Authors Accepted Manuscript

A review of surface roughness generation in ultra-

precision machining

S.J. Zhang, S. To, S.J. Wang, Z.W. Zhu

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

PII: S0890-6955(15)30009-2
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2015.02.001
Reference: MTM3031
To appear in: International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
Received date: 10 September 2014
Revised date: 28 January 2015
Accepted date: 5 February 2015
Cite this article as: S.J. Zhang, S. To, S.J. Wang and Z.W. Zhu, A review of
surface roughness generation in ultra-precision machining, International Journal
of Machine Tools and Manufacture,
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 A review of surface roughness generation in ultra-precision
machining

S.J. Zhanga, b, S. Tob, c, #, S.J. Wangc, Z.W. Zhub

a
Research Institute of Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering, School of Mechatronics Engineering,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China.
b
State Key Laboratory in Ultra-precision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and
Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, PR China.
c
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Manufacturing Technology and Equipment,
School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR
China.

#
E-mail: Sandy.To@inet.polyu.edu.hk, Tel: +852-2766-6587, Fax: +852-2764-7657

Abstract

Ultra-precision machining (UPM) is capable of manufacturing a high quality surface at a

nanometric surface roughness. For such high quality surface in a UPM process, due to the machining

complexity any variable would be possible to deteriorate surface quality, consequently receiving much

attention and interest. The general factors are summarized as machine tool, cutting conditions, tool

geometry, environmental conditions, material property, chip formation, tool wear, vibration etc. This

paper aims to review the current state of the art in studying the surface roughness formation and the

factors influencing surface roughness in UPM. Firstly, the surface roughness characteristics in UPM is

introduced. Then in UPM, a wide variety of factors for surface roughness are then reviewed in detail

and the mechanism of surface roughness formation is concluded thoroughly. Finally, the challenges and

opportunities faced by industry and academia are discussed and several principle conclusions are

drawn.

Keywords: Surface roughness, Ultra-precision machining, Surface roughness characteristics, Surface

roughness formation

1. Introduction

With the increasing requirement for high quality surfaces of a nanometric surface roughness and a
sub-micrometric form error, ultra-precision machining (UPM) is only one efficient and low-cost means.

It has been commonly utilized to fabricate high precision optical parts without any post-polishing, such

as digital camera lens, CCD camera lens, VCD lens, DVD lens etc. The typical optics applications

cover lighting, telecommunications, medical facilities, automotives, military, and aerospace. Recently,

in order to serve the ever-growing demands for much higher performance, higher reliability, longer lift

cycle and miniaturization, optical elements have been more specialized, functionalized and complicated.

The development and applications of optical elements are from spherical/aspheric lens, F-theta lens and

micro-lens arrays, to micro-grooving and freeform lens along with the development of UPM from

two-axis to multi-axis [1-6]. As information and multimedia technologies have been rapidly developed

over the last few decades, there is a huge potential market for high quality optical elements of UPM.

The optical element market at $3.6 billion in 2012 is expected to reach $12.3 billion by 2019 [7].

100

10
Machining accuracy / m

Conventional machining
1

0.1

Precision machining
0.01

Ultra-precision machining
0.001

Atomic Lattice separation Nano-machining

0.0003

AFM
0.0001
1940 1960 1980 2000 2010
Year

Figure 1. Achievable machining accuracy [1, 3, 5, 10, 11]

UPM means the achievable level of machining form accuracy in the order of less 0.2m and

surface roughness in the order of less 10nm [8, 9]. The resolution and repeatability of the machines is

less 10 nm [10]. The machining accuracy for UPM is 1000 times greater in surface roughness and 100

times greater in form accuracy than that for conventional machining. In fact, UPM is a progressive
developmental form of conventional machining. Fig. 1 illustrates the development trend of the

achievable machining accuracy over the last seventy years [1, 3, 5, 10, 11]. Currently, the accuracy of

UPM has reached up to the nanometer level. In the early 1960s, UPM was pioneered at the Lawrence

Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) [12, 13]. In the beginning, it was only designed in order to

meet the demand for producing high precision military products [8]. Not until the 1970s, it was applied

to meet the demands of the computer, electronics and defense industries in fabricating high precision

parts [14]. Owing to the scientific and technological advances, the 80s and 90s saw the wider

development of highly advanced machine tools. In the recent years, multi-axis control UPM has been

widely employed to meet the special demands for freeform surface products. Certainly, the typical

representative of UPM is still ultra-precision diamond turning (UPDT) or single point diamond turning

(SPDT).

Though UPM has the excellent capability of fabricating high quality components with a

nanometric surface roughness, the nanometric surface roughness is easily influenced by a wide variety

of factors in a complex cutting process. Until now, much research work has been devoted to studying

the effects of the factors on surface roughness formation in UPM. The general factors are machine tool

[15], cutting conditions [16], tool geometry [16], environmental conditions [17, 18], material property

[19], chip formation [20], tool wear [21], vibration [22] etc. Significantly, optimum conditions of the

factors can be selected to achieve better surface quality. This paper majorly reviews the current state of

the art in the investigation into the factors influencing surface roughness formation in UPM. And, the

challenges and opportunities associated with surface roughness formation in UPM are discussed with

some key conclusions.

2. Characteristics of Surface Topography

In UPM, surface topography is formed as a result of the transaction of tool profiles with a

workpiece, i.e. it is majorly determined by the relative motion between tool and workpiece and

material removal mechanism (material deformation and material separation). Therefore, surface

topography provides a much faithful signature of the cutting process and material removal mechanism

and features the behaviors of material cutting. And the imprint of all static and dynamic factors during

cutting is left in surface topography.

 (a)

(b)
Figure 2. Ultra-precision machined surface of brass alloy: (a) surface topography and (b) its one

horizontal profile

As shown in Fig. 2, surface topography in UPM is characterized by tool mark, material swelling

and recovery, vibration induced wavy, material pile-up, and material crack / surface wrinkle / fracture /

defect / dimple. And the profile per tool mark is irregular or random to a certain extent. For surface

characteristics, much research work has been conducted to study cutting mechanism. Early, Sata [23]

reported the existence of material swelling. Then, the material swelling and recovery in UPDT has been
studied with depth [24, 25]. The elastic recovery and plastic deformation varies with the

crystallographic orientation of the materials being cut whereby to result in a wavy surface forming. Lee

et al. observed a wavy surface through a straight cutting test [26], as shown in Fig. 3. Cheung et al. [27]

proposed that the pits and cracks formed at the surfaces of Al6061/15SiCp in UPM were caused by the

hard SiC renforcement, as shown in Fig. 4. Simoneau et al. [28] proposed that surface micro-defects,

such as dimples occurring at a hard-soft grain boundary, influenced surface roughness during

micro-scale cutting, as shown in Fig. 5. Liu and Melkote [29] presented that material pile-up was one

key physical factor in influencing nanometric surface roughness formation. Zhang et al. [30] discussed

the effect of spindle vibration in UPDT on surface topography, as shown in Fig. 6. As mentioned above,

the special surface topography characteristics are determined by the relative motion and material

removal mechanism.

