Recent Trends in Micro and Nano Machining of Engineering Materials

With the development and advancements in the material research, increasing number of new materials with micro and nano has been developed to meet the expectations of the micro and nano industries. Although the material database has grown tremendously, machining of the new materials with the traditional has posed a major challenge, thereby restricting their applications to their applicability to the nano and micro industries. To overcome such challenges, new micro and nano machining techniques have been researched and developed. The new machining techniques are referred to as unconventional machining process and are being used increasingly because of a number of associated advantages. Owing to the importance of micro and nano machining techniques, the present chapter discusses important micro machining processes such as electrical discharge machining (EDM), electrochemical machining (ECM), abrasive water-jet machining (AWJM), and laser beam machining (LBM). A brief section on recent trends in nano-machining has also been presented at the end of the chapter.