Development of micro-abrasive tools enables manufacturing of micro-parts and micro-features for various applications. However, the main challenge is to deposit a highly adherent abrasive layer surrounding a precision micro-substrate. The present work involved fabrication of micro-abrasive tools consisting of an electroless Ni-P-diamond abrasive layer surrounding a WC-Co cylindrical tip of diameter 100 μm and length 500 μm. The effect of diamond grit concentration and ultrasonic agitation on the structure, chemical composition, microhardness, scratch hardness, and scratch adhesion of the abrasive layers were studied. An increase in grit concentration in the electroless bath, in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 g/l, led to the incorporation of a higher quantity of abrasives into the deposited Ni-P matrix. The grits were more uniformly distributed when subjected to ultrasonic agitation prior to their addition to the bath. However, towards higher grit concentration of 1.5 g/l, ultrasonic agitation was found to be ineffective in breaking the diamond clusters. The tools fabricated without ultrasonication exhibited some ‘Ni-void’ regions where diamond grits got accumulated, leaving little room for Ni deposition. Microhardness and scratch hardness of the tools scaled with grit content in the abrasive layers as well as with ultrasonication. In progressive-load scratch tests, localized removal and ploughing of the abrasive layer were observed at low diamond grit concentration of 0.5 g/l. However, abrasive layers synthesized with higher grit concentration and ultrasonication were found to be well adherent with no failure till a normal load of 32 N in the scratch test.
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