Wave

Figure 3. Micrograph (SEM) of straight cutting of single crystal copper [26]

Figure 4. SEM micrograph of the machined surface of Al/SiC metal matrix composites [27]
 (a) (b)

Figure 5. SEM images of the machined 1045 steel surface: (a) Prows (P), Microvoids (V) and (b)

Microcrack (C) [28]

Figure 6. Measured surface topography near the sample center under the cutting conditions: spindle

speed of 3000 rpm, feed rate of 5m/rev., depth of cut of 10m [30]

Regarding the surface topography characteristics, the general methodologies are summarized as

surface generation, surface measurement, SEM etc. to study surface generation mechanism. According

to the spacing waviness length, its behaviors are governed by high frequency, middle frequency and
low frequency with the unit of mm-1. The high frequency part is corresponding to material crack /

surface wrinkle / fracture, tool mark and material pile-up belongs to the middle frequency part, and the

others are the low frequency parts. To analysis its frequency characteristics, fast Fourier transform

(FFT), power spectrum analysis, data dependent system analysis are the powerful tools. Sata et al. [31]

explored that the roughness profile of a workpiece was composed of several periodical components

using a FFT analyzer. Cheung and Lee [32] proposed a multi-spectrum analysis method for surface

roughness formation in UPM. Cheung et al. [33] employed data dependent systems analysis to describe

surface characterization in UPM of Al/SiC metal matrix composites. In principle, all these are the

spectral analysis, widely used in surface formation mechanism in order to explore its physical laws.

Table 1. Factors influencing surface roughness in UPM

Factors Details References
Spindle [8, 36-38, 45]
Slides [15, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45]
Machine Tools
Positioning [15, 41, 42, 44, 45]
Structure [39, 40, 45]
Cutting Speed [16, 46-50, 52, 53]
Cutting Conditions Feed Rate [16, 46-50, 52, 53-56]
Depth of Cut [46-50, 57-63]
Tool Nose Radius [17, 52, 53]
Tool Edge Radius [59, 66-78]
Tool Geometry
Tool Rake Angle [20, 61, 73, 79-89]
Tool Clearance Angle Nil.
Extra Environment [90-93]
Environmental Conditions
Cutting Heat [17, 18, 94, 95]
Different Materials [16, 96]
Non-uniformity [19, 95, 97]
Material Property
Anisotropy [86, 87, 89, 98-110]
Difficult-to-cut Materials [114-123]
Chip Formation Chip Segmentation [20, 86, 88, 106,124-130]
Crater Wear [139]
Tool Wear Flank Wear [138]
Fracture Wear [137, 140]
[86, 89, 98, 101, 103, 104, 106-110,
Material Induced Vibration
124, 125, 110, 153-161]
Tool-tip Vibration [162-166]
Vibration
Spindle Vibration [30, 167-172]
Chatter Vibration [52], almost nil.
Machine-tool Vibration [22, 32, 52, 53, 147-152]
3. Factors Influencing Surface Roughness

UPM is capable of producing advanced high dimensional accuracy components with a nanometric

surface roughness. However, any variable can be possible to govern such nanometric surface roughness.

Significantly, through the optimum selection of factors, better surface quality can be achieved. General

factors are summarized as machine tools, cutting conditions, tool geometry, material property, chip

formation, tool wear, vibration, environmental conditions, heat deformation. Because of many factors

directly and indirectly affecting surface roughness of UPM, there has been a plethora of research on the

relationship between surface generation and the factors. It is summarized in Table 1.

3.1 Machine Tools

In UPM, the performance of machine tools directly determines the achievable form accuracy and

surface roughness of components, which is the fundamental factor influencing surface generation. It

has to rely on the advances in the design of machine tools with respect to motion accuracy, stiffness,

stability and capability. Over the last several decades, significant improvements have been made in

thermal stability, precise spindle bearing (gas or fluid), precise linear guides (gas or fluid), high

resolution of linear and rotary motions (10 -5 deg. for rotary motion and 1nm for linear motion) etc.

In the early stages of the development of UPM, hydrostatic bearing spindle was employed due to

their excellent ability at sub-micrometric rotational accuracy. In the 1960s, along with the application

of gas lubricated bearings into air bearing spindle [34-38], UPM has received a significant progress [8].

Currently, air bearing spindle with high precision and high stiffness is widely used in UPM due to its

advantages of low friction and low heat generation.

Additionally, high stiffness [39, 40], laser position feedback with nanometric resolution [13, 41,

42], aero-/hydrostatic slides with low friction [40, 42], high thermal stability [43], high internal

damping [39] and nanometric tool positioning [42, 46] have been adopted for improving machining

accuracy. Furukawa et al. [40] used alumina-based ceramics for the machine structure due to its high

stiffness and thermal stability and aerostatic sides to avoid friction in design of a machine. McKeown et

al. [39] made use of synthetic granite for the major structural elements due to its high damping

properties. Kim and Kim [45] built up an ultra-precision lathe with air mounting, granite bed, air
bearing spindle and air sliders. Takeuchi et al. [15] designed a 5-axis ultraprecision milling machine

utilizing non-friction servomechanisms with 1 nm translational resolution, 110-5 deg. rotational

resolution, and 10 nm/200mm slideway straightness. Sriyotha et al. [43] employed aerostatic

guideways and coreless linear motors for a ultra-precision machine to provide noncontact, high

resolution drive mechanisms achieving 1 nm motion accuracy. Currently, the accuracy of UPM has

reached up to the nanometer level.

3.2 Cutting Conditions

Apart from the fundamental factor, cutting conditions are the process factors, including depth of

cut, spindle speed and feed rate. In single-point turning, geometric surface finish is majorly influenced

by cutting speed, feed rate and tool nose radius [46, 47]. The process factors in UPM are crucial

parameters for attaining a high surface quality [22, 48-50]. Under ideal conditions, the surface

roughness profile is formed by the repetition of the tool tip profile at intervals of feed per revolution

which is determined by spindle speed and feed rate. The ideal relationship between the surface profile

height and cutting conditions is expressed [51] as:

f2
Ra (1)
32V 2 R
f2
Rt (2)
8V 2 R
where f is feed rate, V is spindle speed and R is tool nose radius. In practice, the theoretical surface

roughness derived from Eq. 1 and Eq. 2 was smaller than the machined surface roughness in diamond

machining non-ferrous metals [16, 52, 53]. Also, Eq. 1 and Eq. 2 provide quantitative relationships

among feed rate, spindle speed, tool nose radius and surface roughness without depth of cut.

