Acquisition of Microdrilling/Micromilling/EDM Equipment

摘要

The grant was awarded for the purpose of purchasing a machine tool capable ofperforming microdrilling, micromilling, and electrical discharge machining (EDM) down to 25 micrometers in diameter. The primary scientific application of the fabrication capability was to enhance thermal performance at both the microscale and macroscale by machining microfeatures into thermal surfaces. This work is continuing and has achieved significant external funding. The Principle Investigator has expanded applications for micromilling and helped develop a process for the manufacture of micromilling tools down to 20 micrometers in diameter. This expanded application will be used to rapidly fabricate both molds and masks for the emerging field of micromanufacturing which is being conducted at the Institute for Micromanufacturing (lfM) at Louisiana Tech. Also during the proposal review process, the PI was able to demonstrate both the feasibility and application of microdrilling/micromilling/EDM with a temporary setup. The PI was able to secure an additional grant from the lfM to purchase a much more accurate and capable machine tool than that described in the original proposal. As a result of the capability demonstrated thus far with the temporary setup, researchers within the lfM have secured external grants from both the Army Research Office and the State of Louisiana to investigate microscale thermal enhancement. (MM).