Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
Zatarain: NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE TOOLS
NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE TOOLS
Mikel Zatarain Fundacion Tekniker, Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Spain
1. INTRODUCTION
It is not easy to define exactly what constitutes a
machine tool, or when a particular machine is a
machine tool. The machine tool companies'
association CECIMO has defined metal-forming
machine tools as 'non portable machines operated
by an external energy source that form metals by
chip removal, abrasion, impact, pressure, electrical
procedures or a combination of the above'.
Nor is it clear exactly when machine tools began to
be developed, though the earliest true machine
tools date from the around end of the 19th century.
Older machines' structures were made of wood,
and they were mostly driven by a central power
supply provided by a water mill or human power.
The spread of electric power gave rise to electric
motor driven machines. A single motor handled all
movements, thanks to highly ingenious mechanical
transmission systems. Automatic machines were
showpieces of complex mechanical design.
The first numerically controlled machines appeared
in the 1960's. As with most new technologies,
numerical control needed several decades to
obtain full recognition. Nowadays, CNC driven
machines are the standard for most applications.
Numerical control provided the key for fundamental
changes in machine tools. One of the factors
improved was productivity, as accurate control of
process parameters made it possible to use high
power without risks for machines, tools, parts to
be produced or users.
But the most important benefit of CNC machines
is probably flexibility in production. Drastic
reductions in changeover times revolutionised the
thinking behind production, and long production
runs were replaced by short runs or even the
manufacturing of individual parts.
Machine tools are usually divided into machines that
use conventional processes and machines that use
non conventional processes. The first group includes
chip removal and cutting/deforming machines, and
the second such processes as electro discharge
(EDM), laser cutting, and water jet cutting.
The situation of the new technologies applied on
several types of machine tool is discussed below.
2. MACHINE TOOL CLASSIFICATION
Machine tools are usually divided into chip removing
machines and cutting and deforming machines. Chip
removing machines can be subdivided into two main
groups: machines that work with metal tools (lathes,
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M.
milling machines, drilling machines, etc ) and
machines that work by abrasion and by electrical
phenomena (grinding machines, electro discharge
machines, laser machines, etc ).
Cutting and deforming machines can be
subdivided into machines that work by deformation
(presses, forging machines, sheet and impact
machines), and those that cut by pressure.
3. TENDENCIES IN CHIP REMOVING
MACHINES: HIGH SPEED
This group includes milling, turning and grinding
machines, along with some highly specialised
machines such as gear cutting and grinding
machines. Chip removal is usually the final
production processes, so these machines are
responsible for the precision of the part produced.
There was a time when machines specialised in
single processes: turning, boring, drilling, milling,
etc., but the current tendency is to integrate more
and more processes into the same machine.
Today's milling machines and machining centres
can handle drilling, boring and milling operations.
Some machining centres are even able to turn
parts. Similarly, there are lathes that can mill and
drill, so in the end it is not always easy to say
what type a particular machine is.
That is the case for the milling machines and the
machining centres. One distinguishing feature of
machining centres is that they have an automatic
tool changer, but most CNC milling machines now
share that characteristic. The most widely accepted
way of establishing whether a machine is a
machining centre is to check for automatic part
change by means of a pallet changer. But many
machine tool builders tend to describe their
machines as machining centres even when they
do not have such a changer, and they are still
right in the sense that their machines are able not
only to mill, but also to drill, tap or bore, even if
they do not have a pallet changer.
Milling and grinding processes have been
revolutionised by high speed machining, which is
characterised by very high cutting speeds
(measured in length per unit time rather than in
revolutions per unit time). High speed machining
can produce a better chip removal rate per unit of
energy consumption, but it also has other even
more important benetits. Low cutting forces allow
very weak parts to be mentioned, and heat removal
by chips leads to more accurate tolerances.
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
Figure 1. High speed milling machine with Iinear drives by Tekniker
3.1 High speed machines
High speed machining is the key to the economical
production of large, massive aeronautical parts in
aluminium and other easy-to-machine materials such
as magnesium. But hard-to-machine materials also
benefit from high speed cutting: it is possible to
mill hardened steel at high speed with very low
tool immersion and a small feed per tooth. High
cutting speed is associated with high mill turning
speed, giving rise to high feed speed even if feed
per tooth is small. This means that moulds and
dies can be finished on milling machines in
reasonable times, making for much higher yields
than conventional processes, which require hand
tinishing or sink EDM.
