Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

297 (2021) 117181

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Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Study of micro-dimples fabricated on alumina-based ceramics using

micro-abrasive jet machining
Chengwei Kang a, Fusheng Liang a, Gang Shen a, Dongxu Wu a, Fengzhou Fang a, b, *
a
Centre of Micro/Nano Manufacturing Technology (MNMT-Dublin), University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
b
State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology and Instruments, Laboratory of Micro/Nano Manufacturing Technology (MNMT), Tianjin University, Tianjin,
300072, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Associate Editor: A. Clare This paper presents a study of fabricating micro-dimples with desired morphology characteristics using micro-
abrasive jet machining. Experiments are conducted under different processing conditions so that blasted dim­
Keywords: ples with various sizes and geometries could be obtained and analysed. The results indicated that among all the
Abrasive jet machining processing factors used in this study, changing processing time and air pressure is found to be the most efficient
Micro-structure
and controllable way to vary dimple dimension. On the other hand, nozzle stand-off distance and air pressure
Particle velocity
both play a pivotal role in determining dimple geometry. The results indicate that a variety of desired mor­
Micro-machining
Alumina phologies on the blasted area could be obtained by optimizing parameter combination. To further reveal the
mechanism of shape variation, an amended model of cross-sectional particle velocity distribution is proposed. By
correlating the working conditions and the final form of machined micro-structures, the model is confirmed to be
an effective indicator to present the machining performance. In the end, friction tests and wear characterization
are conducted to verify the positive effect of the introduced micro-texture on improving the lifespan of ceramic-
based workpieces.

1. Introduction
Alumina and alumina-based ceramics find wide applications in
various areas, such as cutting inserts, valve seals, armours, and more
recently, orthopaedic implants. The increasing popularity of such
ceramic lies in the combination of excellent corrosion resistance, mini­
mal degradation and satisfactory compression resistance. Considering
the excellent durability and superior strength, more and more bio­
implant manufactures are shifting their attention from metal alloys to
bioceramics in recent decades. For instance, alumina-based ceramics are
widely considered as potential candidates for the application of wear-
resistance components, typically, ceramic-on-metal and ceramic-on-
ceramic hip arthroplasty.
The first successful employment of a total hip prosthesis with an
alumina head and alumina socket was performed by Boutin (1971).
Since then, the increasing demand for alumina ceramics in clinical ap­
plications became enormous, particularly in the new century, as
reviewed by Kang and Fang (2018a). However, a work conducted by
Bizot et al. (2000) revealed that slow crack growth inside alumina may
occur in total hip arthroplasty with time in service, which is likely due to
its low fracture strength and high brittleness. The issue was addressed by
using ceramic composite as an alternative to pure alumina.
Zirconia-toughened alumina, also known as ZTA, was thus developed
and widely used to substitute alumina ceramics in the applications
where a higher fracture resistance was required. It was documented by
Wang and Stevens (1989) that the presence of zirconia grains in the
alumina matrix would enable the phase transformation from tetragonal
to monoclinic (t-m), hence lead to various toughening mechanisms such
as microcracking toughening, compressive surface stress deflection, etc.
Although the coupling of such ceramic components has been verified
clinically reliable and longevous, the potential risk of releasing ceramic
debris still need to be addressed. Such concern would be particularly
worthy of attention after long-term usage, in which case friction coef­
ficient and wear rate of ceramic components would increase signifi­
cantly, hence the possibility of mechanical failure is no longer
negligible. Obviously, in order to expand applications of these materials
in tribological areas, new strategies of modifying surface characteristics
are required.
Introducing micro/nano-scale patterns on bioimplants surfaces has
been proved to be an effective way to improve wear and corrosion