In general, the proper selection of cutting conditions not only determines manufacturing efficiency

but also has impact upon surface roughness. Optimum conditions such as cutting speed, feed rate and

depth of cut are essential to reach a good machined surface roughness. Cheung and Lee [16, 52, 53]

experimentally identified that the machined surface roughness increased with increasing feed rate and

decreased with increasing spindle speed. Also, they pointed out that no systematic relationships were

found between depth of cut and surface roughness. It is not ignored that the machined surface

roughness is the smallest in the high or low cutting speed at which build-up edge (BUE) is not

produced. Otherwise, the machined surface roughness is comparatively adverse. As a rule the smaller
the feed rate, the smaller the machined surface roughness. However, if the feed rate is smaller than a

certain critical value, instead the machined surface roughness will increase. The major reasons are that

at a too slow feed rate a stick-slip motion would take place [54]; too low feed rate resulted in instable

cutting [55]; and actual chip thickness is smaller than critical chip thickness [56].

Figure 7. An optical image of groove showing the ductile-brittle transition in single crystal silicon of

UPM

Although depth of cut is not directly related to surface roughness, it has a quasi-linear proportion

with cutting force, which results in heat deformation, elastic-plastic deformation, vibration etc.

indirectly influencing surface roughness. As the depth of cut is smaller than a critical value, reversely

the machined surface roughness would increase [57-59], since as the actual chip thickness is less than

the minimum chip thickness plowing starts to take a principle contribution to material removal. Besides,

under the ductile mode in machining brittle materials, such as silicon, germanium, glass, depth of cut

should be below a critical depth of cut to avoid crack propagation [60-63]. Fig. 7 shows the surface

topography of ultra-precision machined silicon under plunge cut with the growing depth of cut. As the

depth of cut increases, the cutting mode transits from ductile to brittle. Meanwhile, surface finish

diversely increases.

3.3 Tool Geometry

Under the requirement of the machined nanometric surface roughness, a fine single crystal
diamond tool is an optimum selection in UPM. In UPM, diamond tools are frequently used to cut

non-ferrous metals, such as copper and aluminum. The major reason is that diamond tools possess a

nanometric edge radius less than 10 nm, high reliability, good form reproducibility, high stiffness and

superior wear resistance [64]. Therefore, diamond tools provide a comprehensive solution for UPM to

manufacture high precision components of mirror-like surface finish.

Tool geometry has a significant influence upon chip formation, heat generation, tool wear, surface

roughness etc. Its effect has long been an key issue in understanding cutting mechanism [65]. Dogra et

al. sufficiently reviewed the effect of tool geometry variation in finish turning [65]. In UPM, natural

single crystal diamond tool is recognized to be an ideal ultra-precision cutting tool due to its particular

advantages. Its crucial geometrical parameters are known as tool nose radius / tool profile, tool edge

radius, tool rake angle and tool clearance angle. All geometrical parameters affect surface roughness.

They are of particular research interest.

From Eq. 1 and Eq. 2, surface roughness theoretically decreases as tool nose radius increases.

Interestingly, Cheung and Lee [17, 52, 53] found that the measured surface roughness decreased with

increasing tool nose radius at small radius but increased at large radius. Therefore, an optimal tool nose

radius exists where the machined surface roughness is minimized. The experimental result is shown in

Fig. 8. However, the reason is not sufficiently discussed.

Arithmetic roughness (nm)

Experimental value
Theoretical value

Tool nose radius (mm)

Figure 8. Effects of tool nose radius on surface roughness of Al6061 in UPM [53]

Tool edge radius means the sharpness of a tool. The sharper it is, the less surface roughness, also

the smaller the minimum chip thickness [59, 66]. Yuan et al. [59] experimentally observed that the

diamond tool sharpness exerted a close influence upon the machined surface roughness in UPM. From

material removal mechanisms, plouphing and cutting together occur in micro-cutting. The contribution

is governed by the tool edge radius and the ploughing effect thereby influences surface roughness [66].
It is particularly evident that the ploughing effect is more significant in micro-cutting [68]. Additionally,

a less sharp tool will lead to higher cutting forces, so more power dissipation in cutting process and

more heat development [68-71], accordingly to affect surface roughness.

Further, the chip thickness in micro-cutting is variable, partially comparable in size to the tool

edge radius, resulting in a large negative rake angle and elastic-plastic deformation of workpiece

materials against material removal [72]. Below the critical value, named the minimum chip thickness

which is closely related to the tool edge radius [69, 73, 74], the material is not cut but ploughed, further

to influence surface roughness formation. For this reason, the minimum chip thickness is also a topic of

enormous interest. Much research work has been conducted on studying the relationship between

minimum chip thickness and tool sharpness through finite element method [75], analytical method [59,

72, 76, 77] and molecular dynamic method [78]. Fig. 9 maps that tool edge radius influences surface

roughness. However, due to the complexity of cutting process and an insufficient understanding of

physical laws, until now no theoretical results have been proposed in building up the quantitative

relationship between tool edge radius and surface roughness.

Tool edge radius

Ploughing

Cutting forces Minimum chip thickness Material removal

Material pile-up/burr/side effect/etc.

Swelling and recovery

Surface roughness

Figure 9. Map of effect of tool edge radius on surface roughness

In cutting, tool rake angle is a important feature parameter influencing machined surface

roughness and material removal. Singh and Rao [79] presented that the rake angle was not the
dominant factor but influenced surface roughness. Tejinder et al. [80] experimentally found that with

the increase in rake angle the surface roughness decreased. Sleyman et al. [81] developed a prediction

model of tool geometry parameters for surface roughness taking into account tool rake angle. On the

other side, tool rake angle is associated with shear angle in cutting. The physical relationship between

shear angle and tool rake angle has been expressed by many classic models such as Merchant's model

[72, 83], Lee and Shaffers model [84], Stablers model [85].

For micro-cutting, Lee et al. [20, 26, 86, 87] built up a simplified meso/microplasticity model to

predict the effect of crystallographic orientation on the shear angle formation. Wang et al. [88] further

developed a generalized model to predict shear angle in UPM. Lee et al. [89] used finite element

modelling to study shear band in UPDT. Importantly, shear angle determines material removal

mechanism such as cutting force magnitude, material removal efficiency and chip formation whereas to

influence surface roughness. A large shear angle is associated with continuous and thin chip formation,

good surface roughness and low cutting force [20]. Fig. 10 maps that tool rake angle influences surface

roughness.

