Effect of tool surface topography on interfacial deformation behaviour of metal microtubes in flaring test

In this study, the effect of the surface roughness of a conical tool on the surface characteristics of the micro-tube in the flaring test was investigated experimentally and numerically. The tube used is stainless steel (SUS 316L) of 500 µm diameter and 50 µm thickness. All surface asperities of the micro-tube and the conical tool were modelled as cyclic concave-convex configurations. From numerical and experimental results, it was found that the surface topographies of both the micro-tube and the conical tool are significantly important factors affecting the final surface quality of the micro-tube.