* Corresponding author at: Centre of Micro/Nano Manufacturing Technology (MNMT-Dublin), University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland.
E-mail address: fengzhou.fang@ucd.ie (F. Fang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2021.117181
Received 2 February 2021; Received in revised form 10 April 2021; Accepted 19 April 2021
Available online 22 April 2021
0924-0136/© 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.
C. Kang et al.
resistance, meanwhile, it would also enhance osseointegration, as
reviewed by Kang and Fang (2018b) and Roach et al. (2007). However,
as typical hard-to-machine materials, ceramic machining faces lots of
difficulties. It is particularly challenging to machine desired surface
textures without compromising their surface integrity. In
micro-machining, the limitations of conventional techniques are
becoming more and more apparent in fulfilling the strict requirements
regarding the precision and structure complexity of novel materials. In
this respect, laser treatments are regarded as one of the most promising
and predominant techniques. For example, Zum Gahr et al. (2007) and
Fan et al. (2014) employed commercial pulsed Nd:YAG laser techniques
to texture the surface of ZTA ceramics. The reduced surface friction
coefficient was verified as an effect of secondary lubricating brought by
micro-structures. More recently, quite a few femtosecond laser treat­
ments have been carried out for the processing of advanced bioceramics
due to its unique characteristic of flexibility. Carvalho et al. (2020)
conducted a femtosecond laser texturing technique to develop different
types of micro-patterns on alumina toughened zirconia, including
grooves and grids. In their following vitro cell culture studies, the
textured surfaces were found to promote the biological response, where
neither thermal alterations nor molten zones were formed on the
workpiece surfaces during machining. Moreover, the phase and chemi­
cal composition of the samples were maintained. This study was in
agreement with a previous research work carried out by Stanciuc et al.
(2018b), in which the researchers performed femtosecond lasering on
zirconia materials and produced dimples in various diameter and depth.
Improved cell-surface interaction was also successfully detected on the
patterned workpieces. Apart from the above-mentioned merits, other
reported advantages of laser-based texturing technique include its
versatility and the precise control on modification zones. To be more
specific, laser pulses could offer various surface textures in a controlled
manner, such as micro-scale conical-shaped holes, sub-micron pyrami­
dal grooves and polycrystal structures of less than 100 nm, as recorded
by Stefanic and Kosmač (2014). Although many satisfactory outcomes
were reported on using laser techniques to enhance osseointegration and
wear-resistance of ceramics, typical limitations of high energy con­
sumption and low working efficiency still handicap its wider application
in industry. Apart from the lasering-based technique, etching has also
been extensively explored to produce micro-textures. To name but a few,
Stanciuc et al. (2018a) and Bächle et al. (2007) used a selective chemical
etching process with different acid combinations on zirconia-based
ceramic surfaces to achieve desired topographies at nano-, and
micro-scales. Similar works were performed by Aboushelib et al. (2013),
who proposed an innovative selective infiltration etching technique and
successfully achieved various surface roughness values on ceramics. As
discussed above, etching has been widely accepted to be an effective
method to generate desired surface roughness on bioceramics. Never­
theless, such a technique may affect the pre-existing surface chemistry
and raise the concern of environmental pollution. Another technique
used by Nadeem et al. (2013) to produce micro-patterns on ceramics is
embossing, which is simpler to operate compared to other
above-mentioned ones, but requires various masks during the whole
process to realize specific-area machining. Moreover, the structure fea­
tures and resolution are limited in micro-scale.
Abrasive jet machining (AJM), which utilizes intensified and local­
ized solid particles erosion to remove substrate material, was mainly
used for cutting and cleaning since its development in the 1970s. It was
only in recent 20 years, AJM showed great potential in the fabrication of
three-dimensional textures on brittle materials. Owing to its distinct
advantages including high flexibility, less time consuming, slow tool
wear and small cutting force, AJM has been regarded as one of the most
appropriate micromachining techniques, typically for hard and brittle
materials such as ceramics. This high versatility machining technique
has been recently used in fabricating electronic devices and micro-
fluidic channels, where damage-free micro-part features are required,
as reviewed by Melentiev and Fang (2018) and Fan et al. (2011). With
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
the development of finer nozzles, superior hard abrasives and more
reliable high-pressure pumps, micro-scale patterns with feature sizes in
a range of 50–500 μm have been successfully obtained on a wide range
of materials. Typically, Wakuda et al. (2002) blasted micro-dimples on
four types of ceramic materials using three different abrasives; Melen­
tiev and Fang (2020) achieved desired micro-grooves on biomedical
cobalt-chromium alloys; Li et al. (2018) drilled micro-holes on glass
with desired features using AJM, just to name a few. A solid growing
trend of interest in micro-AJM can be also seen from the industrial
perspective. At present, such a technique has been more commonly used
in the manufacturing of semiconductors, micro-moulds and dies.
Comparing to above mentioned lasering-based techniques and chemical
etching, micro-AJM is more favourable due to advantages such as en­
ergy- and resource- efficiency, negligible thermal effect,
environmental-friendly, as well as some other aspects which were
reviewed in the previous work conducted by Melentiev and Fang (2018).
Such attractive characteristics demonstrated bright perspectives on
overcoming typical industrial concerns of process productivity and
manufacturing costs.
The main concern on fabricating micro-structures on ceramics with
AJM is that the aggressive abrasive indenting process may introduce
additional subsurface defects. But a study conducted by Wakuda et al.
(2002) has indicated that the radial cracks propagation downwards to
the substrate would be eliminated due to particle impacts, therefore the
strength degradation in the ceramic surface after AJM was insignificant.
In many studies of bioimplants manufacturing, AJM was only used for
surface roughening, particularly, in combination with chemical etching
to produce desired micro- to nano-scaled roughness. For instance, Sen­
nerby et al. (2005) and Gahlert et al. (2007) performed sand-blasting to
roughen ceramic implants. Their clinical observations demonstrated a
strong bone tissue response to the modified surfaces. As a result, the
roughened bioimplants possess better resistance to torque forces. Apart
from the above, the feasibility of using micro-AJM to produce desired
micro-patterns on ceramic-based biomaterials was still in deficiency and
deserves further exploration and study.
