Development of a unique topology for a hard-turning micro-scale machine tool

A micro-scale machine tool (mMT) topology is developed for turning hardened steel bearing components. The topology utilizes the principle of leverage to increase accuracy and stiffness and incorporates decoupling to reduce unwanted motion of the tool. Performance specifications required that the static stiffness is at least 10 N/μm and dynamic stiffness is at least 30 N/μm in all directions. The kinematics for the topology are developed to enable control over the position and orientation of the tool tip. The effect of the topology on rake angle is determined and the topology is adjusted so as to minimize the rake angle variation during the cut. Cutting tests are performed to determine cutting parameters for achieving a low surface roughness and to estimate the accuracy of the machine. Tests show that the hard-turning mMT can achieve surface roughness below 25 nm Ra, diametrical accuracy of 1 μm and peak-to-valley roundness deviation (RONt) below 0.35 μm.