Design and development of a micro polycrystalline diamond ball end mill for micro/nano freeform machining of hard and brittle materials

Micro end mills play a key role in micro/nano milling applications for intricate three-dimensional die/molds or sensors for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). In order to achieve higher machining accuracy and longer tool life, micro end mills are usually made of ultra-hard materials such as polycrystalline diamond (PCD) or cubic boron nitride (CBN). One of the best choices for their fabrication is the wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) method. There are two basic categories of micro end mills, namely the ball end mill for 3D freeform surface machining and straight/round edge end mills for non-freeform surface machining. This paper focuses on the design and development of the micro ball end mill for hard and brittle materials. Firstly, the available typical ball end mill is analyzed. Secondly, a micro ball end mill with uniform axial rake and clearance angles is designed and analyzed by the finite element method (FEM). The designed micro ball end mill only needs simultaneously three linear and one index rotational WEDM axes instead of simultaneously five WEDM axes for traditional ball end mills. Then, micro PCD ball end mills are fabricated and the radius variation follows in +/- 2.0 mu m, which is more accurate than commercially available ones. Finally, the 3D freeform geometry milling on tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon wafer successfully demonstrated the possibility of micro-mechanical freeform machining by the developed micro ball end mill.