This paper presents an experimental study on the micro-texturing of
alumina and ZTA using micro-abrasive jet machining. Diverse types of
dimples with different sizes (depth and diameter) and geometries (bot­
tom profiles and taper angle) were produced using various processing
parameters, including air pressure, abrasive flow rate, nozzle stand-off
distance and blasting time. The roughness value of blasted areas was
characterized before and after the process to address the effects of micro-
AJM on surface quality. A correlation between the form of blasted
micro-structures and AJM processing parameters were thus established.
In the end, tribology testing was conducted on both pre- and post-treated
ceramic workpieces to verify the effect of surface topography on wear
resistance.
2. Experimental approaches
2.1. Materials
The ceramic specimens prepared for the investigation in this study
are the as-received alumina and ZTA workpieces made in the shape of
cylinders with 32 mm in diameter and 15 mm in height. The detailed
mechanical properties provided by the supplier can be found in Table 1.
Prior to each air jet machining test, the top surface of each specimen was
well lapped using sequential diamond films with mesh size ranges from
240 to 2500 for 3 min each, where the normal load on each sample was
damped from 25 to 5 N. Following the lapping process, suspension with
3 μm diamond particles was used as the final polishing medium to
remove surface and subsurface defects from the previous process. The
surface roughness (Ra) after polishing was about 400 nm and 300 nm for
alumina and ZTA, respectively.
The selected blasting media was aluminium oxide particles
complying with Federation of European Producers of Abrasives (FEPA)
C. Kang et al.
Table 1
Mechanical properties of as-received alumina and ZTA samples (provided by Technische Keramik GnbH).
Workpieces Density (g/cm3) Hardness (GPa`) Young’s modulus (GPa)
Alumina 3.9 18 320
ZTA 4.1 16 380
standards F320, as shown in Fig. 1. The mean particle size and equiva­
lent circle diameter were 37.6 μm and 27.5 μm, respectively.
2.2. Micro-AJM setup
Micro-AJM was performed on a customized equipment, which con­
sists of a micro-blaster (MV-2, Crystal Mark), a CNC router (MonoFab
SRM-20, Roland), a dust collector (DustPRO 400, BOFA) and a work­
station computer with the controlling system. Such setup allows precise
adjustment of abrasive flow rate and air pressure. A converging cylin­
drical type of nozzle was used in this study, which has a constant cross-
sectional area after the converging region and can produce axisym­
metric normal distribution of abrasive flow density. The inner diameter
of the conical zone was 500 μm. The nozzle was installed perpendicular
to the workpiece so that a 90◦ jet impact angle was fixed. The working
time was modulated by an external electronic timer. The stand-off dis­
tance (SoD), defined as the distance between the workpiece to nozzle
along the nozzle axis, can be precisely adjusted by the controlling sys­
tem. In this study, SoD was varied from 0.5 to 6.0 mm. Blasting time was
set in a range of 1− 18 s. Different abrasive flow rate of 2, 4, 7, 10 g/min
were applied. In terms of air pressure, the range of 0.2− 0.8 MPa was
selected. The schematic of the experimental set up is shown in Fig. 2.
2.3. Surface characterization
A confocal microscope (VHK-5000, Keyence) was used for charac­
terizing blasting media morphology. The dimple profiles and surface
roughness values were measured using a non-contact white-light inter­
ferometer (NPFlex, Bruker). All dimple profiles were measurement in a
surface area of 1329 × 1759 μm2, where only a filter of tilt removal was
applied. For surface roughness analysis, area-masking and Gaussian
regression filter with the short wavelength cut-off of 80 μm were applied
so that the bottom of the dimple could be measured. An illustration of
area masking and filtering is shown in Fig. 3. Each roughness value was
calculated from three different dimples to make sure the reliability of the
evaluation. Before each measurement, workpieces were cleaned by ul­
trasonic bath for 10 min followed by serial extensive rinses of 3 min each
with water and ethanol.
2.4. Wear testing
Tribological and wear tests were operated using a ball-on-disc
Fig. 1. Microscope images of blasting media used in this study.
Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
Fracture toughness (MPa⋅m1/2) Flexural strength (MPa) Grain size (μm) wt%
4.5 300 15 >99.7
4.8 440 5 86
tribometer (MFW120, NEOPLUS) with a normal load of 5 N and a
rotation speed of 47.8 rpm for 5 min. The track radius was set to be
8 mm, which makes the linear speed equivalent to 40 mm/s. Deionized
water was applied as the testing lubricant. A stainless-steel ball with a
diameter of 6 mm was used as a counterface against the ceramic
workpieces. All tests were performed at room temperature. Both con­
figurations of polished and textured ceramics were tested under the
same experiment environment and the wear loss was evaluated
afterwards.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Dimple geometry
Hundreds of dimples were blasted on both materials using various
parameters, followed by morphology measurements. Typical 3D images
of the specific blasted area on alumina and ZTA under the same working
condition are shown in Fig. 4. Contours through the dimple bottom
centre were also obtained from the 3D imaging. It can be found that the
blasted alumina exhibited a rougher surface with evident marks of
indenting and grain pull-out, as shown in Fig. 4(a). It is also indicated by
the cross-sectional profiles that the dimple shape on alumina appeared
to be more irregular than that of ZTA, where bumps and hollows can be
clearly seen. This is because the fracture threshold of alumina is lower
than that of ZTA, as reported by De Aza et al. (2002) and Casellas et al.
(2003), so cracks were more prone to occurring in alumina substrate
than ZTA during blasting. The smaller grain size in ZTA (as shown in
Table 1) also contributed to the smoother surface finish. In Fig. 4(b), it is
noteworthy that the dimple surface on ZTA appeared to be relatively
smooth and uniform, particularly when comparing to the dimples pro­
duced by laser texturing method, in which burnt area and heat-affected
zone exist. However, it should also be pointed out that a few small
pitting and burrs were observed around the targeted area (arrowed in
Fig. 4), which could be caused by the abrasive particle and debris
rebounding under strong jetting flow. Moreover, micro-cracks could
exist in the sub-surface, which can be controlled by optimizing the
processing parameters. Alternatively, post-processing can be introduced
before putting the textured workpiece into practical uses.
Fig. 5 illustrates the evolution of micro-dimples with the changes of
different parameters. Profiles from specific areas of blasted alumina and
ZTA are shown in blue and red, respectively. Generally, on the premise
of using the same processing parameters, the blasted dimple on alumina
3
C. Kang et al.
Fig. 2. Schematic of the experimental setup.
Fig. 3. Illustration of dimple bottom roughness measuring steps: (a) 3D image scanning, (b) Gaussian regression filtering, (c) specific area masking and (d) roughness
measurement of the specific bottom surface.
would be much shallower than that on ZTA. The dimple diameter on
alumina also appeared to be smaller but the difference was less obvious
