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A new behavioral model is described for the magnetorheological (MR) fluid used in cylindrical rectilinear dampers. The Lekner summation method has shown that slow convergent magnetic interaction energy functions are transformed into rapidly convergent ones and the Maxwell constitutive model is coupled to the static model for considering the viscoelastic behavior of the MR fluid.

A process for femtosecond laser-based manufacturing was proposed to fabricate a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) with a screw shape. The screw-shaped LPFG was continuously inscribed by single laser scanning, which results in the improvement of fabrication time. For the single laser scanning, an optical fiber was traveled along fiber axis and rotated about the fiber axis. The 44.65-mm-long LPFG with a screw shape and the period of 450 μm was fabricated about 17 min, and its sensitivity was 48 ~ 51 nm/RIU for the glycerin solutions. The proposed process enables us to produce the screw-shaped LPFGs with fast manufacturing time and reliable performance compared with the process with multi-path scanning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently, a new process for machining glassy carbon using electrochemical oxidation has been introduced. The process is effective in reducing cracks on the machined surface of glassy carbon, unlike conventional mechanical processes. This paper proposes a method for increasing the electrochemical oxidation rate in this process by applying a high overvoltage to improve the material removal rate. Suitable electrochemical conditions for applying high overvoltage were investigated. Experiments were conducted by varying the electrochemical conditions, including high overvoltage, to compare the material removal rates. The results showed that the material removal rate could be increased by using a high overvoltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmonic lithography has been used in nanofabrication because of its utility beyond the diffraction limit. The resolution of plasmonic lithography depends on the nano-gap between the nanoaperture and the photoresist surface--changing the gap distance can modulate the line-width of the pattern. In this letter, we demonstrate solid-immersion lens based active non-contact plasmonic lithography, applying a range of gap conditions to modulate the line-width of the pattern. Using a solid-immersion lens-based near-field control system, the nano-gap between the exit surface of the nanoaperture and the media can be actively modulated and maintained to within a few nanometers. The line-widths of the recorded patterns using 15- and 5-nm gaps were 47 and 19.5 nm, respectively, which matched closely the calculated full-width at half-maximum. From these results, we conclude that changing the nano-gap within a solid-immersion lens-based plasmonic head results in varying line-width patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A volumetric error compensation method for a machining center that has multiple cutting tools operating simultaneously has been developed. Due to axis sharing, the geometric errors of multi-spindle, concurrent cutting processes are characterized by a significant coupling of error components in each cutting tool. As a result, it is not possible to achieve exact volumetric error compensation for all axes. To minimize the overall volumetric error in simultaneous cutting, a method to determine compensation amount using weighted least squares has been proposed. This method also allows tolerance distribution of machining accuracy for different surfaces of a workpiece. A geometric error model has been developed using an arch-type, multi-spindle machine tool, and the error compensation simulation results based on this model are presented. The simulation results demonstrated effectiveness of the proposed error compensation algorithm for use with multi-spindle simultaneous cutting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a beam shaping method by engraving plasmonic lens consisted of subwavelength slit-metallic groove structure on the cleaved end facet of a composite optical fiber. The fiber consisted of a single mode optical fiber serially concatenated with a coreless silica fiber segment to expand the beam diameter. The subwavelength slit-groove structure on a gold film was fabricated using focused ion beam milling process. Plasmonic interaction in the film generated a quasi-one-dimensional Bessel-like beam with a beam width of 0.8 μm at the focal length of 2 μm. Detailed two- and three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain analyses showed beam characteristics consistent with experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we created high-aspect-ratio microgrooves in hard, brittle materials using an electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) process by introducing microtextured machining tool. To enhance the electrical discharge activity, the morphology of the tool side surface was treated via micro-electrical discharge machining to produce fine microprotrusive patterns. The resulting microtextured surface morphology enhanced the electric field and played a key role in improving the step milling depth in the ECDM process. Using the FEM analysis, the evaluation of the field enhancement factor is also addressed. Our experimental investigation revealed microgrooves having an aspect ratio of 1:4, with high geometric accuracy and crack-free surfaces, using one-step ECDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focused ion beam (FIB) machining of insulators is a crucial process in the rapid prototyping of nanodevices for optical applications. A conductive material is generally coated on the insulator prior to FIB machining to achieve high fabrication accuracy. In this paper, we report on the effects on machining accuracy of four coating materials: Pt, Ni, Ag, and Co. The dimensional accuracy at channel sidewalls was improved by selecting a coating material that induces charge-carrier generation in a small range. The geometric and electrical characteristics of the FIB-machined surfaces were evaluated to elucidate the association between the fabrication accuracy and the range of charge-carrier distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a new mechanical machining process using electrochemical oxidation was reported. Electrochemical oxidation assisted micromachining was applied to the machining of glassy carbon. The material removal process of the electrochemical oxidation assisted micromachining consists of repeated cycles of oxidation followed by removal of the oxide layer. In this paper, we experimentally investigate and compare the critical chip thickness for ductile mode cutting in mechanical machining and electrochemical oxidation assisted micromachining of glassy carbon. The theoretical critical chip thickness is calculated for mechanical machining of glassy carbon and experimentally verified. The effect of electrochemical oxidation on the critical chip thickness for ductile mode micromachining is also studied for glassy carbon. It is found that the critical chip thickness is increased for the electrochemical oxidation assisted micromachining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing the machining condition is one of the effective ways for reducing the energy consumption of machine tools at a unit process level. Based on statistical approaches with design of experiments, various methods have been developed to reduce the energy consumption by optimizing the machining condition. However, the methods cannot be easily utilized when the optimization target or machine tool design is modified because the optimal solution is determined based on the experimentally measured data. In this study, a simulation-based method that utilizes a virtual machine tool (VMT) to optimize the machining condition is proposed. The VMT model is designed to focus on estimating the energy consumption during machining and is developed by replicating real machine tools. Based on the VMT model, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the machining condition to reduce the energy consumption. The changes in the optimization target or machine tool design are easily considered by modifying the cost function or component model, respectively. The proposed method is applied to reduce the energy consumption of a three-axis milling machine. The optimal feed rate and spindle speed are obtained for each line of the part program when the thrust force is limited. An experimental setup of the machine tool with an energy consumption monitoring system is constructed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the total energy consumption of the machine tool reduces by 13% owing to the optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]