Title: Cutting process of glass with end mill

Authors: Takashi Matsumura, Takenori Ono

Addresses: Tokyo Denki University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2-2 Kanda Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8457, Japan. ' Tokyo Denki University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2-2 Kanda Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8457, Japan

Abstract: Glass milling is presented to machine microgroove on glass, which is a material of microtesting devices used in the bio and the chemical industries. The milling processes of glass are discussed with the change of the cutting forces during a rotation of the cutter. The measured cutting forces prove that the milling processes are performed in a ductile-brittle complex mode. Microgrooves, then, are machined on the glass plate with ball end mills made of tungsten carbide in a depth of cut more than 10 μm. The cutter axis is inclined in the feed direction to finish a crack-free surface at high cutting velocities. The cutting process with the cutter axis inclination is discussed with presenting a model. The effect of cutting conditions on the surface finish is shown in the cutting experiments. The surface roughness is less than 100 nm in glass milling in applicable cutting conditions. A seven-axis controlled machine tool, then, is built to machine the microchannels on the glass plates. A machining example is shown to apply glass milling to manufacturing of the microtesting devices.

Keywords: glass cutting; ball end milling; microgrooves; cutting forces; tungsten carbide; surface roughness; microchannels; microtesting.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMM.2009.026933

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2009 Vol.6 No.1/2, pp.139 - 158

Published online: 09 Jul 2009 *

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