High speed milling requires very high speed spindles,
and also stiff structures, light and reasonably rigid
moving components, high performance drives, well
designed chip removal systems and, in many cases,
fast automatic tool and part change [3]. High speed
milling is also a dangerous process, due to the
possibility of mill explosion, and the operator must be
properly protected by generously dimensioned
mechanical barriers.
3.1.1 High speed spindles
In the current state of the art, it is not practically
possible to transmit power from the motor to the
spindle by conventional systems of gears, belts or
elastic couplings. The method currently favoured is
the use of electro-spindles, that is, spindles which
have the motor built-in between the front and rear
bearings.
These high frequency motors are synchronous and
tend to have vector control. The spindle is
refrigerated by water or oil, so that heat is taken
away without heating the machine. Most incorporate
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a hydraulic automatic tool change system.
The bearings of high speed spindles can be a
problem. Liquid bearings are not capable of handling
the highest speeds, so roller bearings are usually
used. The commonest method is to use angular
contact bearings with different configurations
depending on the speed and power profile required.
The fastest spindles have tandem bearing
configurations, with the back bearings preloaded by
springs or by a hydraulically controlled system.
Bearing lubrication is an important issue. Oil reduces
friction between balls and races, but also produces
heat as the balls splash it out of their way. One way
of avoiding overheating is to use full oil lubrication,
i.e. a high oil flow. A lot of heat is produced but it
is evacuated by the oil itself. However, this is very
expensive, and the current tendency is to lubricate
with minimal oil flow (just a few drops per hour), in
what is known as an "air-oil system". This minimises
heat production, though some wear is caused to
balls and races.
Centrifugal force on the balls of the bearings is
the major cause of heating in high speed ball
bearings. To reduce this effect some bearings
have ceramic balls, whose specific weight is about
one fourth that of steel balls. The hardness of
ceramics and its lower structural affinity with steel
also help increase the performance of these
bearings. The main drawback of the solution is the
fragility of ceramics, which makes the spindles
very sensitive to impacts.
An alternative solution is to use small ball
bearings. The smaller they are the lighter they are,
and the lower the centrifugal force is. Small ball
bearings can compete with ceramic ball bearings,
with the, advantage of lower sensitivity to misuse
and the disadvantage of higher structural affinity
with the material of the races.
Combined solutions are also possible, involving
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
small ceramic ball bearings. These give the
highest speeds for a given spindle diameter, but
their load capacity is somewhat lower.
Electro spindles are designed to produce high
power at high speeds, but the power they can
provide at low speeds is limited. Maximum power
is usually provided in a speed range of 1 to 4.
That means that a spindle able to give maximum
power at 25000 rpm will be able to maintain that
maximum power down to 6000 rpm. Below that
speed power will be reduced in proportion to
speed, with the available torque being maintained.
Power available at low speeds is therefore much
lower than that provided by conventional spindles.
Conventional spindles have a much lower
maximum speed, and are usually combined with a
gear box, giving a double transmission rate. This
enables them to provide maximum power at
speeds as low as 300 rpm. Work with large
diameter face mills can be done easily with
conventional spindles, but is not possible with
high speed electro spindles.
The highest possible rotation speeds are obtained
with magnetic bearings. The absence of material
contact minimises friction, so that the only energy
losses are those due to Foucault current. Barring
accidents, magnetic spindles should last
indefinitely. Their high cost currently prevents them
from being used in most cases, but in the future
more applications will be found.
3.1.2. High speed drives
High speed milling machines require interpolation
with high feed speeds. These range from 5 to 15
m/min as a general rule. Contouring at these
speeds gives rise to high accelerations and high
inertia forces.
The slides of conventional machines are usually
very heavy, which results in high torque
requirements and major drive chain deformation,
though there are improved designs with lighter
moving parts, and stiff mechanical chains. Ball
feed screws tend to have longer pitch than usual,
20 to 40 mm instead of the more conventional 10
mm. The transmission from the motor to the ball
screw is as direct as possible, with gear boxes,
pulleys/belts and even couplings being avoided
whenever possible.
The simplest drives are those found with linear
motors: the motor produces a direct linear
movement rather than the more conventional
rotating movement. Mechanical transmission is
avoided, which results in better dynamic behaviour.
