A measurement method of cutting tool position for relay fabrication of microstructured surface

By using the secondary function of a force sensor integrated fast tool servo (FTS) for surface profile measurement, the three-dimensional tip position of a micro-cutting tool in the FTS with respect to the fabricated microstructures was measured without using any additional instrument for realizing the concept of relay fabrication of microstructured surface. It was verified from the experiments for testing the basic performances of tool tip position measurement that the delay of the force feedback control loop of the FTS was a big factor influencing the position measurement accuracy. A bidirectional scanning strategy was then employed to reduce the position measurement error due to the delay of the feedback control loop. Tool tip position measurement experiments by using micro-tools with a nose radius of 100μm for relay fabrications with sub-micrometer accuracies, including stitching fabrication of a micro-groove line array and filling fabrication of a microlens lattice pattern, were carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the tool position measurement method.