On the cracks self-healing mechanism at ductile mode cutting of silicon

Abstract

Ductile mode cutting has become an emerging technology of machining silicon, where the originally brittle material is removed by a plastic flow of the phase-transformed material, yielding ductile chips, thus leaving a crack-free smooth surface. However, the ductile mode cutting of silicon can be hardly realized by a careful selection of processing parameters only. It has been shown that the self-healing of microcracks, microfractures, and small spallings by filling the defect cavities with the ductile metallic silicon phase in reality can be easier achievable if the partial ductile mode takes place.