compared to the depth. The observation was controversial to previous
studies that the addition of ZrO2 would enhance fracture toughness by
stress-induced phase transformation, therefore lead to a lower suscep­
tibility to crack propagation. The higher material removal in ZTA in this
study is likely ascribed to the reduced phase transformation effective­
ness. A very recent study carried out by inhibited Wade-Zhu et al. (2020)
demonstrated that despite possessing a higher fracture toughness (KIC ),
the value of dynamic fracture toughness (KId ) of ZTA appears close to
that of alumina. Under transient loading condition such as ballistic
impacts, the t-m zirconia phase transformation could be inhibited. It is
also noteworthy that the fabricated dimples exhibited diversiform ge­
ometries in terms of taper angles and bottom profiles, i.e., the dimple
edge varied gradually from inclined to steep while the bottom profile
might change from flat to curved.
To have a specific analysis in cases, the effects of different processing
parameters on dimple geometry were revealed in the following discus­
sion. Fig. 5 (a–c) show the effect of blasting time, where all other
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
parameters were fixed. As expected, the longer the processing time, the
deeper the dimple would be. On the other hand, the dimple diameter
remained almost the same over time. It is interesting to note that the
general dimple shape was formed in a short period of less than one
second, whose dimension changed less significantly thereafter. The
possible cause of this phenomenon could be the abrasive jet turbulence
generated by the rebounded particles and removed debris. As suggested
by Ciampini et al. (2003), collisions between the incident and
rebounding particles can significantly degrade the erosive or peening
power of the incident stream. Besides, after the initial stage of
machining, the interference between abrasive jet and workpiece surface
was no longer flat, the free jet flow was thus more likely to be subjected
to the entrainment. What can also be told from the figure is that blasting
time had certain effects on the dimple geometry. Bottom profiles ob­
tained from both materials tended to be ‘W’ shape after experiencing a
very short processing time of 1 s but stayed flat thereafter. In terms of the
dimple flank, it remained steep regardless of the time being.
When air pressure was the only varying parameter, it showed a
greater impact on the dimple geometry, as demonstrated in Fig. 5 (d–f).
C. Kang et al.
Fig. 4. Typical micro-AJM blasted dimples on (a) alumina and (b)ZTA, where 4 mm SoD, 0.4 MPa air pressure, 3 s processing time and 10 g/min flow rate were used.
At a lower air pressure, 0.2 MPa to be specific, distinct ‘W’ shapes were
noticed in both blasted areas of alumina and ZTA. With the increment of
air pressure, an evolution of the bottom profile from curved to flat could
be clearly observed. When the pressure was increased up to 0.8 MPa, no
obvious geometry changes can be further found in ZTA. However, there
was a tendency of transformation in the bottom shape from flat to arched
in alumina. The formation of ‘W’ shape bottom was likely because the
abrasive particles were brim concentrated at lower air pressure. Parti­
cles bouncing back would also be the cause of bottom profile differences,
as suggested by Shafiei et al. (2009). The higher air pressure led to a
higher flux and hence impeded the occurrence of abrasive rebounding.
Retrospect the experimental results in Fig. 5 (a), the formation of ‘W’
shape bottom at a very short processing time could also be due to the
occurrence of pressure loss at the beginning of jetting.
Fig. 5 (g–i) show the effect of flow rate on dimple geometry, which
revealed some outcomes contrary to expectations. It is a widely accepted
fact that the higher flow rate is, the higher number of abrasive particles
would be involved in a blasting process, thus the impact frequency
would also increase. In this study, it was expected that more involved
abrasives would perform more indenting activities at a given exposure
time, hence leading to a higher material removal rate. However, it was
noticed that the increased flow rate somehow resulted in shallower
dimples with more gradual slopes. Such counter-intuitive results were
more significant in ZTA. This phenomenon should be attributed to the
reduced particle velocity when massive particles were involved in
jetting, as demonstrated by Momber (2007). It is thus anticipated that
particle velocity is more influential than the number of involved parti­
cles on workpiece material removal rate. The change of abrasive
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
distribution in jet is another reason for the declined dimple depth.
Specifically, Li et al. (2018) indicated that the growing particle flow rate
may alter the particle distribution from centre concentrated to brim
concentrated and to nearly evenly distributed. The result of smaller
diameter but deeper dimples achieved from lower particle flow rate was
consistent with the above theory. Such particle distribution variation
also explains the changes of dimple bottom profile, i.e., a small flat
bottom area was found in ZTA at 2 g/min, then a small degree of ‘W’
shape at modest flow rate, and lastly a bigger and more uniformed elbow
shape at 10 g/min.
The effect of nozzle stand-off distance is shown in Fig. 5 (j–l). Clearly,
changing SoD would be an effective method to achieve various dimple
flank slopes. In both materials used, the micro-dimple’s tapered angle
reduced significantly with the increasing SoD and eventually formed a
conical bottom. The results corresponded well with previous studies
performed by Wang et al. (2020). It was also evident that the edge of the
dimple appeared to be very sharp when the nozzle was close to the
workpiece. By withdrawing the nozzle, the dimple edge turned to be
circular arc at SoD of 2 mm, and even more gentle at 4 mm. Apparently,
increasing SoD demonstrated to be effective in achieving conical shape
dimples and less sharp edges, in the meantime, produce higher dimple
diameter.
In general, with the operating range used, four types of dimple
bottoms were generated, namely flat, arched, conical and ‘W’ shape.
Meanwhile, the shape of the blasted areas could be ranged from cylinder
to cone. It can be found that almost all parameters tested would have
certain impacts on the final form of the blasted area, thus making the
dimple geometry feasible to control. Furthermore, the shapes of dimple
C. Kang et al.
Fig. 5. Typical cross-sectional profiles of micro-dimples obtained by changing (a-c) processing time (0.4 MPa air pressure, 10 g/min flow rate and 0.5 mm SoD); (d-f)
air pressure (3 s processing time, 10 g/min flow rate and 1 mm SoD); (g-i) flow rate (3 s processing time, 0.4 MPa air pressure and 2 mm SoD) and (j-l) SoD (3 s
processing time, 0.4 MPa air pressure and 10 g/min flow rate).
would mainly be governed by particular processing parameters. Typi­
cally, the air pressure has a more obvious impact on dimple bottom
morphology, while SoD plays a predominant role in determining dimple
edge shapes and flank slopes.
3.2. Micro-structure
To illustrate the effect of air jetting conditions on the micro-structure
sizes more directly, individual dimple dimensions obtained under
various processing conditions are summarised in Fig. 6. Both blasted
