|
Abstract: The
concept of micro-scale and meso-scale mechanical manufacturing is
originally generated to meet the increasingly growing demand for
three-dimensional micro/meso-scale parts with higher relative accuracy
in a wide range of materials. The micro/meso-scale parts are defined as
having the size range between ten microns up to ten millimeters, and so
falling between the domains of microelectronics-based MEMS technologies
and conventional machining. However, the possibility of producing
individual parts at these size scales is shown the limitations in
current equipments and methods for dimensional metrology and
characterization of both the parts themselves and machines used to
produce them. For this reason, researchers are exploring the issues
involved in the application of both new and traditional manufacturing
technologies. Based on the workshop on micro/meso-mechanical
manufacturing (M4), sponsored by the American National Science
Foundation (NSF), the background and situation of the emerging
micro-scale and meso-scale mechanical manufacturing technologies are
introduced, the scientific, technological and commercialization
challenges for the use of micro-scale and meso-scale mechanical
manufacturing technologies, and the primary enabling technologies for
the effective development and implementation of micro-scale and meso-scale
mechanical manufacturing technologies are discussed, the major research
and development issues that need to be addressed are given. Finally, the
promising approaches and strategies to develop and demonstrate the
feasibility of micro-scale and meso-scale mechanical manufacturing are
proposed as well. It is hoped that this can provide some beneficial
proposals for the research on micro-scale and meso-scale mechanical
manufacturing technologies in China.
Key words: Miniaturization
Micro-scale Meso-scale Precision Three dimensions
Mechanical manufacturing
CLC No: TH16
国家自然科学基金资助项目(50028504，50175017).
Received
20030326，received
in revised form
20030715
|