The drawback is that the force multiplication
obtained in conventional systems is lost, so that
motors are very large, heavy and expensive
compared to traditional ones. Very high current is
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also required, which pushes up the cost of this
solution still further.
CNC driven slides commit errors when trying to
perform the required trajectories. The distance from
the set position to the actual position depends on
the trajectory and the dynamic behaviour of the
drive. This latter factor is limited by the natural
frequencies of the mechanics combined with the
tuning of the control loop parameters (mainly the
proportional and integral gains of the velocity loop
and the proportional gain of the position loop).
Selecting the 'best' parameter set for a particular
drive is no easy matter. Each tuning expert will
probably select different values for the
aforementioned gains. That is why the most
sophisticated CNC models incorporate self-tuning
tools. Some of these are good, but others seem
to be the result of a worst value search process
rather than a search for the best possible solution.
Even with a good set of control loop parameters
and very good mechanics, trajectory errors appear.
To offset these errors techniques such as 'feed
forward' and 'look ahead' are included in modem
CNCs. Each CNC builder has defined their own
parameters and functionalities, specially those
concerned with 'look ahead' functions. Tuning of
these parameters tends to be very difficult, with
the added problem that they are not transferrable
from one make of CNC to another. Difficulties are
increased still further by the poor quality of the
manuals and explanations given to CNC users.
Very stiff, light drive systems, and also linear motor
systems, sometimes come up against the limitation
of the sampling frequency of the CNC. This
frequency further limits the gains that can be
selected for the velocity and position loops. This
limitation is not important for conventional drives
but becomes predominant in high dynamic drives.
Nowadays all commercially available CNC systems
use a conventional control system based on three
loops: current, velocity and position. Other
alternatives are being considered in an attempt to
improve the behaviour of drive systems. Feedback
of acceleration makes loops more stable and can
increase position loop gain two or three fold. This
technique is being developed at several research
institutes, and has been included in a
commercially available CNC by Fidia, under the
denomination of 'active damping'.
Research into more sophisticated control
techniques is ongoing. For the moment there is
no clear expectation that an alternative to the
aforementioned PI loops will be used in practical
applications in the short term. One of the
problems could be difficulty in adapting the
parameters of these alternative control strategies to
each particular machine.
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
3.1.3. Structure materials
Structures have traditionally been made of iron, and
the current tendency is to use improved, toughened
iron. For small batches of machine welded steel
can also be used: this material is more suitable for
machines cutting and deforming machines, due to
the high forces and stresses involved.
High speed requires that moving parts be light but
that a reasonable stiffness level be maintained.
Cast iron is therefore replaced by aluminium or
welded steel. Aluminium is lighter, thus permitting
massive material without the weight penalty.
Welded steel enables thinner walls to be used, but
the manufacturing technique for manufacturing
closed parts is time-consuming and expensive.
More sophisticated materials such as carbon fibre
composites have been used in some applications,
though mainly for research. Although the stiffness
to weight ratio is excellent the high price of the
raw material and the cost of preparing the moulds
required makes such technology unaffordable for
today's machine tool industry. Composite structures
are expected to be used widely in the future for
high speed applications.
3.1.4. Parallel kinematics machines
Conventional machines are based on series
kinematics. The combined movements (X, Y, Z, A,
B) between tool and part are obtained by a
superposition of single movements. Each
movement has a position defined by guides and a
drive system. An alternative approach is to use
parallel kinematics machines (PKM): in these
machines all the drives act directly on the moving
part (headstock). Much lighter machines are
obtained, with improved dynamic behaviour.
Mechanically speaking, parallel kinematics
machines are much simpler than conventional
machines: their lack of manufacturing precision or
alignment problems, modular repetitive parts and
absence of guideways or slides in some
configurations make them cheap. The considerable
mathematical difficulties they entail would not be a
problem in long manufacturing runs, as the effect
of development costs on the price of each
machine would be low.
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M.Zatarain: NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE TOOLS
The main problems of parallel kinematics machines
are the precision and displacement range obtained
[11].
Conventional serial machines claim to have
accuracies in the range of 0,01 mm, though they
probably do not attain that accuracy over their
whole working volume, and thermal deformation
could produce movements of several tenths of a
millimetre. Even so, they are much more accurate
than parallel kinematics machines. On the latter,
little credence can be placed in positioning
accuracy claims ofbetter than 0,1 mm, even
though builders all claim to obtain 0,01 mm. The
indirect position measuring system associated with
parallel kinematics lies at the root of the problem.