dimple diameter and depth were plotted. It is not surprising to see that
the growing blasting time would increase the dimple dimension for the
two work materials, as shown in Fig. 6 (a). For all the duration selected
in this experiment, the value of dimple depth exhibited a proportional
relationship to the processing time. In terms of dimple diameter, the
influence of processing time was greater at the first 5 s than that of
thereafter.
Similarly, boosting the applied air pressure led to an increment in
both diameter and depth, as shown in Fig. 6 (b). This is because the air
pressure directly affects the particle velocity. Given that the particle
velocity is the dominating factor that determines the kinetic energy,
particles under higher air pressure would behave more aggressively
when interacting with the workpieces, consequently resulting in higher
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
material removal. Therefore, a nearly direct ratio relationship between
pit size and applied air pressure was obtained. Under the specific
blasting condition in this study, when air pressure was changed from 0.2
to 0.6 MPa, only 30 % increment on dimple depth was found in blasted
alumina, but the value almost doubled in the case of ZTA. Nevertheless,
the dimension variation between 0.6 and 0.8 MPa was less significant. It
verifies that there exists a threshold of jetting pressure, above which the
change of pressure would have less significant impact on the final
dimple dimension.
In Fig. 6 (c), the dimple diameter showed a positive correlation to the
applied flow rate because particles inclined to evenly distributed when
more of them were delivered to the nozzle, as reported by Li et al.
(2018). But such impact was insignificant as the dimple diameter only
increased about 60 μm in the two materials when the flow rate increased
from 2 to 10 g/min. Nevertheless, it was still interesting to see that the
flow rate had a more evident influence on dimple depth. As mentioned
in the previous section, the dimple depths increased when the flow rate
was declining from 10 to 2 g/mm. This is likely owing to the rapid flow
rate variation with massive particles, as indicated by Momber (2007).
Such variation would cause pressure loss, consequently reduce abrasive
particle velocity and penetration on the workpiece.
Varying SoD is being recognized as an effective method to alter the
geometry of blasted dimples, as discussed in Section 3.1. Meanwhile, the
C. Kang et al.
Fig. 6. Average value of dimple diameter and depth plotted as a function of various processing conditions. (a) processing time (0.4 MPa air pressure, 10 g/min flow
rate and 2 mm SoD); (b) air pressure (3 s processing time, 10 g/min flow rate and 2 mm SoD); (c) flow rate (3 s processing time, 0.4 MPa air pressure and 2 mm SoD)
and (d) SoD (3 s processing time, 0.4 air pressure and 10 g/min flow rate).
substantial proportional effect of SoD on dimple dimension is also
confirmed by Fig. 6 (d), in which SoD was found to be the most influ­
ential parameter in determining the dimple diameter. During the pro­
cess, the jet air would have slight tangential velocity in addition to
normal motion due to the natural air jet divergence, which forms an
expansion angle to the jet. Therefore, the coverage area on workpieces
would always be larger than the nozzle aperture. In all the tests per­
formed in this study, the smallest dimple diameter achieved was about
570 μm (114 % of the nozzle diameter), which was produced by bringing
the nozzle extremely close to the sample surface and applying low air
pressure. The results were in good match with the previous micro-AJM
study of micro-channel fabrication conducted by Melentiev and Fang
(2020). Obviously, the minimum achievable dimple diameter is limited
by the selected nozzle. It can thus be drawn that the future success of
nano-AJM lies in prompt advances in developing finer abrasives and
more sophisticated nozzles. On the other hand, the depth of the dimple
exhibited a different trend. To be specific, the machined depth showed a
relatively steady increment with the growing SoD when it was below
3 mm. When the distance was between 3 and 4 mm, the variation of SoD
would not make much improvement on dimple depth. 3 mm appeared to
be a turning point of SoD, above which the blasted depth started to fall.
The cause of such phenomena will be explained in detail in the following
section.
Previous studies, such as (Chyr et al., 2014), have demonstrated that
in a friction environment, the aspect ratio δ (the ratio of depth to
diameter) of surface micro-structure is an important factor that would
determine the contact pressure, and hence play a dominant role in
friction reduction. For this reason, in the following study, the
micro-dimple shapes were correlated as a function of operating variables
in the form of aspect ratio, as shown in Fig. 7. As the surface roughness of
the blasted area exhibits an excellent measure of the intensity of blasting
particles when interacting with ceramic workpieces, the dimple bottom
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Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
surface roughness under different processing conditions was also pre­
sented in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7 (a) and (b) show that increasing both processing time and
pressure would lead to a growth of aspect ratio. A much steeper rise in
aspect ratio was noticed when a longer processing time was performed.
This is because the jetting time had a more significant effect on depth
than diameter during an ongoing process. The flattened trend of aspect
ratio at higher applied pressure corresponded well with the data shown
in Fig. 6 (b), where the insignificant influence of air pressure on dimple
dimension was confirmed when the threshold value was exceeded.
Fig. 7 (c) shows that owing to the reduction of dimple depth and the
contrary trend in diameter, the aspect ratio exhibited a downtrend when
a higher flow rate was applied. With respect to SoD, the aspect ratio
increased with the rising SoD when the nozzle distance was within
3 mm. An abrupt drop of aspect ratio was found at higher SoD. This is
correlated well with the threshold point observed in Fig. 6 (d), where the
decreasing dimple depth and increasing diameter makes the variation of
δ more pronounced.
In terms of dimple bottom roughness, it increased with higher air
pressure applied due to the more aggressive interaction between the
abrasive particles and substrate. For a specific blasting particle, higher
air pressure endows higher kinetic energy, which determines the
indenting load of a single abrasive, and thus its penetration. This also
explains the declining trend in Fig. 7 (c), as a higher flow rate caused
lower abrasive velocity and hence reduced kinetic energy. For the same
reason, as blasting duration would have minor influence the energy of
motion, the bottom surface roughness exhibited a good dependency to
processing time and stayed at a certain value regardless of time chang­
ing, as shown in Fig. 7 (a). A slight decrease of Ra was noticed at 1 s
processing time, which is attributed to the pressure loss discussed above.
A turning point of measured roughness value was noticed in Fig. 7 (d),
which was in good match with the threshold value of SoD observed in δ
C. Kang et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181

