The Mechanics of Machining at the Microscale: Assessment of the Current State of the Science

TLDR

This review surveys the last decade of research to deepen understanding of micromachining mechanics. It examines experimental phenomena such as size effects, minimum chip thickness, elastic‑plastic deformation, and microstructure, and reviews modeling approaches including molecular dynamics, finite element, mechanistic, and multiscale methods. The review concludes with recommendations for future research directions.

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature, mostly of the last 10–15 years, that is enhancing our understanding of the mechanics of the rapidly growing field of micromachining. The paper focuses on the mechanics of the process, discussing both experimental and modeling studies, and includes some work that, while not directly focused on micromachining, provides important insights to the field. Experimental work includes the size effect and minimum chip thickness effect, elastic-plastic deformation, and microstructure effects in micromachining. Modeling studies include molecular dynamics methods, finite element methods, mechanistic modeling work, and the emerging field of multiscale modeling. Some comments on future needs and directions are also offered.