Although many research workers have paid much attention to shear angle calculation, the

relationship between rake angle or shear angle and surface roughness is only discussed preliminarily.

At least, no theoretic study has been focused on the effect of the shear angle dominantly influenced by

tool rake angle on surface roughness. Interestingly, in machining of brittle material, the higher negative

rake angle tool has been typically used in industrial practice [73]. The aim is to avoid or decrease the

crack occurrence. Also, Fang and Venkatesh illuminated that as the tool edge radius was higher than the

depth of cut, the smaller rake angle tool gave better results since the efficient negative rake angle is

higher in cutting of silicon [61].

Cutting
Tool rake angle Surface roughness
Ploughing

Figure 10. Map of effect of tool rake angle on surface roughness

The last one, tool clearance angle, is referred to as tool flank angle, strongly affecting cutting
performance. Clearly cutting is impossible with a zero clearance angle or less than zero so a certain

flank angle in practical machining operations should be provided, since tool's flank plane contacts with

the new regenerated surface to a certain extent due to material deformation. The machined surface

profile in the cutting direction is imprinted from the tool profile. A diamond tool is regarded as a high

rigid body, whose profile is transferred to a workpiece surface. Therefore, its geometrical accuracy and

its stability has a great impact upon machined surface roughness. In UPM, diamond tools, employed to

produce high precision optical components, should be not only sharp but also highly accurate.

3.4 Environmental Conditions

The achievable surface finish and form accuracy are governed by the machine tool performance,

and the machine tool performance is influenced by the environmental stability in machining. Any

variation in the machining environment would deteriorate surface generation through the relative

motion between tool and workpiece. The disturbance sources can be environmental temperature,

coolant delivery, extra vibration, electrical noise, pressurized air support, heat etc. Importantly, heat

sources are the prime factor [90]. In machine tools, many methodologies proposed in the literature

review [91] have been developed to reduce and compensate thermal errors.

The currently available ultra-precision machines are usually installed in a large air-conditioned

and vibration-isolated room to control vibration, temperature, moisture and cleanliness. For UPM, it is

of difficulty and costly challenge to maintain a completely stable environment. In a long time required

for a specific manufacturing operation, thermal deformation of the whole ultra-precision cutting system

will have an adverse influence upon the achievable machining accuracy [92]. They found the thermal

deformation of tool and workpiece due to the cutting heat affected the machining accuracy in UPDT

[92]. Moriwaki and Shamoto [93] experimentally analyzed thermal behavior of a main air spindle

system of an ultra-precision machine and its effect on machining accuracy.

In cutting, cutting heat not only affects form error to a certain extent, but also influences surface

roughness, since cutting heat induces material deformation variation at tool tip and changes material

swelling and recovery. Typically, Wang et al. [17, 18] sufficiently identified cutting heat effect on the

machined surface through ultra-precision raster milling (UPRM) tests. To et al. [94] studied the effect

of coolant and dry cutting on surface roughness in UPDT. Apart from that, indirectly heat causes

material property further to change surface roughness. It has been observed by Zhang et al. [95] that
micro-structural change induced by UPDT influenced surface roughness.

3.5 Material Property

Material property is of particular importance in machining. It makes a great contribution to surface

roughness formation in UPM due to the "size effect" [19]. Substantial research interest has been

attracted in studying the effect of material properties, such as material isotropy and anisotropy and

material uniformity and non-uniformity, on surface roughness. Fig. 11 shows that material property

affects surface roughness.

Material

Cutting force Material removal

Surface roughness

Figure 11. Map of the effect of material on surface roughness

For different isotropic materials, the machined surface roughness under the same cutting

conditions is different. Cheung and Lee [16] presented copper alloy had a higher surface roughness

than aluminum alloy due to material swelling and recovery, as shown in Fig. 12. The difference among

different materials is sufficiently and efficiently identified by Wang et al. through UPRM of copper and

albronze, as shown in Fig. 13 [96]. Also, the non-uniformity of material property causes the variation

of surface roughness. Furukawa and Moronuki [19] found the amorphous acrylic resin gave more

random or smooth cutting forces with rather regular and homogeneous surface properties and in

micro-cutting of aluminum alloy with different grain size the cutting force variation well coincided

with the surface finish. Zhang et al. [95] pointed out microstructural phases of Zn-Al alloy fluctuated

surface topography. Fig. 14 shows that the degraded surface was generated in UPDT of Al6061/15SiCp

metal-matrix composites [97].

Concerning anisotropic materials, much attention has been paid to studying cutting mechanism of
single crystals. The early study on single-crystal machining was published in 1950 by Clarebrough and

Ogilivie [98]. Previously theoretical and experimental research results [86, 87, 89, 99-109] elucidate

that the lamellae chip formation, shear angle, cutting forces, lamellae spacing and surface roughness

are strongly and symmetrically correlated with crystallographic orientation. In view of the direct effect

of crystallographic orientation on surface roughness, the variation of surface roughness is induced by

anisotropy of single crystals [16, 24, 99-102], as shown in Fig. 15, Fig. 16 and Fig. 17. The study only

focused on experimental observation, but the limitation in the theoretic study has not eliminated.

Regarding the indirect effect of crystallographic orientation on surface roughness, crystal anisotropy

causes the fluctuation of cutting force / shear angle whereas to influence surface roughness through

material induced vibration [110]. This topic will be reviewed with details in the next section.

Generally, non-ferrous materials, such as aluminum, copper alloy, silver, gold, electroless nickel,

and acrylic plastic workpieces, is easy to be directly machined to mirror-like surface finish in UPM

[111-113]. Some 'infrared' materials, such as silicon and germanium, can be machined to a surface

roughness of a few tens of nanometers [114], brittle materials like glass [115] can be finished. And

some special difficult-to-cut materials, such as steel [116, 117], glass [118, 119], titanium alloy [120,

121], SiC ceramics [122, 123] etc. can be cut through ultrasonic vibration. Over all, it can be

summarized that the surface roughness has a strong correlation to material property, which influences

material removal mechanism.

Experimental value for Al alloy

Experimental value for Copper alloy
Peak-to-valley height (nm)

Theoretical value
Vibration adjustment

Spindle speed (rpm)

Figure 12. Effect of spindle speed on surface roughness (A: vibration amplitude) [16]
 231 231

200 200

150 150

Y (m)
Y (m)

100 100

50 50

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 309 0 50 100 150 200 250 309
X (m) X (m)

(a) (b)

Figure 13. Surface topographies of (a) copper alloy and (b) albronze alloy [96]

Figure 14. SEM micrograph of the machine surface of Al6061/15SiCp [97]

(a) (b)

Figure 15. Variation of surface roughness for diamond turning of (a) aluminum single crystal (001) and

(b) aluminum alloy 6061 [16]

 Figure 16. Micrographs and schematic representation of (100) copper single crystal turn at a depth of

cut of 10 m, and a feed rate of 20 mm min-1 at a spindle speed of 8000 rpm [100].

