Creation of Functionally Graded Glass Channels by Electrochemical Discharge Machining Process: A Feasibility Study

Functionally graded surfaces — surfaces with properties that are engineered to have spatial variations — have numerous applications such as micropumps, auto-mixers, and flow control for lab-on-chip devices. Manufacturing of functionally graded surfaces is an increasingly important topic of research. This study investigates the feasibility of creating a functionally graded surface during channeling of borosilicate glass by the electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) process. The ability to create surface roughness gradients in microchannels during the machining process was demonstrated by modifying the input voltage, tool feed rate, and tool rotation speed. Microchannels with graded surface roughness having Ra values ranging from 0.35 to 4.07 μm were successfully machined on borosilicate glass by ECDM. Surface profiles were obtained via a stylus profilometer, and roughness values were calculated after detrending and applying a Gaussian filter. To demonstrate the process versatility, micro channels with increasing and decreasing Ra values were machined, one increasing from 1.43 μm to 4.07 μm, another decreasing from 3.29 μm to 1.10 μm. To demonstrate the process repeatability, a micro channel with similar surface roughness on both ends and a lower Ra value in the center was created. In this channel, the Ra value at the start is 0.35 μm, reducing to 0.24 μm, then rising again to 0.38 μm in the final section.

An Overview on Surface Hardening of Titanium Alloys by Diffusion of Interstitial Atoms

In this paper, diffusional surface hardening processes utilized to overcome the poor tribological performance of titanium and its alloys is briefly introduced. More specifically, surface treatments known as thermal oxidation, nitriding and boriding offering the advantage of producing graded surfaces comprising hard compound layer and diffusion zone by diffusion of interstitial atoms (oxygen, nitrogen and boron) are overviewed.

A new scheme for computational modeling of conical indentation in plastically graded materials

In this paper, a new scheme has been proposed for the computational modeling of conical indentation in plastically graded materials. Based on the new scheme and the work of Dao et al. [Acta Mater.49, 3899 (2001)], and taking the example of conical indentation with an indenter whose tip apex angle is θ = 70.3°, an analytical expression to predict the loading P - h curve for the indentation of plastically graded materials has been presented. A reverse algorithm has further been established to determine the plastic properties of a plastically graded surface. The existence, uniqueness, and stability of the solution to the inverse problem have been systematically investigated. The current work can be applied to the evaluation or optimization of various plastically graded surfaces.