Front. Mech. Eng.

2023, 18(1): 18
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-022-0734-y

REVIEW ARTICLE

A review of low-temperature plasma-assisted machining:

from mechanism to application
Jiyu LIU‡, Yuheng LI‡, Yang CHEN, Yuyang ZHOU, Shuaishuai WANG, Zizhen YUAN, Zhuji JIN,
Xin LIU (✉)
Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-traditional Machining Technology of the Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian
116024, China
✉ Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] (Xin LIU)

© The Author(s) 2023. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn
ABSTRACT Materials with high hardness, strength or plasticity have been widely used in the fields of aviation,
aerospace, and military, among others. However, the poor machinability of these materials leads to large cutting forces,
high cutting temperatures, serious tool wear, and chip adhesion, which affect machining quality. Low-temperature
plasma contains a variety of active particles and can effectively adjust material properties, including hardness, strength,
ductility, and wettability, significantly improving material machinability. In this paper, we first discuss the mechanisms
and applications of low-temperature plasma-assisted machining. After introducing the characteristics, classifications, and
action mechanisms of the low-temperature plasma, we describe the effects of the low-temperature plasma on different
machining processes of various difficult-to-cut materials. The low-temperature plasma can be classified as hot plasma
and cold plasma according to the different equilibrium states. Hot plasma improves material machinability via the
thermal softening effect induced by the high temperature, whereas the main mechanisms of the cold plasma can be
summarized as chemical reactions to reduce material hardness, the hydrophilization effect to improve surface wettability,
and the Rehbinder effect to promote fracture. In addition, hybrid machining methods combining the merits of the low-
temperature plasma and other energy fields like ultrasonic vibration, liquid nitrogen, and minimum quantity lubrication
are also described and analyzed. Finally, the promising development trends of low-temperature plasma-assisted
machining are presented, which include more precise control of the heat-affected zone in hot plasma-assisted machining,
cold plasma-assisted polishing of metal materials, and further investigations on the reaction mechanisms between the
cold plasma and other materials.

KEYWORDS low-temperature plasma, difficult-to-cut material, machinability, hydrophilization effect, Rehbinder

effect

1 Introduction the machining process, problems such as high tempera-

ture, large cutting force, and serious tool wear are likely
Titanium alloy, high temperature alloy, engineering to occur, making it difficult to meet the increasingly high
ceramics, and other materials with superb properties have requirements of special service conditions for machining
been widely used in special equipment, such as aero- accuracy, surface integrity, and fatigue life [19].
engines, gas turbines, aircraft landing gear, nuclear main To date, researchers have employed various cooling
pumps, and seawater valves [1–10]. Although these media to achieve the high-surface integrity machining of
materials generally have good mechanical strength and difficult-to-cut materials, including high-pressure coolant-
high ductility or hardness, they may also contain a variety assisted machining [20–22], liquid nitrogen-assisted
of metal compounds and unevenly distributed hard machining [23,24], supercritical carbon dioxide-assisted
particles, resulting in poor machinability [11–18]. During machining [25–31], and minimum quantity lubrication
(MQL)-assisted machining [32–36]. An et al. [25–31]
Received April 30, 2022; accepted August 22, 2022 creatively proposed supercritical CO2-based MQL
‡ These authors contribute equally. technology and applied the technique into materials, such
2 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

as carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite material, enlightenments for further application and development
TC4 titanium alloy, and graphite iron. Their results of this technology. In this paper, after introducing basic
indicated that the hybrid cooling technology could characteristics of the low-temperature plasma, we
effectively reduce cutting temperature, alleviate sub- expound the action mechanism of the low-temperature
surface damage, and improve surface quality. Li et al. plasma-assisted machining, and then describe the
[33–35] innovatively combined compressed gas, degrad- application of the low-temperature plasma in the auxiliary
able vegetable oil, and nanoparticles to improve the processing of difficult-to-cut materials; finally, we
cooling and lubrication environments in the grinding area prospect the development trend of the low-temperature
and found that the nanofluid MQL could significantly plasma-assisted machining. Schematic diagram showing
reduce specific grinding energy, avoid workpiece burn, the overall structure of the paper is shown in Fig. 1.
and improve surface integrity. Apart from the cooling
media, external energy fields, such as ultrasonic vibra-
tion, have also been applied to improve machinability 2 Basic characteristics of low-temperature
[37–39]. For example, Bhaduri et al. [39] conducted plasma and its mechanism in auxiliary
ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding experiments of γ- machining
TiAl alloy and found that ultrasonic vibration could
reduce grinding force and surface roughness Ra by ~35% Plasma is an unbound macroscopic system consisting of
and ~10%, respectively. charged particles and is generally regarded as the fourth
Although the abovementioned methods can reduce state of matter after solid, liquid, and gas [43]. Plasma
cutting temperature and cutting force, thus improving exists widely in nature, and more than 99% of matter in
surface integrity, the material properties have not been the universe, such as aurora, sun, and lightning, are in a
changed. As a result, problems caused by the special plasma state. The classification of plasma according to
mechanical strength, ductility, and hardness can still the electron temperature Te is shown in Table 1. On the
influence the machining process. At the same time, when one hand, Te in the high-temperature plasma can reach
surface temperature is higher than a certain value, a vapor 108 K, the plasma is completely ionized, and particle
layer will form when the cooling media are in contact density is very high, which can be generated by the solar
with the surface due to the Leidenfrost effect, and the core in nature and tokamak devices in laboratories. On
certain value obtained is called the “Leidenfrost the other hand, Te in the low-temperature plasma is lower
temperature” [40,41]. The Leidenfrost effect leads to a than 105 K, the plasma is partially ionized, and it is
significant decrease in solid–liquid contact area, making generally generated by gas discharge in laboratories.
it difficult for the coolant to enter the cutting area for Low-temperature plasma can be further divided into hot
effective lubrication and cooling, resulting in relatively and cold plasma according to different thermodynamic
lower critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficient [42]. equilibrium states [44,45]. Hot plasma is in a local
Therefore, it is of great significance to develop machining thermodynamic equilibrium state, its Te and ion
methods that can adjust material properties, so that temperature (Ti) are relatively high and approximately
material machinability can be effectively improved. equal (Te ≈ Ti in the range of 104‒105 K), and the
As a material state rich in active particles, plasma can macroscopic temperature can reach up to 105 K. By
effectively improve surface wettability as well as reduce contrast, cold plasma is in a non-local thermodynamic
material strength, hardness, and deformation resistance. equilibrium state, the value of Te (104‒105 K) is much
When plasma is induced into a cutting area, its effects on higher than Ti (103 K), and the macroscopic temperature
material properties can effectively promote material is relatively low, even close to room temperature.
fracture and the permeation of the cooling media into the The schematic diagram and experimental setup of the
cutting area, thus realizing the highly efficient, precise, low-temperature plasma-assisted machining process is
and low-damage machining of difficult-to-cut materials. shown in Fig. 2 [46,47]. The low-temperature plasma
According to electron temperature Te, plasma can be influences the machining process by physical and
classified as high-temperature (Te: ~108 K) and low- chemical effects. For hot plasma, the main effect is the
temperature plasma (Te < 105 K). Compared with the thermal softening effect contributed by the high
high-temperature plasma, the low-temperature plasma is temperature. For cold plasma, the main mechanisms are
easier to obtain and maintain. In recent years, researchers reducing hardness, improving surface wettability, and
have applied the latter into machining process, i.e., low- promoting material fracture through chemical reactions.
temperature plasma-assisted machining, which can The mechanisms of the hot and cold plasma during the
significantly improve material machinability and surface assisted machining process are summarized below.
integrity. However, the mechanisms, application ranges, Hot plasma: The high macroscopic temperature (>
and development trends of this promising technique have 10000 K) of hot plasma can effectively reduce mechan-
been rarely discussed. It should be of great significance to ical strength and hardness of materials via the thermal
systematically discuss these issues, so as to provide softening effect. Thus, hot plasma can be applied in
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 3

Fig. 1 Overall structure of the paper.

