Ultraprecision Diamond Machining of Conventional Non-Diamond Machinable Materials

描述(由申请人提供)：EChemics建议探索一种创新技术的可行性，用于对传统上认为不能进行钻石加工的材料进行钻石加工。超精密金刚石车削加工已被广泛应用于制造光学表面、超精密去除材料、制造亚纳米级表面光洁度和亚微米级形状精度的微结构和微器件。它是制造用于生物医学、生物医学分析、诊断和治疗的生物医学产品的超精密宏微光学和非光学元件的必不可少的加工工艺。然而，钻石加工的一个重大缺点是它只能加工非常有限的材料，即钻石可加工材料。由于灾难性的金刚石刀具磨损，它无法加工许多重要材料，如黑色金属合金、不锈钢、钛和镍。目前延长金刚石工具寿命的技术解决方案收效甚微，成本高，安装复杂，需要额外的设备。金刚石碳与工件(如钢)之间的表面催化反应导致的金刚石刀具化学反应磨损是一种重要的刀具磨损途径。然而，目前的技术解决方案还没有探索操纵这一催化反应的可能性。因此，本建议试图探索一种新的方法来阻止或减缓这一催化反应，从而大大降低高反应速率，延长刀具寿命。在这个第一阶段的项目中，EChemics旨在证明，与常规的钻石加工相比，所建议的技术方法是否真的可以延长钻石工具的使用寿命。如果第一阶段成功，项目第二阶段将改进工艺并制造一些生物医学产品原型。由于在生物医学和其他应用中对直接金刚石加工非金刚石可加工材料的需求越来越大，这项拟议的技术为这一需求提供了一种新的解决方案。如果成功，EChemics的目标是将这项新技术商业化，以发展公司，并使中国的超精密制造业更具竞争力。SBIR第一阶段项目将探索一种创新技术的可行性，用于对传统上认为不是可加工钻石的材料进行超精密钻石加工。金刚石加工是制造生物医学产品超精密宏微光学和非光学元件不可缺少的加工工艺，包括用于生物医学、生物医学分析、诊断和治疗的诊断成像设备、药物输送部件、可植入部件、芯片实验室设备、微型全分析系统(TAS)和微电子机械系统(MEMS)。该技术旨在制造全新的器件，提高现有器件的质量，降低制造成本，成为一种更通用的快速成型工具。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Echemics proposes to explore the feasibility of an innovative technology for the diamond machining of the materials that are not conventionally considered to be diamond machinable. Ultraprecision diamond machining such as diamond turning and milling has been widely used to produce optical-quality surfaces, ultra- precisely remove materials, and fabricate microstructures and microdevices with sub-nanometer level surface finishes and sub-micrometer form accuracies. It is an indispensable machining process for fabricating ultraprecision macro- and micro-optics and non-optical components for biomedical products used for biomedicine, biomedical analysis, diagnostics, and treatments. However, one significant drawback of diamond machining is that it can only machine very limited materials called diamond machinable materials. It cannot machine many important materials such as ferrous alloys, stainless steel, titanium and nickel due to catastrophic diamond tool wear. Current technical solutions for extending diamond tool life only achieve limited success; suffer from high cost and complicated setup; and need additional equipment. The chemical reactive wear of diamond tools resulting from the surface-catalyzed reaction between diamond carbon and workpiece (e.g., steel) is one significant tool wear route. However, the current technical solutions have not explored the possibility of manipulating this catalytic reaction. Therefore, this proposal tries to investigate a novel approach to stop or slow down this catalytic reaction so that the high reaction rate can be greatly reduced and tool life can be extended. In this Phase I project, Echemics aims to prove if the proposed technical approach can indeed extend diamond tool life compared with normal diamond machining. If Phase I is successful, Phase II of the project will improve the process and fabricate some prototype biomedical products. As there is an increasing demand for directly diamond machining non-diamond machinable materials for a wide variety of biomedical and other applications, this proposed technology provides a new solution for this call. If successful, Echemics aims to commercialize this novel technology for growing the company and also making the country's ultraprecision manufacturing sector more competitive. This SBIR Phase I project will explore the feasibility of an innovative technology for the ultraprecision diamond machining of the materials that are not conventionally considered to be diamond machinable. Diamond machining is an indispensable machining process for fabricating ultraprecision macro- and micro- optics and non-optical components for biomedical products, including such as diagnostic imaging devices, drug delivery components, implantable components, lab-on-a-chip devices, micro total analysis systems (¿-TAS), and MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) for biomedicine, biomedical analysis, diagnostics, and treatments. The proposed technology aims to fabricate totally new devices, improve the quality of existing devices, lower manufacturing costs, and become a more universal rapid prototyping tool.