In particular, PKM machines are at a disadvantage
compared to conventional machines in the most
frequent case of machining in straight paths: they
have to simultaneously interpolate all their axes
(usually three or six), which results in straightness
errors. By comparison, conventional machines
produce straight lines with the precision of the
linearity of their guideways, which is frequently in
the range of just a few microns for short
movements.
Working volume is another major problem associated
with this technique. Feed ball screws tend to invade
the machine space, and also some space outside
the machine. This makes PKM much larger than
conventional machines for a given working volume.
This said, PKM with fixed length arms usually have
better working volume to machine volume ratios than
those with variable length arms.
The problem is still worse in regard to angular
movements. PKM usually have angular ranges of
±15o, or ±30o at most. Conventional machines
obtain ranges greater than ±90o in one of the
angular axes, and a full turn on the other.
Apart from their mechanical simplicity, the other
major advantage of PKM is their low weight, which
makes them especially suitable for use in
applications that require high dynamics.
There are also various machines which combine
parallel and series kinematics in their configurations.
Some of these are very interesting, and show that
current technology is close to obtaining very light,
dynamic, accurate machines through hybrid
kinematics.
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004) M.Zatarain: NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE TOOLS

Figure 2. SEYANKA parallel kinematics machine by Tekniker

Figure 3. Parallel kinematics machine by ISW Figure 4. Hybrid kinematics machine by DMG

Figure 5. Hybrid kinematics machine by Hiiller Hille

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4. GRINDING
In grinding machines also, the tendency is towards
higher working speeds. New materials for grinding
wheels, such as diamond or cBN, allow higher
productivity rates. Although process speed is very
high, axis feed speeds are much lower than in
chip removing machines.
Creep feed grinding competes with chip removal
processes in some cases. Although more energy
is consumed in grinding than in turning or in
milling, high productivity can sometimes be
obtained, especially if the part needs grinding as
its final process.
ELID (ELectrolytic In line Dressing) grinding is a
recent technique that has major advantages over
conventional grinding. It consists of applying an
electrolytic process to the grinding wheel while the
grinding process is going on. New, sharp cutting
particles appear continually at the surface of the
wheel, which prevents it from becoming blunt. This
means that very fine abrasive wheels can be used,
and excellent surface quality obtained with no
drop in productivity.
As an altemative to ELID, research is currently
ongoing into a technique based in applying electro
discharge to the wheel by means of an electrical
wire in the same way as in EDM machines (which
are described below).
5. NON CONVENTIONAL PROCESSES
The term "non conventional manufacturing process"
applies to those processes that produce part
modifications by non mechanical methods. This
group originally included electro discharge
machining (EDM) and electrochemical machining
[5], which were later joined by laser machining,
ultrasonic machining, ion beam, electron beam,
and plasma spray methods among others, all of
which have significant applications as
manufacturing processes.
These methods generally have higher energy
requirements and slower throughputs than
traditional machining, but have been developed for
applications where traditional machining methods
are impractical, unusable or uneconomical.
5.1. Electro-discharge machining (EDM)
EDM relies on the erosion of materials where a
spark is produced between two current-conducting
objects. It has become one of the most widely used
non-traditional machining processes and can be used
on any material that conducts electricity. Because
there is no mechanical contact, as in traditional
machining operations, the hardness, toughness and
strength of the workpiece material have only a
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minimal effect on the material removal rate.
EDM was developed by Russian scientists, but
was soon adopted by US companies. The first
machines, which appeared in the mid 20th century,
were sink EDM machines. These machines
revolutionised the manufacture of dies and moulds.
Once CNC was introduced, wire EDM machines
started to be produced. These machines are able
to produce very complicated and accurate profiles.
Both kinds of EDM technique are very slow. One
of the key factors currently evolving is pulse
generation techniques. Current research seeks to
increase productivity without damaging the
workpiece surface obtained. Work is also ongoing
on applications in the machining of non-conductive
materials such as ceramics.
Another interesting topic in EDM is increasing
environmental friendliness. EDM produces large
amounts of used dielectric fluid, which need to be
recycled. Producing a more environmentally friendly
dielectric fluid is an important goal of EDM research.