Fig. 7. Correlation of aspect ratio with added bottom surface roughness.

and Fig. 6 (d). Once again, the results revealed that the effect of SoD is
more complex than other processing conditions and deserves further
discussion from the perspective of kinetic energy.

3.3. Particle velocity

AJM removes material through accelerating abrasive particles for

consequent erosion and abrasion, which transform kinetic energy to
fracture and thus deform substrates. Given that the kinetic energy is
tightly connected to the velocity, the precise estimation of particle ve­
locity is the first step towards dealing with the erosion mechanism and
material removal rate. In this study, an amended algorithm of the ver­
tical particle velocity towards workpiece was developed as follows.
Based on the extensive studies on jet structure reviewed by Momber
(2007), the evolution of particle velocity outside the nozzle can be
divided into two different zones, i.e. the potential core and the mixing
zone (see Fig. 8). The particle mean velocity at the potential core is
reported to be almost uniform and equals to the particle speed at nozzle
exit, Ve . The length of the potential core, Lc , is independent of jet exit
velocity and proportional to the novel diameter dN , whose accepted
value is approximately 6.2 times dN , as revealed by Rajaratnam (1976).
Outside the conical potential core, there is a mixed zone of flow as
indicated by light grey in Fig. 8, which is created by the velocity dif­
ference between the jet and the ambient air. In the schematic shown in
Fig. 8, x was denoted as the coordinate in the air jetting direction to
ensure it is consistent with previous studies. Along x axis, the jet flow
structure can be divided into two regions, i.e. the region that includes
the potential core is called core region, and the part beyond the end of
the potential core is recognized as jet main region. In any lateral
Fig. 8. Schematic of air flow distribution and its different regions.
cross-section (yz plane) of the main region, the maximal flow velocity
occurs only at the centre line, whose value would decrease along the
jetting direction. It was also reported by Rajaratnam (1976) that the

8
C. Kang et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181

centreline velocity exhibits an x− 1 dependence and the jet width is in a

direct proportion to x.
Although the analytical expression of particle velocity profile in free
jet flow has been studied by previous researchers, the jet flow was
generally modelled as a whole, rather than in specific regions. As a
result, the cross-sectional velocity profile of the jet was generally
regarded as asymptotic bell-shape, but its regional variations were not
explicitly explained. For instance, the commonly cited model of radial
velocity profile was developed by Li et al. (2009) using Gauss error
function, as shown below:
( ( )2 )
y
V = Vx exp − In 2 (1)
ra

