An ultrafast 2-D non-resonant cutting tool for texturing micro-structured surfaces

Abstract Surface texturing using two-dimensional non-resonant vibration cutting tools (2-D NRVCT) has emerged as a promising method to fabricate micro-structured surfaces. The non-resonant vibration tool is able to work in a continuous frequency range with precise control of the tool trajectories compared with their resonant counterparts. The existing designs, however, usually suffer from either small vibration amplitudes or a low bandwidth due to a set of contradictory design requirements. This study presents a tool design that features a high bandwidth of up to 6 kHz without extra cooling, a working space of 9.3 μm × 16 μm, and a small cross-axis coupling within 5%. In addition, this study attempts to generalize the design requirements for 2-D non-resonant vibration cutting tools in five key functional specifications, including the stroke, output stiffness, resonant frequency, drive current, and coupling coefficient. Analytical modeling of the working performance on structural stiffness and output strokes using the compliance matrix method is presented and verified by finite element analysis. Dimensions of the proposed design have been optimized to achieve a balance between the amplification ratio and the bandwidth. The tool performance is then experimentally evaluated along with surface texturing results using the elliptical, quadrate and modulated elliptical tool trajectories.