5.2. Laser machining
Laser cutting was initially used to cut holes in
sheet materials. Lasers are inefficient, expensive,
generate excessive heat and waste a great deal of
energy. All lasers are dangerous, but they can cut
at up to 7,5 metres per minute, which makes
them popular in manufacturing.
Optical energy is focused on the workpiece, melting
and evaporating specific areas in a controlled
manner. Metal and non-metal materials may be cut.
Laser cutting machines usually use CO2 lasers.
Ablation is a laser machining technology that has
been undergoing development in recent years that
applies short-duration laser pulses to the material
to be machined [10]. The material where the laser
ray is focused sublimes, and swarf is removed as
vapour. The very short duration of the pulse
prevents the surrounding material from heating up.
These applications use YAG lasers.
Machine tools using this technology have already
been developed [2], but one of their drawbacks lies
in the accuracy of the depth machined, which is
usually controlled in an open loop by applying more
or less energy per surface unit depending on the
characteristics of the material being processed. A
very recently developed machine is able to measure
depth by optical means, obtaining accuracy in the
range of 10 to 20 µm.
This machine has an average power of only 100
W, but because of the very short duration of the
pulses, its instantaneous power can be as high as
200 kW. Material removal rate is around 20
mm3/min for steel, and between 2 and 20
mm3/min for ceramics. Hard metal can be abladed
at 2 mm3/min.
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
Still more concentrated laser pulses are obtained
in femtolaser machines, in which pulse length is
around 100 femtoseconds (100*10-15 seconds) and
instantaneous power is around 10 GW with a
period of 1 ms. Mean power is in the range of 1
W, which means that productivity is low. These
machines are used to produce very small parts
with excellent accuracy.
6. HYBRlD PROCESSES
There seem to be no major advances on the
horizon in single processes such as milling and
turning. If productivity increases are to be obtained,
hybrid processes could be the way to go.
Experiments in this direction have already taken
place: examples include laser aided turning for
hard-to-machine materials, oil jet aided machining,
ultrasonic vibration aided machining, and ELID
grinding.
Laser and plasma beams have been used to heat
material just before tools remove it. When material
is heated its characteristics change and cutting
forces and too wear are reduced. The advantages
of this system are greatest when machining
difficult materials.
Many other process combinations have been or
are being developed, among them electrochemical
discharge machining, which combines
electrochemical machining with electrical discharge
machining [1]. The former is characterised by high
surface integrity, improved surface finish, high
machining rates and the absence of tool-electrode
wear, but it is less accurate than EDM in
Figure 6. Grinding and balancing machine for rotor maintenance by Danobat
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reproducing the tool electrode shape in the
workpiece. The combination of the two methods
has been shown to blend the benefits of both,
provided that the parameters of the combined
process are properly selected.
Significant experiments have also taken place in
heat treatment by means of the grinding process.
The parameters of the grinding process are
selected in such a way that the part obtains the
required hardness by the heating/cooling produced
by the material removing process.
7. PROCESS INTEGRATION
From the oldest machine tools, able to perform
only a single type of process, we progressed to
modern machines which can handle more and
more processes on the same machine. The
ultimate aim is, as far as possible, to obtain
finished parts from a single machine.
The trend seems to be to continue to incorporate
still more processes into machine tools. In the
future there may well be machines that are able
to grind and handle chip removal operations. This
would involve heat treatment being performed on
the machine itself, perhaps by the aforementioned
technique of exploiting the heat produced by the
grinding process.
Very interesting process integration work is being
done in grinding machines for turbine blades of
jet aircraft engines. These large machines are able
to leave workpieces in a semi free situation that
enables them to be balanced without removing
them from the machine.
Ma{instvo 2(8), 75 – 84, (2004)
The welding process is another candidate for
incorporation into metal cutting machines. It seems
that laser welding might be combined with chip
removing processes in a single machine.
Processes of forming by material displacement
may be difficult to combine with cutting processes,
due to practical limitations.
8. FLEXIBILITY, RECONFIGURABILITY
Long production runs were obtained in the past
by dedicated transfer lines. The high cost of such
lines was offset by the very large amount of parts
produced during their lifetimes. The clear tendency
now is to produce shorter runs, for example in
the automotive industry. This means that production
lines must be dedicated not to a particular part
but to a range of similar parts, or even to
different parts.
