Multi-axis milling for micro-texturing

The surface texture of a product is generally produced by etching or sandblasting. However, these techniques have problems related to repeatability and environmental pollution. Since current milling machines can produce small parts at the micrometer or nanometer level, the resolution of milling exceeds the manufactured dimensions of the surface texture produced by etching or sand-blasting. A method for generating surface texture by milling is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed method was demonstrated by actual milling using a three- or five-axis control machine, and the machined surface texture was measured with an interferometer to allow comparison with the designed shape. The measurement results demonstrate that the proposed method can generate a wide-area surface texture with good machining repeatability.