Theoretical and experimental investigation on the novel end-fly-cutting-servo diamond machining of hierarchical micro-nanostructures

•EFCS diamond cutting is proposed for the generation of hierarchical micro-nanostructures.•Material removal and tool mark residual are combined to construct the hybrid structures.•The optimal toolpath and surface generation algorithms for the EFCS are developed.•Nanostructured micro-aspheric array and F-theta freeform surface are experimentally fabricated.•The unique cutting principle enables the nanostructure fabrication to be free from the limitation of tool motion dynamics.

By combining the concepts of fast/slow tool servo and fly cutting, a novel end-fly-cutting-servo (EFCS) system with four-axis motions is proposed for deterministic generation of hierarchical micro-nanostructures, which are conventionally difficult for both mechanical and non-mechanical methods to achieve. In the EFCS system, an intricately shaped primary surface is generated by material removal, while the desired secondary nanostructure is simultaneously constructed using residual tool marks by actively controlling the tool loci. The optimal toolpath determination strategy, as well as surface generation algorithm for the EFCS system, has been developed with consideration of geometries and installation poses of the diamond tool. Numerical simulation of surface generation is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the novel machining method and features of the obtained hierarchical structures. A nanostructured micro-aspheric array and a nanostructured F-theta freeform surface are successfully fabricated in experiments. This research provides a very promising technique for the generation of hierarchical micro-nanostructures to realize performance integration of artificial components.

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