Investigation on the Effect of Workpiece Dimension in Nanometric Machining of Monocrystalline Silicon by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Nanometric machining process is an advanced method for fabrication of components with sub-micron tolerances and nanometric roughness. In spite of traditional machining systems, machining of the brittle materials, such as silicon, could be achieved by this technique. Due to the nanometric nature of this method, the behavior of material removal would be different with the bulk workpieces. Consequently, workpiece dimension also affect the final quality of the machined components. In this study, the effect of workpiece width and dimension on machining quality has been investigated by molecular dynamics technique. Machining parameters and molecular dynamics analysis condition were assumed invariant. The results revealed that shrinking the workpiece dimension consumedly would result in an initial shock. This issue leads to segmented chips and reducing surface finish. Besides, the results indicated that by tool advancement, workpiece temperature would increase; however, this is much faster in workpieces smaller than 21nm. In addition, it was clarified that increasing in the workpiece dimensions, reduces resultant force and its fluctuations.