Figure 17. Anisotropy of surface finish of a diamond turned (111) silicon single crystal: spindle speed

of 8000 rpm, depth of cut of 5 m, and feed rate of 20 mm min-1 [102]

3.6 Chip Formation

In metal machining, shear angle, chip formation and its morphology are important physical

features, which indicate material removal mechanism. To study the machinability of materials, they are

general tools. And, the cutting force variation is related to chip formation and shear angle of materials

being cut thereby to influence surface roughness formation through system dynamics. The earliest

attempts to establish this relationship were described by Black [124, 125] and Sato et al. [126]. For

instance, in titanium alloy machining the frequency of the cyclic cutting forces was found to

correspond to the frequency of chip segmentation [127]. Importantly, the variation of the cutting force

not only causes the fluctuation of the machined surface through material swelling and recovery, but

also induces vibration to affect surface roughness. The inherent factor is chip formation with shear

band.
Figure 18. SEM micrograph of serrated chip of brass alloy in orthogonal micro-cutting with a cutting
tool of 0o rake angle and depth of cut of 20 m [128]

(a) (d)

Free surface Free surface

(b) (e)

Free surface Free surface

(c) (f)

Free surface Free surface

Figure 19. Lamellae at free deformation surface at uncut chip thickness of 20 m and cutting speed of

15 mm/s for (a) (2 9 0), (b) (2 7 0), (c) (4 11 0), (d) (12 5 0), (e) (3 2 0) and (f) (6 7 0) crystallographic

orientations of single crystal aluminum with the (0 0 1) plane [106]

In UPM of non-ferrous materials, serrated chips with regularly spaced shear bands are the most

common chip type [88, 128], as shown in Fig. 18. The large shear angle makes the benefit of chip

formation, surface finish and cutting force [20]. Lee and co-authors [108, 129, 130] proposed a
mesoplasticity model to study the relationship between cutting force and shear angle in orthogonal

metal cutting in UPM. The relationship has been experimentally verified by Lawson et al. [106] in

micromachining of single crystal aluminum, i.e. the cutting forces and chip morphology varied with

crystallographic orientation. Fig. 19 shows the chip formation in micromachining of single crystal

aluminum. Further, Lee and Cheung [86] applied the microplasticity model into surface generation to

discuss the effect of material induced vibration on surface roughness in UPDT.

3.7 Tool Wear

The single crystal diamond tool has been employed for UPM due to its excellent performance, and

micro-wear of its cutting edge has a great impact upon surface roughness [21]. In the review of

Siddhpura and Raurobally [131], many different research methods, such as optical measurement,

radioactive measurement, electrical resistance, cutting force, vibration, sound, acoustic emission,

temperature, spindle power / current / speed, surface roughness and displacement, have been developed

to monitor tool wear in conventional machining, since the slight wear would deteriorate surface

roughness. In UPM, acoustic emission [132], cutting force and acceleration [133-135], optical

measurement [136], SEM [135, 137, 138], chip formation [139, 140] etc. have been employed to

inspect diamond tool wear. The major types of tool wear include nose wear, flank wear, crater wear,

and notch wear as shown in Fig. 20 (a) and (b). Most of studies on tool condition monitoring (TCM) or

tool wear detection in the past focused on flank wear and crater wear. This is because the ISO 3685

(ISO 3685, 1993) standard identifies flank wear and crater wear as the criteria of tool life.

(a) Flank wear (b)

Rake face
Nose wear
Crater wear

Flank face
Notch wear

Figure 20. (a) Top view of crater wear and nose profile and (b) lateral view of flank wear land and

notch wear of a diamond tool

 A diamond tool after worn still seems to be a rigid body, which geometry is imprinted on the

machined surface whereby to influence surface roughness. Accordingly, much research work has been

conducted to study the effect of tool wear on surface roughness. Wada et al. [21] investigated a

relationship of wear to various crystal orientations as well as to surface roughness in cutting aluminum

alloy and nylon with the diamond tool. Syn et al. [141] proposed multi-methods to analyze tool wear

and its effects on cutting electroless nickel. Choi et al. [134] used a frequency response of multi-sensors

signal to monitor machining states of a diamond tool under face-cutting and discussed tool wear effect

on surface and subsurface cracks.

Yan et al. [137] observed that the tool wear caused micro-fracturing on the machined surface of

single crystal silicon, yielded discontinuous chips and raised cutting forces and force ratio. Uddin et al.

[142] investigated tool wear in nano-scale ductile cutting of silicon using an ultra-precision lathe with

single crystal diamond tools and reported that gradual tool flank wear had no significant effect on

surface roughness of machined silicon work material. In 2006, a wear criterion was chosen as the

technological criterion of diamond tool cutting wedge clearance face wear, criterion of temperature rise,

and criterion of cut surface deterioration [143].

(a)
Feed direction

Cutting direction

(b)
Figure 21. Microphotographs of convexity surfaces finished by ultra-intermittent cutting (a) with a
new tool and (b) after a cumulative cutting length of about 100 mm [144]
 (a)
nm
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

(b)
m nm
231 64
200 50
30
150 10
-10
100
-30
50 -50

0 m -72
0 50 100 150 200 250 309

(c)
Figure 22. Surface generation influenced by the fracture tool wear: (a) the examined cutting edge and

(b) the simulated machined surface and (c) the machined surface topography [140]

Song et al. [144] presented the obvious difference that cyclic tool marks caused by a new tool

were more evident and clearer that that after cutting a cumulative length of 100 mm on the workpiece

surfaces, as shown in Fig. 21. Ge et al. [139] proposed that with the increase of cutting distance, the

machining induced defects such as craters and scratches increased too. Especially, when cutting

distance was long enough to cause severe tool wear, material swelling on the machined surface was
severe due to the plastic side ow. And they also observed the effect of tool wear on chip morphology.

Lane et al. [145] used the electron beam induced deposition (EBID) method to measure tool edge

radius after worn, since tool edge directly affected surface roughness formation.

Jia and Zhou [146] in depth discussed the effect of the tool wear on surface roughness in diamond

turning of glass, and provided a theoretical basis for minimizing the tool wear in diamond cutting

optical glass. Zhang et al. [140] built up the relationship between the fracture wear of diamond tool and

the machined surface topography, as shown in Fig. 22.

