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Coatings are commonly used on cutting tools for micromachining, an effective method for extending tool life. However, it is thought that micro texturing of the surface and cutting edgecould also extend tool life. This research at FEMTO-ST in France also aims to determine if this type of texturing can replace certain coatings for cutting tools used for micro-machining operations. Indeed, coatings significantly impact the radius of cutting edges, and this parameter is particularly influential on the efficiency of micro tools. Micro-tool sharpening aims to create very smallcutting-edge radii to obtain a fine and precise cut, but the tool must remain strong enough to limit its wear during the machining phase. One way to improve the wear resistance of the tool is usually to apply a titanium-based coating on the micro-tool, but this expends the cutting-edge radius. Micro and nano texturing are therefore aimed at improving the wear resistance of the tool, without penalizing the geometry of the cutting edge, which can be controlled on the same measuring device. The question that arises is what is the ideal measurement system to achieve this.
After extensive trials we are confident to recommend the Bruker Alicona InfiniteFocus system based on the principle of FocusVariation.
Focus Variation is a high-resolution optical 3D metrology technology developed and commercialized for 20 years by the company Bruker Alicona. In France, the prestigious FEMTO-ST research centre has used this technology for the past 15 years in its µ-mechanics research. The industrial partners of the applied mechanics department of the institute generally manufacture parts and geometrical details of very small dimensions with adapted microfabrication machine tools and great know-how, but their control is often problematic. The laboratory’s researchers provide them with adapted measurement solutions to characterize their parts and thus improve their manufacturing processes in the context of collaborative research and development.
Once the machining tests have been carried out at the ENSMM and at the MIFHySTO mechanical micro-manufacturing platform, the InfiniteFocus metrology system is used to characterize adhesion and abrasion resulting from the machining operation. The measured wear is a crater wear on the cutting face, as well as a more classical abrasion wear on the clearance face. With the same means, the adhesion is also observed and measured. Indeed, the machined material sticks on the zones close to the cutting edge and forms a bead before the zone presenting abrasion, located between the bead and the textured zone.
The product we recommend is the InfiniteFocus G6 system fitted with the advanced real3D rotation unit The 3D optical InfiniteFocus Bruker Alicona system is a versatile high-resolution metrology equipment that allows the FEMTO-ST Institute to characterize in a robust and operator-independent way the surfaces and geometries of micro and nano textured cutting tools, in the framework of research on micro-manufacturing processes. This is only one example of the multiple applications of the system within the research centre, which also uses it intensively in the framework of research in µ-milling, µ-turning, µ-electro-erosion and tribology. This equipment is present on the AMETISTE platform, and it is currently the most used shared experimental device by the Applied Mechanics Department of the FEMTO-ST Institute.
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