CNC machines are a good example of
incorporating agility, as they can produce different
parts merely by changing the CNC program.
Incorporating CNC into special purpose machines,
such as those typically used in transfer lines,
makes them more flexible. But the tendency is to
improve flexibility till further by replacing special
purpose machines by machining centres.
Productivity will not be as high, but the gain in
flexibilty offsets the resulting loss.
Another example of increased flexibility is the
replacement of conventional CNC external grinding
machines by contouring grinding machines. Again
some productivity is lost, but the time required to
change from producing one part to the next one
is much lower.
Reconfigurability is a hot topic at the moment,
albeit one about which more has been written
than actually done. The idea is to rebuild
machines by intensive use of modular units.
Perhaps the clearest picture of its potential to date
has been obtained from the use of PKM machines
in different configurations [4]. There is still a great
deal to be done before practical applications are
obtained.
9. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
Sustainability is another of the chief topics of the
moment. Human beings have had a huge impact on
their environment over many centuries, and are now
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M.Zatarain: NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MACHINE TOOLS
concemed about the consequences of this for the
near future.
Less pollutant production processes, lower power
consumption, recyclable materials and so on are
aspects that have to be considered in next
generation machines [7].
Cutting processes have traditionally used cutting
fluids. Once the lifetime of such fluids ends, they
must be disposed of, which poses problems as
they tend to be highly pollutant. Less polluting
fluids, and dry or minimum quantity lubrication
(MQL) techniques are now being investigated.
EDM machines are also a pollution source, as
once the dielectric liquid is spent it needs to be
disposed of without contaminating the environment.
Less polluting, higher performing liquids are
therefore being sought, as are better filtering
systems.
Noise and vibration also impact on the environment.
Work to produce less noisy machines is ongoing,
but vibration/noise generating processes must be
replaced by quieter ones if any significant change is
to be made.
10. ULTRAPRECISION MACHINING
Ultraprecision machining has grown out of
conventional precision machining in response to
new needs. The trend towards miniaturization in
many fields has brought with it new, tighter
precision requirements.
For example the electronics industry, computer
peripherals, sensor miniaturization, surgical and
biotechnology applications, optics, scientific
instrumentation and vehicle and domestic
appliances sensors all require ever smaller, more
precise parts.
That in turn requires smaller, more accurate
machines with special architectures, designed on
the basis of precision engineering principles,
sometimes working in controlled atmospheres,
capable of offsetting deformation, particularly heat
deformation.
Highly stable materials, specially designed tools,
controls and drives, and many other specialised
components are required to build these machines.
Repeatability is the key, and that means that
friction has to be minimised and stiffness
optimised at the same time. Repeatable errors are
usually offset by the electronic/computing system.
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Figure 7. Ultraprecision milling machine by Tekniker

11. MICROMACHINING

Production of micro- or nanometre size parts calls
for production equipment such as that mentioned
in the previous section. There are production
technologies derived from machine tools which
involve increased precision and reduced size:
micromilling, microdrilling, micropunching, micro
EDM, micro laser machining, etc. are all possible.
These technologies are joining those used to
produce microelectronic products, such as the
manufacturing processes for silicon wafers [6].
Making single, highly accurate microparts is very
expensive, replication systems must be relied on.
This means making a single, very expensive part
(mould) by a complicated, costly production
process, and afterwards making many parts by
microinjection, hot embossing or other replication
procedures.
The smallest, most accurate moulds can be
obtained by these techniques deriving from
microelectronic technologies [8]. Tipically there are
processes of deposition of thin layers [9],
combined with processes of removing material by
dry and wet etching. These last two processes
require photolithography, which is similar to the
process used for producing printed circuit boards,
but on a much more precise level. Production of
masks in particular is a very demanding process
which requires machines capable of working with
a precision well below the micrometre level.

Figure 8. Microreactor and mould

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12. LITERATURA - REFERENCES

[1] J. Kozak, K. P. Rajurkar.: Hybrid Machining [7] E. Westkämper, L. Alting e.a.: Life Cycle
Process Evaluation and Development, University management and assessment: approaches
of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA, and visions towards sustainable
http://www.unl.edu/nmrc/hvbrid/hvbrid_machining. Manufacturing, Annals of the CIRP, 2000.
htm
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