Overall, tool wear is dynamic and uncontrollable in cutting process, which will induce a poor

surface roughness if the tool is worn severely. Tool wear can affect surface roughness either directly or

indirectly through others. The summary of tool wear effect on surface roughness in machining is shown

Fig. 23. As shown in Fig. 23, tool wear causes cutting forces to increase, and those forces promote

vibration in the cutting process, which further worsens surface roughness.

Tool wear

Cutting forces Material removal Tool geometry

Material pile-up/burr/side effect/etc.

Swelling and recovery

Surface roughness

Figure 23. Framework for tool wear effects on surface roughness in machining

3.8 Vibration

Vibration is a physical phenomenon, naturally existing in UPM. The relative vibration between

tool and workpiece with a small amplitude would cause the deterioration of the machined surface [22,

147]. Generally, the relative vibration between tool and workpiece which source is not recognized is

called machine-tool vibration.

 Takasu et al. reported the vibration with a small amplitude would have a significant impact upon

surface roughness in diamond machining [22]. Lo-A-Foe et al. [148] discussed the influence of tool

vibration on surface roughness in the UPDT process. In their simulation model, the tool vibration was

taken into account. Cheung and Lee [52, 149] symmetically carried out a great deal of work to

experimentally and theoretically study the relationship between surface generation and the relative

vibration between tool and workpiece in UPDT. Their developed model well predicted surface

generation, and well explained tool interference originating from the relative vibration, which

occurrence criterion was proposed by Takasu et al. [22]. The relative vibration is one of dominant

factors affecting surface generation and tool interference in UPM [22, 53]. Importantly, they developed

a multi-spectrum analysis method to analyze the relative vibration, and found that a significant

variation of the surface modulation at the machined surface was caused by the relative vibration [32].

(a) a=0, b=0.2 (b) a=2, b=-0.2

fo = 2 Hz fo = 18 Hz
n = 10 rev/s n = 10 rev/s

(c) a=2, b=0 (d) a=2, b=0.1

fo = 20 Hz fo = 21 Hz
n = 10 rev/s n = 10 rev/s

(e) a=2, b=0.2 (d) a=5, b=0.2

fo = 22 Hz fo = 52 Hz
n = 10 rev/s n = 10 rev/s
Figure 24. Simulated surface topographies at different frequency ratios [147]
 The effect of the ratio (named frequency ratio) between the vibration frequency and spindle speed

on surface topography has been investigated with details by Kim et al. [147], as shown in Fig. 24.

When the phase shift, i.e. the fraction of the frequency ratio, is 0.5, the best surface quality is generated

[150, 151]. Further, Zhou and Cheng [152] elucidated an integrated simulation-based approach to

analyze the influence of the real dynamic cutting process on surface generation, taking into accout

some non-linear factors involving dynamic cutting process, control/drive system. Fig. 25 maps the

effect of the relative vibration on surface generation.

Besides, the recognized vibration in UPM can be classified into material induced vibration,

tool-tip vibration, spindle vibration, chatter vibration. Due to its interesting dynamics and influence on

surface generation, a great deal of attention has been paid.

Vibration Surface generation

Figure 25. Map of the influence of the relative vibration on surface generation

Material Induced Vibration

In UPM, the depth of cut is comparable in size with the average grain size of the machined

substrate materials. Accordingly, material anisotropy / inhomogeneity / irregularity / nonuniformity

causes the variation of cutting force, shear angle, chip formation etc. to influence surface generation, as

schematically shown in Fig. 11. The variation of cutting force induced by the intrinsic material

anisotropy is referred to as material induced vibration [110] to influence surface roughness, as

schematically shown in Fig. 26.

Cutting force

Material anisotropy Shear angle Surface roughness

Chip formation

Figure 26. Map of the effect of the material induced vibration on surface roughness
 In 1950, a strong correlation between the lamellae (periodic chip-formation behavior) and the

crystallographic orientation was firstly observed by Clarebrough and Ogilivie [98]. Later, many

scholars have identified the case [103, 104, 124, 125, 153-155]. Additionally, the periodical

fluctuations of shear angle and specific cutting energy in cutting single-crystal aluminum are relevant

to the crystallographic orientation [105, 126, 156, 157]. A four-fold symmetric pattern of cutting forces

and shear angle of single-crystal and polycrystalline aluminum and copper were firstly observed by

Cohen [158], using an in-situ cutting experiment. Lawson et al. [106] fully discussed the effect of

crystallographic orientations on chip morphology, shear stress, cutting forces and effective coefficient

of friction for machining single-crystal aluminum.

nm nm
Y (mm)

Y (m)

X (mm)
X (m)

(a) (b)

Figure 27. (a) Simulated and (b) measured surface topographies for face cutting of aluminum single

crystal with (1 1 0) plane as the cutting plane [86]

Regarding the theoretic investigation into shear angle of single crystal, Cohen in 1982 [158] firstly

proposed a simplified model for the shear angle change in single crystal cutting. Lee and co-operators

developed a micro-plasticity model [87, 107, 108, 110, 159] and a crystal plasticity finite-element

model [89, 109] for single crystal in micro-cutting to predict the variations of shear angle and cutting

force, supported well by published experimental data. Under the fluctuation of cutting forces the forced

vibration between tool and workpiece takes place accordingly to produce periodical patterns at a

machined surface. The variations of cutting force and surface roughness were supported by a

micro-plasticity model as a function of crystallographic orientation [159].

 Further, Lee et al. [86] built up a dynamic surface topography model integrated with a developed

micro-plasticity model, a surface generation model and a relative vibration model to discuss the effects

of crystallographic orientation on cutting forces, shear angle and surface topography. This model has

excellent capability of predicting surface roughness, shear angle and cutting force. In the case, for

uncut chip thicknesses below 100 nm, the cutting force, shear angle and surface roughness are not

influenced by crystallographic orientation [106, 160, 161]. Fig. 27 and Fig. 28 show that material

induced vibration produces periodic patterns at a machined surface. Fig. 29 presents the cyclic

variation of shear angle.

