Abstract

Mechanical micromachining is a technique that has the potential to become a successful small-scale manufacturing process. If the abilities of macromachining can be scaled down to the microscale, then a versatile manufacturing technique will be created that is capable of processing a wide variety of materials. However, simply scaling down machines is not the solution, reducing the scale from macro to micro presents unique problems that must be overcome that include eliminating tool wear, machining heterogeneous workpiece materials in a uniform manner, and advances in machine tool design. Therefore, a review of the aspects of machining is presented that focuses on the machining process from a materials perspective. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2009, 2015. All rights are reserved.