SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF ACOUSTIC EMISSION (AE) DURING THE ULTRAPRECISION MACHINING OF SINGLE CRYSTAL InSb

Helder A.T.Silva(1), Jaime G.Duduch, Arthur J.V.Porto University of So Paulo (USP), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laboratory of Precision Engineering, So Carlos, BRAZIL.
(1)helderts@sc.usp.br

Abstract: The purpose of this work is to investigate the relationship between the material removal mechanism in the diamond turning of (100) single crystal indium antimonide (InSb) and the characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) spectral signal. The spectral characteristics of the raw AE signal and the surface finish were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and correlated with the cutting mode. The results showed that it is possible to know the actual cutting mode during the machining of indium antimonide using AE. Keywords: ultraprecision machining, diamond turning, brittle materials, acoustic emission.

1 Introduction Single Point Diamond Turning (SPDT) is a machining process first developed for the production of optical components of ductile materials, such as aluminium and copper. This technology evolved to brittle materials in the optical and electronic industry to produce surfaces with form accuracy of the order of micrometers and roughness of the order of nanometers. (1, 2, 3). In order to achieve these levels of precision, there is a great demand on the machine tools to perform SPDT operations such as aerostatic bearings, high stiffness and micro/nano positioning systems along with a careful workpiece material selection which should be appropriate to a mirror like surface finish, Silicon, germanium, indium antimonide, gallium arsenide and fine ceramics are among the brittle materials most used in industry. When submitted to stress, this kind of material presents cracks before significant plastic deformation takes place. This behaviour shows evidence of their brittle characteristic (4), which makes them difficult to machine through ductile material removal (cutting). Although this brittle characteristic renders the machining this sort of materials extremely difficult, if certain very restrict cutting conditions (depth of cut and feedrate) be respected, ductile removal can be obtained (1, 2). Several cutting models have been presented from results of interrupted face turning of brittle materials where the uncut shoulder was closely examined to classify the cutting mechanism. Basically, there are two types of material removal: ductile removal and brittle cracking. The region where brittle removal prevails is damaged and characterised by the presence of pits. The extension of this region is associated with chip thickness and geometry of cut. The region where the chip thickness is less than the critical dimension of cut for crack formation shows damage free. As a result of the development of the precision machining technology, the monitoring of machining processes is being advanced to cope with positioning demands increasingly higher. Among the various monitoring techniques, acoustic emission (EA) plays na important role and is being investigated and applied since its discovery in the 50s (5, 6). The AE RMS signal has been used in the monitoring of single crystal silicon diamond turning and the results make it clear the three distinct material removal