Table 1 Classification of plasma

Macroscopic
Classification Thermodynamic property Examples
temperature/K
High-temperature plasma 106–108 Thermodynamic equilibrium Solar core; thermonuclear fusion
Low-temperature plasma Hot plasma 103–2×104 Local thermodynamic equilibrium Arc plasma; high-frequency plasma; magnetic fluid discharge
Cold plasma 300–500 Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium Glow discharge; corona discharge; spark discharge

machining processes of high-strength and high-hardness providing comparable heating rates at lower costs [48].
materials, such as bearing steel, titanium alloy, and At the same time, the spot size of a plasma torch is larger,
nickel-base superalloy (Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) [46]), thereby resulting in relatively lower heating accuracy, while also
reducing cutting forces via the thermal softening effect, ensuring the heating of all radial cutting depths in the
which ultimately improves material machinability. The milling process [49,50].
mechanism of hot plasma-assisted machining (HPAM) Cold plasma: Although the macroscopic temperature of
has similarities with laser-assisted machining, which uses cold plasma is quite low, it contains a variety of high-
high-temperature plasma torch or laser beam to soften energy active particles, including electrons (1–10 eV),
materials. Compared with laser-assisted machining, the excited atoms or molecules (0–20 eV), and photons (3–
use of hot plasma is relatively more economical, 40 eV) [51]. The energies of these particles are generally
4 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram and experimental setup of the low-temperature plasma-assisted machining process: (a) schematic diagram and
(b) experimental setup of hot plasma-assisted machining; (c) schematic diagram and (d) experimental setup of cold plasma-assisted
machining. Reproduced with permissions from Refs. [46,47] from Taylor and Francis and Elsevier, respectively.

higher than those of typical chemical bonds, such as C–C improving surface quality. When investigating the effects
(3.45 eV), C–F (4.69 eV), and C–H (4.3 eV). Therefore, of cold plasma on these properties, surface wettability is
when cold plasma is employed to treat materials, its generally characterized by measuring water contact
active particles can break the chemical bonds of angles. Meanwhile mechanical properties, such as
molecular chains; as dangling bonds appear at the broken ductility and deformation resistance, are characterized by
positions, they generate free radicals. The active particles nanoindentation measurement, single particle scratching
in cold plasma, such as O and OH, may combine with test, and tensile experiment.
these free radicals and form hydrophilic oxygen- Cold plasma can effectively change surface properties
containing groups (e.g., C–O and C=O), thereby without inducing obvious structural damage; thus, it has
improving surface hydrophilicity. During the machining significant application values in other fields. For instance,
process of difficult-to-cut materials, the difficulties radio frequency (RF) plasma-enhanced physical vapor
involved as coolants enter the cutting area as a result of deposition has been widely studied and applied in
the Leidenfrost effect contribute to the high cutting improving coating adhesion, i.e., the physical-chemical
temperature and poor machinability [42]. Surfaces with bonding between coatings and substrates [55–57]. Cold
better hydrophilicity have higher Leidenfrost temperature plasma can also be used for improving the painting ability
and heat transfer coefficient. Therefore, when cold [58] and corrosion resistance [59,60] of various materials.
plasma and other coolants are simultaneously induced According to the above discussion, with varying
into the cutting area (Figs. 2(c) and 2(d) [47]), the thermodynamic properties and macroscopic temperatures,
hydrophilization effect of the cold plasma may promote the action mechanisms of hot plasma and cold plasma in
the coolants to permeate the cutting area, significantly assisted machining are radically different. The mecha-
improving the cooling and lubricating condition. nism of hot plasma is the thermal softening effect, while
Aside from the effect in improving the permeability of that of cold plasma can be mainly attributed to chemical
coolants through hydrophilization, cold plasma may also reactions. The different mechanisms contribute to the
reduce material strength and ductility due to the dissimilar applications of HPAM and cold plasma-
Rehbinder effect, which claims that active particles assisted machining (CPAM), which are respectively
absorbing on cracks may promote crack propagation described below.
[52–54]. Cold plasma contains various active particles
and may promote the expansion of cracks and lattice
gaps. When applied into the machining process, cold 3 Hot plasma-assisted machining
plasma may reduce the ductility and deformation
resistance of materials, effectively reducing cutting force, The demand for materials with high strength and good
restraining tool wear, alleviating chip adhesion, and heat resistance has been increasing, particularly in
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 5

