Change in Surface Roughness on the Inner and Outer Surfaces of the Microtube during Hollow Sinking

Abstract

Hollow sinking experiments and tensile tests were conducted to clarify the evolution of surface roughness during hollow sinking. Stainless steel tubes (outer diameter: 1.5 mm; wall thickness: 0.045 mm) featuring a single grain spanning the wall thickness achieved via annealing as the starting material. The tube was drawn without an internal tool using a draw bench by controlling the tube drawing speed ratio of the die entrance and exit sides. The surface roughnesses of the inner and outer surfaces at the die entrance and exit sides of the drawn tube were compared with the surface roughnesses of the inner and outer surfaces under the uniaxial tensile deformation of the starting material. As a result, two major findings were revealed; the surface roughness formation behavior during the hollow sinking; the uniaxial tensile deformation exhibits a tube on both sides of the entrance and the exit of a die. Former uniaxial tensile deformation forms surface roughness of the tube at the die-entrance-side. However, hollow sinking reduces the roughness. The tube keeps its small roughness even though it is applied the later uniaxial tensile deformation behind the die exit. Furthermore, the conventional formula to predict the surface roughness of a metal sheet caused by the uniaxial tensile deformation can predict the surface roughness of a tube in the hollow sinking. At both die entrance and exit sides, the roughness of the inner surface was larger than that of the outer surface at the die entrance and exit side. The outer surface of the tube contacts the inside of a die when the tube passes through the die. The height of the convex parts decreased at that moment. Hollow sinking suppressed the increase in surface roughness of the inner surface as the outer surface was smoothed in the die. However, due to the formation of surface roughness after leaving the die, there is an overall increasing trend in inner surface roughness.