Among the monitoring technologies in the metal-cutting process, tool wear is the most critical monitoring factor in real machining sites. Extensive studies have been conducted to monitor equipment breakdown in real-time. For example, tool wear prediction studies using cutting force signals and deducting force coefficient values from the cutting process. However, due to many limitations, those wearable monitoring technologies have not been directly adopted in the field. This paper proposes a novel tool wear predictor using the cutting force coefficient with various cutting tools, and its validity evaluates through cutting tests. Tool wear prediction from the cutting force coefficient should conduct in real-time for adoption in real machining sites. Therefore, a real-time calculation algorithm of the cutting force coefficient and a tool wear estimation method proposes, and they compare with actual tool wear in cutting experiments for validation. Validation cutting tests are conducted with carbon steel and titanium, the most commonly used materials in real cutting sites. In future work, validation will be conducted with different materials and cutting tools, considering the application in real machining sites.

The cutting force signal has traditionally served as a reference in conducting the monitoring studies using a variety of sensors to identify the cutting phenomena. There have been continuing studies on how to monitor the cutting force indirectly. It is because it is easier to access when considering an application to the actual machining site. This paper discusses a method of indirectly monitoring the cutting force using the feed drive current to analyze the change in the trend of the cutting force over the lapse of machining time. This enables the analysis of the cutting force by separating it in the X and Y axes of the machining plane. To increase the discrimination of the signal related to the actual cutting phenomenon from the feed drive current signal, a bandpass filter was applied based on the tooth passing frequency. The relationship between the feed drive current and the cutting force analyzed from the machining signal of actual machining conditions was applied to convert the feed drive current into the cutting force. It has been verified through experiments that the cutting load can be estimated with markedly high accuracy as a physical quantity of force from the feed motor current.

Micro patterns are used to maximize the performance and efficiency of the product in many industries such as energy, display, printing, biology, etc. Nowadays, the fabrication technology for micro patterns has been developed in various ways such as photolithography, laser machining, electrical discharge machining and mechanical machining. Recently, mechanical machining the size of smaller than 1 micrometer could be tried, because the technology related to the machining was developed brilliantly. This paper shows the experiments using cutting processes in order to fabricate the micro pattern. Micro patterns of the size of several micrometers were machined by the diamond tools of two different shape, the deformation and generation of burr were investigated.

Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) ? in general a complex pattern of micro- and nano-scale structures ? can modulate and transform light in a predetermined way. Their importance is being increased nowadays because they can be designed to handle a number of simultaneous tasks. In view point of machining DOEs, it is a big challenge to fabricate micro- and nano-scale structures on a free-form surfaces. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of the ultra-precision machine tools is reviewed. Also some technical issues which determine the machine tool accuracy are discussed.

Ultrasonic grinding system is that the ultrasonic vibration by ultrasonic actuator is applied on conventional grinding system during grinding process. The Ultrasonic vibration with a frequency of over 20kHz can reduce grinding forces and increase surface quality, material removal rate (MRR) and grinding wheel life. In addition, ultrasonic vibration assisted grinding can be used for the materials that are difficult to cut. In this paper, methodology for ultrasonic tools is studied based on finite element method, and in turn the ultrasonic tools are designed and fabricated. It is found that the ultrasonic tool can vibrate with a frequency of 20kHz and amplitude of 25μm. In order to verify the machining performance, the grinding experiment is performed on titanium alloy. By applying ultrasonic vibration, the grinding force and temperature are reduced and MRR is increased compared with the conventional grinding.

In the display industry, COG bonding method is being applied to production of LCD panels that are used for mobile phones and monitors, and is one of the mounting methods optimized to compete with the trend of ultra small, ultra thin and low cost of display. In COG bonding process, electrical characteristics such as contact resistance, insulation property, etc and mechanical characteristics such as bonding strength, etc depend on properties of conductive particles and epoxy resin along with ACF materials used for COG by manufacturers. As the properties of such materials have close relation to optimization of bonding conditions such as temperature, pressure, time, etc in COG bonding process, it is requested to carry out an in-depth study on characteristics of COG bonding, based on which development of bonding process equipment shall be processed. In this study were analyzed the characteristics of COG bonding process, performed the analysis and reliability evaluation on electrical and mechanical characteristics of COG bonding using ACF to find optimum bonding conditions for ACF, and performed the experiment on bonding characteristics regarding fine pitch to understand the affection on finer pitch in COG bonding. It was found that it is difficult to find optimum conditions because it is more difficult to perform alignment as the pitch becomes finer, but only if alignment has been made, it becomes similar to optimum conditions in general COG bonding regardless of pitch intervals.