[010]
[230] [320]

[100] [100]

[320] [230]
[010]

(a)

[111] [110]
[112] [111]
[001]
[112]

[112]
[001]
[111]
[121]
[110] [111]

(b)
[211] [110]
[101] [121]

[112]
[011]

[011] [112]

[121] [101]
[110] [211]

(c)
Figure 28. Micrographs and schematic representation of (a) (100) (b) (110) and (c) copper single
crystals turn at a depth of cut of 10 mm, and a feed rate of 20 mm min -1 at a spindle speed of 8000 rpm
[100]
 Pow
(001) (110) (111)

Shear angle Shear angle Shear angle

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 29. Predicted variation of shear angle in micro-cutting of aluminum single crystals on (a) (001),
(b) (110) and (d) (111) [110]

Power spectral density / N2s

0.8
0.05 0.04
Power spectral density / N2s
0.8
0.6
Cutting force / N

0.025
0.6
0.4 0.02
0 0.4
0.2
-0.025 0.2
0 0
0 10 2 1 3 2 4 35
-0.05 0 Spectral frequency / Hz 45
-0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0 1 2 3 x 10
x 10 4 5
Time / s Spectral frequency / Hz 5
x 10
(a1) (a2)
Power spectral density / N2s

0.8
0.05
0.04
Power spectral density / N2s

Free 0.8
0.6
Cutting force / N

0.025
0.6
0.4 0.02
0
0.4
0.2
-0.025
0.20
Impact 0
-0.05 0 10 2 1 3 2 4 35
-0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0 Spectral frequency / Hz x 104 5
Time / s 0 1 2 3 x 10 4 5
Spectral frequency / Hz x 10
5
(b1) (b2)
Power spectral density / N2s

0.8
0.05 0.04
Power spectral density / N2s

0.8
0.6
Cutting force / N

0.025
0.6
0.4 SHF
MHF
0.02 HF
0 HF
0.4
0.2
-0.025 0.20
0
0 10 2 1 3 2 4 35
-0.05 0 Spectral frequency / Hz x 10 45
-0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0 1 2 3 x 10 4 5
Time / s Spectral frequency / Hz 5
x 10
(c1) (c2)

Figure 30. (1) Cutting forces and (2) their corresponding PSDs under (a) air cut, (b) intermittent cut

and (c) normal cut [166]

Tool-tip Vibration

In UPM, diamond tool tip vibrates at high frequencies to influence surface generation at a

nanometric level. Physically, it has multimode high natural frequencies. In 2010, the high frequency

tool-tip vibration and its influence on surface topography in UPM was firstly observed by Zhang et al.

[162]. The frequency is over 12 kHz.

Wang et al. built up a physical pendulum model to investigate the high-frequency tool-tip

vibration [163]. Also, they discussed the effect of tool-tip vibration on surface roughness [164].

Additionally, the tool-tip vibration has a significant influence upon shear band formation, which is

described well by a dynamic model, taking shear band formation and tool-tip vibration into account

[165]. Further, Zhang et al. [166] reported two-mode high frequency tool-tip vibration in UPDT and its

influence on surface topography, as shown in Fig. 30 and Fig. 31.

(a)

(b)
Figure 31. (a) measured and (b) simulated surface topography under the cutting conditions: depth of
cut of 2 m, feed rate of 5 m per rev. and spindle speed of 2000 rpm with the effects of the two-mode
high frequency tool-tip vibration [166]

Spindle Vibration

In UPM, spindle vibration is still one of the key factors influencing surface topography in UPM

[167, 168]. Some research work has been carried out to study dynamic characteristics of spindle

vibration and its effect on surface generation in UPM.

Early, Marsh et al. [167] experimentally observed the effects of spindle dynamics on surface

profiles in precision fly cutting. An et al. [169] developed a dynamic model of angular displacement of

a spindle for tilting motion based on Euler equations to study the effects of tilting motion on surface
topography in ultra-precision fly cutting.

Further, Zhang et al. [30, 170-172] built up a five-degree-of-freedom model of a spindle to

analyze axial vibration, radial vibration and coupled tilting vibration and its influence on surface

topography in UPM. The spindle vibration consists of axial vibration, radial vibration and coupled

tilting vibration. In UPDT, axial vibration is the major factor influencing surface topography and

produces concave, periodic concentric, spiral and two-fold patterns at a machined surface, as shown in

Fig. 32 [30]. And in UPRM, coupled tilting vibration is the major factor influencing surface topography

and produces ribbon-stripe and irregular patterns at a milled surface, as shown in Fig. 33 [171].

nm
Y (mm)

Y (mm)

X (mm)
X (mm)

(a) (b)
Figure 32. (a) Measured and (b) simulated surface topographies near the sample center under the
cutting conditions: spindle speed of 3000 rpm, feed rate of 5 m rev-1, depth of cut of 10 m [30]
Y (mm)

Y (mm)

X (mm) X (mm)
(a) (b)
Figure 33. (a) Simulated and (b) measured surface patterns at the cutting conditions: spindle speed of
4900 rpm, feed rate of 20 m rev-1, depth of cut of 5 m, swing distance of 28.48 mm, step distance of
10 m, tool nose radius of 0.619 mm, horizontal cutting and up-cutting [171]
Chatter Vibration

Chatter is a self-excited vibration, which maybe occurs during machining operations and even

catastrophically degrades surface quality and limits productivity. This phenomenon has been a common

topic of academic and industrial interest in manufacturing for many years. It dated from 1800s [173].

In conventional machining (turning, milling etc.), a great deal of research has been carried out to

study chatter vibration [173, 174]. In micro-milling, it has been discussed theoretically and

experimentally [175-177]. In diamond turning, relatively little research work [178, 179] has been

conducted. Cheung and Lee employed power spectrum technique to assess surface roughness in UPM

[52]. However, no direct evidence has supported the possibility that the chatter vibration component

exists in the surface roughness profile in UPM. Therefore, more research should be carried out in

depth.

4. Modeling of surface roughness generation

Surface generation is widely used in the study of machining processes and virtual manufacturing.

It is found to be a powerful and efficient tool for well (1) understanding surface generation mechanism,

(2) predicting surface roughness and (3) optimizing machining parameters without costly trial and error

experiments. Many researchers have focused on building/developing simulation models for surface

topography generation, which is governed by the relative movement between tool and workpiece

depending on the controllability of machine tool. Fig. 34 shows the development of surface generation

in modeling.

Pure geometric model

+Cutting conditions
+Tool geometry

Dynamic model
+Relative vibration

Integrated model
+Material factors

Figure 34. Development of surface generation in modeling

 Early, most surface roughness modeling studies have assumed that geometric surface finish in

single point turning is influenced by spindle speed, feed rate and tool nose radius [46, 47]. Surface

topography is ideally produced by the imprint of tool geometry and tool path only determined by

cutting conditions. The idealized model is also called a pure geometric model. It is employed in

modeling of surface generation in UPM [52, 111, 149, 150].