aerospace field. However, material properties, such as Madhavulu and Ahmed [61] applied hot plasma in the
high strength and low thermal conductivity, bring about turning of stainless and alloy steels and revealed that the
problems, including large cutting forces, high cutting HPAM could improve material removal rate and tool life
temperatures, and serious tool wear. Given that the strain by 1.8 times and 1.67 times, respectively. López de
hardening rate and yield stress of materials significantly Lacalle et al. [49] employed the HPAM to machine
decrease with the increase of temperatures contributed by Haynes 25, Inconel 718, and Ti‒6Al‒4V, and found that
the thermal softening effect, thermally enhanced cutting forces could be reduced by up to 25% while
machining can effectively improve material machinabi- productivity was improved by 350% for the Haynes 25.
lity. Compared with flame heating and laser-assisted For Inconel 718, the HPAM could significantly alleviate
machining, HPAM has relatively higher heating notch wear, thus contributing to the increase of ~200% in
efficiency and lower cost [48] and has been widely tool life. Lee et al. [50,63] developed an HPAM device
applied in the machining of difficult-to-cut materials. (Fig. 4 [63]) and conducted HPAM experiments of
During HPAM, most equipment adopts the plasma Ti‒6Al‒4V, AISI 1045 steel, and Inconel 718. Their
transferred arc, whose generating system is illustrated by experimental results indicated that the surface roughness
the schematic diagram shown in Fig. 3. A hot plasma jet Ra and cutting force could be reduced by 70.5% and
is first generated around the electrode by closing switch 60.2%, respectively, for Ti‒6Al‒4V [50]. Furthermore,
S1; then, switch S2 is closed to alter the electric circuit when machining AISI 1045 steel, the HPAM decreased
and form a plasma arc between the electrode and the cutting force by up to 61% and 15% compared with
workpiece. The high temperature of the hot plasma conventional machining and laser-assisted machining,
requires large current (tens to hundreds of amperes) and a respectively [63]. Farahnakian and Razfar [68] combined
high power of thousands of watts [46,61]. The high hot plasma and ultrasonic vibration to assist in the turning
temperature generated by the high power can effectively of hardened steel AISI 4140; compared with conventional
reduce material hardness through the thermal softening turning (CT), the cutting force decreased by up to ~60%,
effect. As a result, less spindle power is required during and surface roughness Ra was improved by 5%–20%.
machining, and higher productivity can be achieved [61]. Rao [48] investigated the hot plasma-assisted turning
Kitagawa et al. [62] first reported the HPAM technique process of hardened AISI 4340 alloy steel and found that
for high-hardness metals, such as 18% Mn steel and surface roughness Ra and tool wear were influenced by
2.25% Cr cast iron. Their turning experiments indicated the heating temperatures of hot plasma and machining
that the hot plasma could reduce cutting forces, alleviate time. Under higher heating temperatures, the surface
flank wear, and improve surface roughness Ra. roughness Ra became relatively lower and increased more

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the hot plasma generating system.