where Vx is centreline velocity of air flow at an axial distance x from Fig. 9. Schematic of cross-sectional particle velocity distribution at different
nozzle exit, ra is radius of air flow. As discussed, the inadequacy in regions of a jetting structure.
revealing the air velocity profile at different regions is a typical draw­
back of this model. Therefore, in order to better determine regional at each plane can be illustrated as Fig. 9. As the position of selected
variations and improve the features of velocity profile, a work of model planes was in the order from shorter to longer stand-off distances, the
amendment was carried out as follows. area coverage of blasting operation should also be increasing in
In this study, denoting the nozzle exit centre as the origin of proposed sequence, as indicated by ra1 to ra4 in the figure. In this study, the nozzle
coordinate, we hereby selected four typical yz planes to demonstrate the used is a converging cylindrical type with an inner diameter of 500 μm.
evolution of particle velocity, as shown in Fig. 8. To be specific, Plane 1 The length of the potential core, Lc , can thus be calculated as 3.1 mm.
is at the nozzle exit (x = 0); Plane 2 is at a random point of core region Based on the proposed model, 3.1 mm of SoD can be regarded as a
where both potential core and mixed air flow exist (0 < x < 6.2dN ); threshold value, below which the maximum particle speed would be the
Plane 3 is the end of core region, as well as the initiation plane of main same as the particle velocity at nozzle exit, Ve . This explains the insig­
region (x = 6.2dN ); Plane 4 is at a random point of main region, where nificant changes of dimple depth in Fig. 6 (d), when SoD was in the range
there is only mixed air flow (x > 6.2dN ). The particle velocity at each of 2 mm–3 mm. The distinct reduction of material removal was found
plane was denoted as V1 , V2 , V3 and V4 , respectively. Given that the when the nozzle was brought very close to the specimen surface (from
particle velocity at nozzle exit is Ve , we propose the x axial particle 0.5 mm to 1 mm). Such a phenomenon was attributed to the disturbance
velocity of air jet flow to be described as below of rebounding abrasive particles which reduced the number and
⎧ V1(x=0) = Ve , r ≥ 0 aggression of blasting activity, as indicated by Momber (2007). Once
⎪
⎪
⎪ SoD exceeded 3.1 mm, i.e., when blasting activity happened in the main
⎪ ⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎨
Ve , 0 ≤ r ≤ rc region, the maximum particle speed would drop with the increasing
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ V2(0<x<6.2dN ) = ( ( )2 ) SoD, resulting in more moderate erosion activities and lower material
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎩ Ve exp − k r − rc
⎪
, r > rc removal. As a result, shallower dimples (Fig. 6 (d)) and lower bottom
⎪
⎪ r − ra
⎪
⎪
⎪ surface roughness (Fig. 7 (d)) were formed. Meanwhile, due to the
⎪ ⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎪ Ve , r=0 transition of particle velocity distribution from subcylindrical (plane 2
⎨
Vp = V3(x=6.2dN ) = ( ( )2 ) (2) in core region) to subconical (plane 4 in main region), the machined
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎩ Ve exp − k r
, r>0 dimple geometry would also evolute in a similar trend, as corresponded
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
r − ra in Fig. 5 (k) to (l).
⎪ ( )
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎧ 6.2dN It should be noted that the above-simplified model was established
⎪
⎪ ⎪ Ve , r=0
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ x under a perfect environment, where all other processing conditions were
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ V4(x>6.2dN ) = fixed and the viscous effect was not considered. The work of model
⎪ ⎪ ( ( )2 )
⎪
⎪
⎩
⎪
⎪
⎩V r improvement is worthy of investigation in the future study.
4(r=0) exp − k , r>0
r − ra
3.4. Friction and wear
where r is the distance between the particle and centreline in radial
direction, ra = dN /2 + xtanθ is the local air flow radius, rc = dN /2 − To verify the feasibility of prolonging the lifespan of ceramic-based
xtanθ is the local potential core radius at x, θ is the expansion angle, and coupling products by introducing micro-structures via micro-AJM, ex­
k is speed attenuate coefficient from maximum to 0. In this study, k was periments for comparing friction and wear performances of both
assigned to be 1 for calculation convenience. textured and untextured workpieces were conducted. The typical micro-
In a practical micro-AJM process, it is highly impracticable and AJM textured ceramic surface is shown in Fig. 10 (a) and (b). Dimples
almost impossible to precisely locate workpieces at plane 1 or 3. were evenly distributed on a circular region. The texturing parameters
Therefore, the above expression can be simplified in core region and were carefully selected to obtain the same texture aspect ratio on two
main region as below materials. Correspondingly, the dimple aspect ratio was made to be
⎧ ⎧ Ve , r ≤ rc approximately 0.1. In addition, the dimple area density was made to be
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ around 10 %, as suggested by Zhang et al. (2013) that such density
⎪ ( ( ) )
⎨ Vcore(0<x<6.2dN ) = ⎪
⎪
⎩ Ve exp − k r − rc
2
would have a more apparent effect on reducing friction. As can be told
Vp = r − r
, r > rc (3) from the cross-sectional profile in Fig. 10 (c), all the machined dimples
⎪
⎪
a
⎪
⎪
⎪ ( ) ( ( )2 ) exhibited consistent shape and dimension with the same pitch distance
⎪ 6.2dN r
⎪
⎩ Vmain(x≥6.2dN ) = Ve exp − k to the neighbouring ones. The employed blasting condition and mea­
x r − ra
surement results are listed in Table 2. The previous polishing process
Following the model establishment, the simplified cross-sectional was repeated for the textured samples before wear testing, so that burrs
particle velocity profile with the maximum speed at the jet centreline and pitting generated on the flat area could be fully removed. Note that
the bottom of dimples could not be mechanically polished due to the

9
C. Kang et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181

Fig. 10. Typical micro-textured surface of ZTA ceramic using micro-AJM. (a) 2D image, (b) 3D image and (c) cross-sectional profile that goes through a row
of dimples.

