RMEDM). In the 1^st stage, nano indentation was performed to experimentally determine the load-displacement plots, elastic modulus and hardness of the parent material, HAZ and the recast layer. In the 2^nd stage, FEA simulation was carried out to mimic the nano indentation process and determine the load-displacement plots for all the three cases viz. parent material, recast layer and HAZ. Results demonstrated that the load'displacement plots obtained from numerical model in each case was in good agreement with that of the experimental curves. Based on simulated load-displacement plots, hardness was also calculated for parent material, HAZ and the recast layer. A maximum of 11% error was observed between simulated values of hardness and experimentally determined values.