6 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

Fig. 4 Hot plasma-assisted machining device. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [63] from Elsevier.

slowly with the machining time (Fig. 5 [48]). They also

found that tool wear form changed from notch wear to
diffusion wear (873.15 K).
While hot plasma can reduce material strength and
cutting forces by heating the cutting area, the heating
effect may also cause an excessively high temperature of
the cutting tools, leading to a serious reduction in tool life
[46]. To reduce tool temperature and restrain groove
wear, researchers have proposed a hybrid machining
method combining hot plasma heating and liquid nitrogen
cooling. Wang et al. [64] first employed the hybrid
machining method to turn Inconel 718, in which the
workpiece was heated by hot plasma, while the cutting
tool was cooled by liquid nitrogen, as shown in Fig. 6(a)
[64]. Experimental results demonstrated that the surface
roughness Ra could be reduced by 250%, cutting forces
Fig. 5 Effect of heating temperature on surface roughness Ra
were decreased by about 30%–50% (Fig. 6(b) [64]), and with respect to the machining time. Reproduced with permission
tool life was extended by 170% over CT. Feyzi and from Ref. [48] from Taylor and Francis.
Safavi [65] employed hot plasma to soften the Inconel
718 workpiece; and simultaneously utilized liquid the temperature distribution of the HPAM process of
nitrogen to ensure that the tool insert was not overheated. Inconel 718 through numerical modeling (Fig. 8 [66]) and
Compared with conventional machining, tool flank wear experimental measurement, and the results of the
was effectively alleviated, tool life improved by at least numerical analysis and experimental investigation
4–8 times, and surface roughness Ra improved from 2.5 showed good agreement. HPAM experiments were then
to 0.2 µm. Khani et al. [46] induced both hot plasma and performed based on these analyses, and the results
liquid nitrogen into the turning process of 17-4PH indicated that the plasma heating of the workpiece
stainless steel and found that the cutting force could be reduced resultant cutting forces by up to 30% and that
reduced by up to 48%. In addition, the tool flank wear specific shear energy of the HPAM was much lower.
decreased by 48%, and tool life improved by 117% Meanwhile, the relatively higher chip temperature of the
thanks to the cooling of the cutting insert contributed by HPAM led to higher flank wear rates, whereas notch wear
the liquid nitrogen (Fig. 7 [46]). could be effectively alleviated and tool life was improved
The experimental results of the HPAM indicate that the by 40%. Shao-Hsien and Tsai [67] conducted predictive
hot plasma can effectively improve material machina- analysis for the thermal diffusion of the HPAM process
bility. Apart from the machining experiments, researchers of Inconel 718 through exponential smoothing, and the
have also developed theoretical models depicting the exponential smoothing model was able to estimate cutting
HPAM process to further investigate the influence of hot temperatures depending on plasma heating current and
plasma. Leshock et al. [66] systematically characterized feed rate. Rao [48] established regression models for
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 7

Fig. 6 Hybrid machining (combining hot plasma heating and liquid nitrogen cooling): (a) schematic of the experimental device and
(b) main cutting force of conventional turning and hybrid turning. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [64] from Elsevier.

