Micromilling research: current trends and future prospects

Micro-milling through mechanical chip removal process has attracted much attention among researchers due to its flexibility and productivity that allow an extensive application for manufacturing several types of micro-components for the modern-day world. Its potential is continuously growing as the market demands continuous innovation in the manufacturing of high precision products with progressively smaller dimensions. Its global research and available literature increased very fast in recent years. Relevant topics like size effect, burr formation, surface quality, cutting forces, tool wear, vibrations, and process optimization as highlighted by a systematic bibliometric study during the period 2000-2019 must be properly addressed. The review work on such a scale was not attempted earlier by considering many parameters at a time. Hence, this study may provide a current view and future prospects of mainstream research on micro-milling worldwide.