Fast Generation of Micro Channels on Cylindrical Surfaces by Elliptical Vibration Texturing

Abstract

Microstructured surfaces are assuming an everincreasing role since they define the ultimate performance of many industrial components and products. Microchannels, in particular, have many potential applications in microfluidic devices, micro heat exchangers, and friction control. This paper proposes an innovative vibrationassisted machining method to generate microchannels on the external surface of a cylinder. This method, referred to as elliptical vibration texturing, was originally developed by the authors to generate dimple patterns. It uses the modulation of the depthofcut by tool vibrations to create surface textures. The most promising features of the proposed method are its high efficiency, low cost, and scalability for mass production. It is shown that with proper combinations of the process parameters the created dimples start to overlap and form channels. An analytical model is established to predict channel formation with respect to the overlapping ratios of the dimples. Channel formation criteria and expressions for channel geometries are given along with a channel generation map that relates channel geometry to the process parameters. Experimental results are given to verify the model. A further example of micropattern generation is also given to showcase the flexibility of the process.