employed the ANSYS workbench thermal analysis

software to predict preheating temperature distribution of
the HPAM (Fig. 9 [63]) and found that the effective depth
of cut was about 0.3 mm for AISI 1045 steel and 0.4 mm
for Inconel 718.
Research results of the abovementioned experimental
and theoretical work were generally consistent,
demonstrating that the HPAM could effectively reduce
cutting forces, extend tool life, and improve surface
roughness Ra through the thermal softening effect, as
listed in Table 2 [46,48‒50,61–66]. The relatively optimal
surface roughness Ra obtained by each work varied from
Fig. 7 Linear extrapolation of the flank wear for cryogenic ~0.1 to ~0.6 µm due to the differences in machining
liquid nitrogen turning (CRT), hot plasma-enhanced turning
(PET), conventional turning (CT), and hybrid turning (HYT)
processes and workpieces materials, while they all
combining CRT and PET. Reproduced with permission from showed significant improvement compared with conven-
Ref. [46] from Taylor and Francis. tional machining. However, the relatively large tempera-
ture gradient and limited controllability of the hot plasma
heating may result in the excessively high temperature of
the cutting area, leading to thermal damage and
metamorphic layer of machined surfaces [49,68,69]. As
shown in Fig. 10 [49], the hot plasma heating generated a
metallurgical layer with Widmanstätten microstructures
on the TC4 titanium alloy surface. The structure
possessed higher hardness but poorer ductility, and its
fatigue behavior was difficult to predict, which might
restrain the application of machined surfaces. In addition,
as it was difficult to precisely control the affected depth,
there was still Widmanstätten microstructure after
HPAM, as shown in Fig. 10(c). Therefore, the HPAM has
been mostly applied in rough or semi-finishing machining
Fig. 8 Temperature distributions of the hot plasma-assisted of high-hardness or high-strength materials, while
machining process of the Inconel 718 cylinder surface.
precision machining with low surface roughness (e.g.,
Reproduced with permission from Ref. [66] from Elsevier.
Ra < 0.1 µm) has been rarely reported with the use of
surface roughness Ra, tool wear, and material removal HPAM.
rate during the hot plasma-assisted turning process of
AISI 4340 alloy steel, and the models could predict these
measured values with accuracies all above 98%. The error 4 Cold plasma-assisted machining
between the predicated and experimental values were
estimated to be 2.45%–9.22%, and the models could Compared with hot plasma, cold plasma has much lower
predict the surface roughness and tool life with a macro temperature and is rich in active particles.
confidence interval of 99.8%. Moon and Lee [63] Therefore, it can effectively adjust material properties,
8 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

Fig. 9 Temperature distributions of the hot plasma-assisted machining processes of (a) AISI 1045 steel and (b) Inconel 718. Reproduced
with permission from Ref. [63] from Elsevier.

Table 2 Summary of selected research papers that investigated HPAM

Optimal surface
Workpiece materials Authors Machining process Effects compared with conventional machining
roughness Ra
18% Mn steel, 2.25% Cr Kitagawa et al. [62] Turning Decrease in cutting force, disappearance of built-up edge and Not mentioned
cast iron chatter
Stainless steel, alloy Madhavulu and Turning 1.8 times gain in material removal rate, 1.67 times Not mentioned
steel Ahmed [61] improvement in tool life
Inconel 718 Leshock et al. [66] Turning 30% decrease in cutting force, 40% increase in tool life, two- ~0.4 µm
fold improvement in Ra
Haynes 25, Inconel 718 López de Lacalle Milling 25% decrease in cutting force and 350% increase in Not mentioned
et al. [49] productivity for Haynes 25, 200% increase in tool life for
Inconel 718
Ti‒6Al‒4V Lee and Lee [50] Milling 60.2% decrease in cutting force, 70.5% improvement in Ra 0.111 µm
AISI 1045 steel, Inconel Moon and Lee [63] Milling 61% decrease in cutting force and 79% improvement in Ra ~0.1 µm for each
718 for AISI 1045 steel, 57% decrease in cutting force and 82% material
improvement in Ra for Inconel 718
Hardened AISI 4340 Rao [48] Turning Tool wear form transferred from notch wear to flank wear, Ra ~0.5 µm
steel was reduced
Inconel 718 Wang et al. [64] Turning (with liquid N2) 30%–50% decrease in cutting force, 250% reduction in Ra, ~0.6 µm
170% increase in tool life
Inconel 718 Feyzi and Safavi [65] Turning (with liquid N2, 4‒8 times increase in tool life, 88%–93% improvement in Ra ~0.2 µm
ultrasonic vibration)
17-4PH stainless steel Khani et al. [46] Turning (with liquid N2) 48% reduction in cutting force, 48% decrease in tool flank ~0.5 µm
wear, 18% improvement in Ra, 117% increase in tool life