Table 2
Processing conditions used for micro-texturing alumina and ZTA.
Workpiece Time (s) Air pressure (MPa) Flow rate (g/min) SoD (mm) Diameter (μm) Depth (μm) Aspect ratio

Alumina 5 0.4 7 1 755 75 0.1

ZTA 0.5 0.6 7 1 805 80 0.1

complex geometry and small size. Innovative polishing techniques with
better accessibility may need to be employed for micro-AJM machined
workpieces in case smooth dimple bottom surface is required in the
future.
After wear tests, both 3D and 2D images of the coupled stainless-steel
ball were measured and presented in Fig. 11. Obvious worn parts were
found on the contacting area of all ball samples. However, the burrs at
the edge of smeared area appeared to be reduced in the balls used for
textured samples. The significantly reduced worn area in both textured
surfaces strongly supported the active role of micro-dimples on
enhancing wear-resistance as shown in Fig. 11 (b) and (d). Fig. 12
further reveals the pronounced effect of micro-texturing on reducing
friction on both workpieces. The friction coefficient was calculated by
averaging the tribological data obtained from the steady wear period.
Favourable values of friction coefficient were obtained from micro-AJM
machined surfaces, where decreasing rates of 9% and 14 % were found

Fig. 11. Characteristics of counter faces used for (a) untextured alumina, (b) textured alumina, (c) untextured ZTA and (d) textured ZTA after wearing tests.

10
C. Kang et al.
Fig. 12. Friction/wear property results of alumina and ZTA with/without
blasted textures.
in alumina and ZTA, respectively. The total material removal volume of
the stainless ball was calculated to demonstrate the extent of wear. In the
case of alumina, the wear loss dropped about 23 % when the textured
surface was applied. A higher decreasing wear loss of around 50 % was
found in ZTA.
The dimple effect on friction performance has been widely studied,
such as by Lu and Khonsari (2007). In a lubricant environment,
micro-textured surface would help to reserve a thick lubrication film
between bearing surfaces via permeation. The existence of such film
would act as a secondary lubricant during sliding, and hence reduce the
interaction of asperities. In addition, the asymmetric pressure distribu­
tion in the dimple area would generate extra hydrodynamic pressure to
separate the surfaces, resulting in a lower friction coefficient. Another
potential explanation of the reduced wear is particle trapping, as indi­
cated by Varenberg et al. (2002) and Bushroa et al. (2011). To be more
specific, the micro-dimples may have more tendencies to trap wear
debris and leave free interface between the coupling components, thus
stopped the potential cutting progress. However, further verification
tests are required for this study.
4. Conclusions
In this study, characterization of alumina and alumina-based ce­
ramics fabricated using micro-abrasive jet machining was investigated.
The influence of various working parameters on the final form of blasted
micro-structures was individually investigated. It has been found that
the morphology of blasted area has an intimate connection with the
radial particle velocity profile. The amended model of particle velocity
profile agreed well with the variation trend and was substantiated by the
experimental observation. The improvement of wear resistance of
textured workpieces was confirmed by pin-on-disk tests in the end,
which indicated the potential applications of micro-AJM in micro-
machining. Some key findings can be concluded as follows:
(1) The dimension, aspect ratio, geometry and surface roughness of
the blasted micro-structure can be well controlled by optimizing
the air jetting conditions. The shape of the blasted dimple can be
varied between column to cone, while different types of bottom
geometry can be achieved, including flat, arched, conical and ‘W’
shape. For the ceramic materials studied in this work, ZTA ex­
hibits better machinability in micro-AJM in terms of surface
finish and dimple form accuracy when comparing with high-
purity alumina.
(2) The bottom morphology was more likely to be governed by air
pressure, while SoD has a more evident impact on the taper angle
and edge sharpness. Increasing flow rate would also contribute to
achieving finer dimples with a trade-off of the higher consump­
tion of blasting media. Abrasive particle velocity distribution
11
Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 297 (2021) 117181
turns to be an effective indicator in predicting the final form of
blasted area.
(3) Additional pin-on-disk experiments verified that introducing
micro-patterns on ceramics using micro-AJM is an effective way
to enhance wear-resistance in a lubricant system, where sec­
ondary lubrication and hydrodynamic action were prompted.
The results obtained in this study not only open a new avenue to
introduce desired micro-textures on ceramics effectively and efficiently,
but also provide the basis to understand how various shapes of dimples
could be formed during micro-AJM. However, due to the existence of air
divergence, more sophisticated nozzles and finer abrasive will need to
be developed in order to achieve sub-micro or nano-scale textures.
Moreover, developing innovative polishing technique with good acces­
sibility is also an inevitable trend towards the post-processing of micro-
AJM machined workpieces.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Chengwei Kang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Writing - original draft. Fusheng Liang: Formal analysis,
Methodology, Writing - review & editing. Gang Shen: Investigation,
Validation. Dongxu Wu: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing,
Software. Fengzhou Fang: Resources, Supervision, Writing - review &
editing, Project administration.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements are extended to the support received from the
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) (No.15/RP/B3208) and ‘111’ project
by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and the Ministry
of Education of China (No. B07014). The author would also like to thank
Ruslan Melentieve and Yanbo Zhao for valuable discussions.
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