Study of 3D Micro-Ultrasonic Machining

Many manufacturing processes, such as lithography, etching, laser, electrical discharge machining (EDM), and electrochemical machining (ECM), are being applied to produce the meso- and microscale parts and products. Materials such as silicon, glass, quartz crystal, and ceramics are being increasingly used in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices. Ultrasonic machining (USM) offers an attractive alternative to machine some of the hard and brittle materials. However, the tool wear in micro-ultrasonic machining adversely affects the machining accuracy. Therefore, it is necessary to account for and to compensate the tool wear during machining. This paper reports the feasibility of applying the uniform wear method developed for micro electrical discharge machining and its integration with CAD/CAM to microultrasonic vibration process for generating accurate three-dimensional (3D) microcavities. Experimental results show that the tool shape remains unchanged and the tool wear has been compensated.