Fig. 10 Metallurgical microstructures induced by hot plasma heating: (a) heated zone, (b) Widmanstätten microstructure of the interface,
and (c) affected zone after hot plasma-assisted machining. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [49] from ASME.

such as surface wettability and mechanical strength, Meanwhile, researchers have recently found that cold
without inducing obvious thermal damages [70–78]. Cold plasma can reduce material strength and hardness through
plasma can rapidly hydrophilize surfaces to be chemical reactions [84] and the Rehbinder effect [85].
superhydrophilic (Fig. 11) and water can spread and Currently, cold plasma has been applied into the
penetrate more easily. Additionally, compared with machining processes of various materials. Given that the
hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces, the superhydrophilic influence depth of cold plasma is quite limited, research
surfaces can form larger liquid films under bubbles and on CPAM has mainly focused on precision machining.
has relatively higher Leidenfrost temperature, critical heat Cold plasma is generally formed by gas discharge, and
flux, and heat transfer coefficient [79–83]. Thus, when a typical system is shown in Fig. 12 [86]. As can be seen,
induced into the cutting area, cold plasma can effectively working gas flowed through the pressure reducing valve
improve heat transfer efficiency of the coolants. and the flowmeter into the electrode, after which gas
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 9

Fig. 11 Cold plasma hydrophilization process.

Fig. 12 Schematic diagram of the cold plasma-generating system. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [86] from Elsevier.

pressure and flow rate were respectively adjusted by the results demonstrated that cold plasma could oxidize the
pressure reducing valve and the flowmeter. High voltage silicon carbide to turn it into silicon dioxide, leading to
was applied between the needle and the nozzle to break the significant decrease in hardness from 37.4 to 4.5 GPa
down the working gas, thereby forming a cold plasma jet. [89]. The silicon dioxide could then be easily removed by
Compared with hot plasma, with high voltage hydrofluoric acid dipping or ceria abrasives (Fig. 14
(kilovoltage level) but low current (milliampere level), [90]), and atomic flattening of the silicon carbide was
the discharge power of cold plasma is quite low (can be achieved with a root mean square roughness of ~0.1 nm.
even lower than 10 W [87,88]), the size of the generator When applying the CPAP into the aluminum nitride
is on the order of several hundred millimeters, and ceramic, the aluminum nitride was modified to be
investment costs of the generator can be within 10000 aluminum fluoride, and obvious improvements in surface
USD. The relatively smaller sizes and lower costs of the integrity and material removal rate were achieved (Fig. 15
cold plasma contribute to its promising application [95]). For single-crystal diamond, the cold plasma could
prospects. convert the carbon atoms to carbon dioxide; thus, the
material removal rate was 20 times greater than that of
4.1 Cold plasma-assisted polishing conventional polishing, and surface roughness Sq of 0.13
nm could be obtained [98]. Bastawros et al. [102]
The cold plasma-assisted polishing (CPAP) operates developed a CPAP platform (Fig. 16 [102]) and utilized
based on chemical reactions between the active particles atmospheric pressure He-H2O plasma to assist the
in the cold plasma and material surfaces, so as to reduce polishing of single crystal sapphire. The results indicated
material hardness, as well as improve material removal that the materials removal rate could be improved by two
rate and surface integrity. Yamamura et al. [84] first times, which can be attributed to the improvement of
proposed the CPAP technique, which reduced the hydride formation on the sapphire surface by active
hardness of hard materials through plasma irradiation, chemical species. Lyu et al. [103] reported a novel
while polishing using soft abrasives (Fig. 13 [84]). In the polishing approach combining plasma treatment and low-
past decade, they have applied the technique in pressure polishing for lutetium oxide. Their innovative
processing a variety of materials, including silicon polishing technique could obtain atomically smooth
carbide [84,89–94], aluminum nitride [95,96], gallium lutetium oxide surface with a surface roughness Sa of
nitride [97], and single-crystal diamonds [98–101]. The 0.47 nm.
10 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

Fig. 13 Schematic diagram of the cold plasma-assisted polishing device. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [84] from Elsevier.
RF: radio frequency, MFC: micro flow controller, DPM: dew-point meter, UPW: ultrapure water.

