Nanometric behaviour of monocrystalline silicon when single point diamond turned-a molecular dynamics and response surface methodology analysis

Hard and brittle materials such as silicon and silicon carbide are widely used in aerospace and integrated circuit. They are often poorly machined owing to non-linearity in machining process and complexities in selecting suitable machining parameters and tool geometry. The experimental difficulty involved in observing nanoscale physical phenomena (i.e. in-process measurement problems, inaccessible contact area of tool and workpiece, and the difficulty of surface analysis) has led to the use of molecular dynamics (MD) and response surface methodology (RSM) to investigate effect of tool edge radius, rake and clearance angles on monocrystalline silicon in this research. The response of subsurface deformation depth (SSD), tool temperature, kinetic friction cutting and thrust forces to tool edge radius, rake and clearance angles showed that SSD increased as the rake angle, edge radius and clearance angle increased while kinetic friction reduced as they increased. The increase in SSD as the clearance angle increased as observed in this study can be associated to the interactive/combined influence of the effects of both edge radius and rake angle.