Speculation of Mechanical Properties of Ni-W Micro-gears Fabricated by LIGA Process

Abstract

Microgears made of Ni-W alloy that are expected to have high durability, were successfully fabricated by using the LIGA process with synchrotron radiation. In this study, Ni-W electrodeposited alloy microgears were mechanically evaluated. The LIGA process based on the synchrotron radiation facility, New SUBARU at the University of Hyogo was performed at the Beamline BL11 (electron energy: 1.0 GeV). A dimensional evaluation of the fabricated microgears showed that they could be fabricated with a high accuracy of a few percent from the design value. Tensile tests and Vickers hardness tests presented that the Ni-W electrodeposited alloy has excellent material properties in terms of both strength and ductility. As a result, micro gears with high precision, high strength, and high ductility can be fabricated using this process.