On Prolonging The Tool Life in Micro Punching

The demand of miniaturization comes from electronic devices, medical equipment, sensor technology and tele-communication applications. Punching is the process of forcing a punch through the material and into a die to create a hole in the workpiece. Micro punching can be an economic way of fabricating shaped micro holes in mass production.Tool wear is an important issue in micro punching. Even with punches made of hard and tough materials like tungsten-carbide cobalt (WC/Co), quality of the punched holes declines rapidly under continuous punching.This research aims to prolong the useful life of WC/Co micro punches. A layer of carbon nanotubes on the surface of a micro punch is expected to reduce the friction coefficient and increase the wear resistance of the punch. The focus of this project is to optimize the properties of such a layer to these effects.