Ductile regime tyrning of single crystal silicon with a straight-nosed diamond tool

Single crystal Silicon is machined with a straight-nosed diamond tool and the fundamental machining charactersistics are investigated. By obtaining the critical depth of cut based on a simple geometrical model, the effect of crystalline anisotropy on brittle-ductile transition is studied. A homogeneous smooth surface is obtained by controlling the undeformed chip thickness below the minimum critical depth of cut. The cutting chip morphology and machined surface texture with the variation of undeformed chip thickness are observed. An intermediate cutting mode is found to exit between the ductile mode and the brittle mode. Ductile regime turning with gernerating continmous ribbon chips is relatzed at a large tool feed rate. By adopting a diamond tool with chanfered rake face, the machined surface roughness is improved.