modes: brittle, brittle/ductile and purely ductile showing that this technique is sensitive to be used in the monitoring of single point diamond turning of brittle materials [7]. As the surface integrity deterioration increased (followed by increasing number of cracks), the AE signal level increased as well as its amplitude. However, during ductile cuts (and low removal rates with consequent low AE signal level) the analysis of the RMS signal has not been satisfactory since the signal could hardly be separated from the process noise even using frequency filters [7]. To make this and other important points clear, frequency spectral analysis will be used as an alternative technique to RMS analysis. 2 Experimental Details A (100) indium antimonide sample was diamond faced on a Rank Pneumo ASG2500 machine. Coolant was continuously sprayed onto the workpiece surface during the machining. A 25 arc degree rake angle diamond tool with nose radius R=0.658mm was used in all tests. The feed rate was 2,4 and 8 m/rev and the nominal depth of cut was 10 m. These cutting conditions provided ductile and brittle regime of material removal, respectively. Spindle speed was kept constant at 1000 rpm. The AE signal was obtained using an AE piezoelectric sensor mounted on the toolholder and a microcomputer with a PCI-6111E 5MS/s National InstrumentsTM DAQ board. The AE raw signal was acquired at a 10kHz sample rate. The spectral characteristics of the raw AE signal and the surface finish was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and correlated with the cutting mode. Filters were not used in order that the raw signal could be obtained for a later frequency spectral analysis. LabView 5.1TM was used for data acquisition and processing of the signal. 3 Results and Discussion The results showed that practically all cutting conditions yielded ductile material removal since the InSb more ductile than other brittle materials such as silicon, germanium and GaAs. The only exception was the most severe condition: f=8m/rev, which exibited cracks both in the surface and in the uncut shoulder as shown in Figure 1. Figures 2 e 3 show SEM of surfaces machined with f=4m/rev and 2m/rev, respectively. The first shows a surface with a roughness worse than that with f=2m/rev. However the extreme condition (f=8m/rev) presents the worst surface integrity. The EA raw signal was analysed and displayed in charts which represent the signal spectrum, i.e., its Fourier transform (a), its time behaviour (b) and the signal power distribution as a function of time and frequency (c). The colour scales showed in (c) appear as a result of the larger amplitude of the signal, i.e., the highest peak (black) corresponding to 100% and the lowest (white) to 0%. The conditions f = 2, 4 e 8m/rev are represented in the graphs of Figures 4, 5 e 6 respectively. Analysing the time signals, one can observe that for the less severe conditions (2 e 4m/rev, respectively), the mean signal is 0.12V e 0.18V, clearly distinct from the signal obtained for the most extreme condition (1.5V). Comparing these results with the SEM, one can conclude that the larger the number and concentration of cracks the higher the levels of EA signal. This tendency is also observed in the analysis of the frequency spectrum and spectrogram of the signal, with higher and better distributed frequencies for the most severe condition (responsible for crack propagation), different from the ones obtained for less severe conditions. One can conclude that there are characteristic frequencies for each removal mode: ductile, ductile/brittle or brittle and that these are distributed in a manner that high frequencies and high

level of signal are related with the presence of massive number of cracks, while lower frequencies and lower signal levels indicate ductile material removal. 4 Conclusions The purpose of this work was to investigate the relationship between the material removal mechanism in the diamond turning of (100) single crystal indium antimonide (InSb) and the characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) spectral signal. The preliminary results presented showed AE has appropriate sensitivity to detect different material removal modes during machining. The time vs EA signal frequency analysis proved useful identifying the presence of cracks and, therefore, characterizing the integrity of the machined surface. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge that this work was supported by FAPESP (BRAZIL). 5 References [1] Blackley, W.S & Scattergood, R.O.: Ductile regime machining model for diamoond turning of brittle materials, Precision Enginnering, v.13, pp.95-103, 1991. [2] Blake, P. N. & Scattergood, R.O.: Ductile regime machining of germanium and silicon, Journal of American Ceramic Society, v.73, pp.949-957, 1990. Corbett, J., McKeown, P.A., Peggs, G.N. & Whatmore, R.: Nanotechnology: [3] international developments and emerging products, Annals of the CIRP, v.49, n.2, pp.523-545, 2000. [4] Chao, C.L.: Investigation of the machine glasses and other normally brittle materials in the ductile regime, PhD Thesis, Cranfield Institute of Technology, School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science, 1991. [5] Dornfeld, D.A.: In process recognition of cutting states, JSME International Journal, Series C, v.37, n.4, pp.638-650, 1994. [6] Liu, J.J. & Dornefeld, D.A.: Modeling and analysis of acoustic emission in diamond turning, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, v.118, p199-207, 1996. [7] Silva, H.A.T., Duduch, J.G. & Jasinevicius, R.G.: Study of the monitoring of ultraprecision machining of brittle materials using acoustic emission, 1st EUSPEN, v.1, pp.334337, 1999.

Figure 1: InSb surface obtained with 2m/rev feed rate and 10m depth of cut.

Figure 2: InSb surface obtained with 4m/rev feed rate and 10m depth of cut.

Figure 3: InSb surface obtained with 8m/rev feed rate and 10m depth of cut.

Figure 4: Signal analysis of AE obtained using 2m/rev feed rate.

Figure 5: Signal analysis of AE obtained using 4m/rev feed rate.

Figure 6: Signal analysis of AE obtained using 8m/rev feed rate.