Cheung et al. [180, 181] presented a framework of a model-based simulation system for the

prediction of surface generation in UPRM of freeform surfaces, majorly taking into consideration the

cutting mechanism, cutting strategies and the kinematics of the cutting process. Cheng et al. [182, 183]

proposed a theoretical model to predict surface roughness and utilized the model to optimize cutting

conditions (tool tip geometry, spindle speed, depth of cut, feed rate, swing distance, and step distance)

and cutting strategies (horizontal cutting and vertical cutting) in UPRM. Kong et al. [184] employed a

theoretical model in UPRM for surface generation. Kong [112] built up various surface roughness

models based on the cutting mechanics, surface generation mechanisms and cutting strategies to predict

and optimize surface generation in UPRM, and Wang [113] developed a three-dimensional holistic

kinematic model for surface generation considering the effects of cutting strategies on surface

generation in UPRM. Zhang et al. [140] built up the relationship between worn tool geometry and

surface generation to analyze tool wear effects on surface topography in UPRM.

Considering the effect of the relative vibration between tool and workpiece on surface generation

in UPM, a dynamic model was developed. In this model, the relative vibration between tool and

workpiece is taken into consideration, since the tool path is influenced by the relative vibration.

Cheung and Lee [52] proposed a surface roughness simulation model and contended the process factors

involving cutting conditions, tool geometry and relative vibration in UPDT. A framework of a

model-based simulation system was proposed to determine quantitatively the magnitude of the

vibration and its effects on the surface topography of a diamond-turned surface [86, 151]. Kim et al.

[147] developed a dynamic model to find that a certain degree of relative vibration was inevitably

encountered between tool and workpiece, deteriorating the surface quality and affecting the surface

profiles at the microscopic level. Thus, the work of Zhou and Cheng [152] bridged the gap between

cutting process and surface topography/texture generation by proposing an integrated simulation-based

approach involving the dynamic cutting process control/drive system, and surface generation. Recently,

Zhang and his co-operators [30, 170-172] established a dynamic model integrated with a spindle
vibration model to study its effect on surface generation in UPM.

To a certain extent, material factor (material property) is a vital and final decision to influence

surface generation, due to material swelling and recovery [16], material pile-up [29], crystal orientation

[99], micro-structural change [95], material effect [17, 96, 185]. Although the material factor has been

reported in detail, but the relationship between surface topography and material factor has not been

established. Therefore, more research work should be devoted to fully understanding the effects of

material factor on surface generation mechanism.

5. Challenges and Opportunities

Due to the complexity of cutting process, any variable would influence nanometric surface

roughness in UPM. Much research has focused on the factors influencing surface roughness generation

in UPM. Although a lot of efforts have been made to study the factors, some physical mechanisms in

material removal are still in its infancy without a comprehensive knowledge, or not understood fully, to

further improve or ensure surface quality. With the development of computers and sensors in advances,

they can be further solved to a certain extent. To this end, the main opportunities and challenges in

industrial and academic interest lie in but not least.

(1) In UPM, vibration is a natural feature influencing surface roughness formation. It is multimode,

multi-degree of freedom vibration. However, not all vibration and its influence on surface

roughness generation has been fully understood well. Thereby, more efforts should be made in

investigating dynamic characteristics of UPM and its effects on machined surface quality to

further understand material removal mechanism with depth.

(2) Theoretically, chatter vibration maybe occurs in UPM under one certain condition. However, no

direct evidence has been proposed to identify chatter vibration. Until now, at least the intrinsic

cause has not been clarified why chatter vibration has not observed or studied in UPM.

(3) Material induced surface roughness has been elaborated. Some significant results have been

obtained. However, the inherent physical law for material removal is not proposed clearly, such as

material swelling and recovery and tool mark irregularity. The key topic is what takes place when

material is removed away from surface in cutting, i.e. material separation. It is critical to

understand material removal mechanism with depth.

(4) The tool edge radius influences surface roughness. However, due to the complexity of cutting
 process and an insufficient understanding of physical laws, until now no theoretical results have

been proposed in building up the quantitative relationship between tool edge radius and surface

roughness. Also, it has a strong correlation with material property.

(5) Surface generation is a very useful tool in well understanding surface generation mechanism,

predicting surface roughness and optimizing machining parameters without costly trial and error

experiments. However, the physical surface generation model requires a comprehensive

knowledge to all physical mechanisms, such as dynamics, material separation. Therefore, the

surface generation model integrated with material factor needs more efforts.

6. Conclusions

In ultra-precision machining (UPM), a wide variety of factors make impact upon surface

roughness of a machined surface. They have received much attention. They are machine tool, cutting

conditions, tool geometry, environmental conditions, material property, chip formation, tool wear,

vibration. A lot of theoretical and experimental research work has been carried out. Many great

advances have been made and many interesting results have been obtained. Overall, key information

concerning surface roughness generation in UPM is summarized as follows:

(1) Generally, surface features after UPM comprise of tool mark, material swelling and recovery,

vibration induced wavy, material pile-up, and material crack / surface wrinkle / fracture / defect /

dimple. Additionally, the profile for each tool mark is irregular or random to a degree. And surface

characteristics is an indicator of the intrinsic physics in material removal process, majorly

covering tool geometry, the relative motion between tool and workpiece, and material removal

mechanism.

(2) Surface generation technique is a powerful tool for studying surface generation mechanism,

prediction, and optimization, but not by costly trial and error experiments. Surface generation

modelling is being developed from pure geometric model, dynamic model to integrated model.

Tool geometry, tool path, vibration and material factors have been considered but not enough.

More importantly, the physical surface generation model needs a more thorough and deeper

understanding of physical laws in UPM, such as dynamics, material separation.

(3) General factors influencing surface generation cover: machine tools involving motion accuracy,

stiffness, stability and capability; cutting conditions including depth of cut, spindle speed and feed
 rate; tool geometry regarding tool nose radius / tool profile, tool edge radius, tool rake angle and

tool clearance angle; material property containing material isotropy and anisotropy and material

uniformity and non-uniformity; chip formation involving shear angle; tool wear, vibration

including material-induced vibration, tool-tip vibration, spindle vibration and chatter vibration;

environmental conditions, heat deformation. They directly and indirectly affect surface roughness

of UPM through tool geometry, the relative motion between tool and workpiece, and material

removal mechanism.

(4) According to the literature survey, two critical issues are intrinsically linking cutting mechanisms

of UPM, which should be solved in depth. One is system vibration of UPM; the other is material

separation with elastic-plastic deformation in UPM. Therefore, more efforts should be made.

Acknowledgments

The project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No.

51405217, 51275434), the Youth Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province of China (Grant No.

20142BAB216025) and Jiangxi Educational Committee of China (Grant No. GJJ4210), and the

Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. PolyU

5287/10E).

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*Highlights (for review)

(1) The surface roughness characteristics in UPM is elaborated.

(2) The factors and mechanism of surface roughness formation are reviewed in detail.
(3) The challenges and opportunities faced by industry and academia are discussed.
(4) The key issues are drawn to surface roughness formation in UPM.
Graphical Abstract

nm
Y (mm)

Y (mm)
X (mm) X (mm)