Patent ID: 7628099

Claim:
A method of machining a body to controllably produce chips with determinable shapes and sizes, the method comprising; selecting at least one desired shape and size for chips produced by machining the body; and imposing a superimposed sinusoidal modulation on a cutting tool so as to move the cutting tool relative to the body and cause instantaneous and periodic engagement and separation between the cutting tool and the body at an intimate region of contact between the cutting tool and the body, wherein each periodic engagement and separation between the cutting tool and the body yields a chip, shapes and sizes of the chips are intentionally controlled by the superimposed modulation, cutting velocity, feedrate, depth of cut, and frequency and amplitude of the superimposed modulation are intentionally selected and controlled to produce the desired shape and size of the chips, and the chips are chosen from the group consisting of platelets, needles, ribbons, filaments, fibers, wires, and equiaxed particles.