Fig. 14 Material removal mechanism of cold plasma-assisted polishing: (a) hydrofluoric acid dipping and (b) ceria abrasives.
Reproduced with permission from Ref. [90] from Elsevier. HF: hydrofluoric acid.

The CPAP technology generates new compositions [104], who proposed a microbeam cold plasma-
with relatively lower hardness through chemical reac- generating device to achieve the separation of discharge
tions, thus reducing material hardness and significantly and treatment areas. Atmospheric pressure cold plasma
improving material removal rate and surface integrity. At jet could produce active particles in the surrounding air as
present, the application of this technology mainly well as eliminate the limitation of sample size caused by
concentrates on non-metallic materials, such as silicon discharge devices [105–111]. In recent years, researchers
carbide and sapphire. Thus, the application of the CPAP have developed a variety of atmospheric pressure cold
in high-efficient and precision machining of engineering plasma jets [87,112–118], showing promising application
metal materials has great significance. prospects in the field of auxiliary cutting.
Liu et al. [119,120] first applied cold plasma jets in the
4.2 Cold plasma-assisted cutting machining of difficult-to-cut metal materials, such as
NAK80 die steel and 304 stainless steel, as well as
During the cold plasma-assisted cutting (CPAC) process, conducted surface wettability modification, friction and
the movement speeds between the cutting tools and wear tests, and turning experiments. The results indicated
workpieces are relatively higher, and the tool-workpiece that cold plasma jets could improve the surface
contact areas are smaller. Therefore, atmospheric pressure wettability of metal materials and reduce friction
cold plasma jets (Fig. 17), which may more easily coefficient between tool and friction pair, thus effectively
penetrate into the cutting area, have been widely used. reducing cutting forces, prolonging tool life, and
Cold plasma jets were first reported by Koinuma et al. improving surface quality. On this basis, Huang et al.
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 11

Fig. 15 Scanning white-light interferometer images of the aluminum nitride (a) before and (b) after plasma-assisted polishing, (c) before
and (d) after conventional polishing. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [95] from Elsevier.

Fig. 16 Cold plasma-assisted polishing platform for single

crystal sapphire. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [102]
from Elsevier.

[86,121,122] combined the cold plasma jet and ultrasonic

elliptical vibration and proposed a hybrid turning (HYT)
method for the diamond cutting of ferrous metals, as Fig. 17 Atmospheric pressure cold plasma jets.
shown in Fig. 18 [121]. The ultrasonic vibration
contributed to intermittent contact between the tool and the flank wear of the HYT was less than 50% of the CT,
workpiece, which promoted the cold plasma jet to enter and surface roughness Ra was largely reduced. As
the cutting area. Turning experiments demonstrated that coolants were not used in these experiments, the main
12 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

influence mechanisms of the cold plasma were the TC4 titanium alloy, and Inconel 718 superalloy, as shown
Rehbinder effect and chemical reactions induced by in Fig. 19 [125]. The machining experiments indicated
reactive particles. The Rehbinder effect contributed to the that the hybrid machining method could obviously reduce
reduction in friction coefficient, and the chemical cutting temperatures and cutting forces, alleviate tool
reactions formed nitrides, such as FexCyNx, which wear, and improve surface integrity. For the TC4 titanium
inhibited graphitization of the diamond tool in cutting of alloy, compared with dry micro-milling, the main cutting
ferrous metals [121]. force was reduced by 25%, surface roughness Ra was
The above CPAC methods could improve the improved by 50%, and cracks on the machined surface
machinability of various materials; however, these did not could be obviously alleviated (Fig. 20 [85]). The cold
involve coolants, and the hydrophilization effect of the plasma jet rapidly improved surface wettability without
cold plasma jet was not utilized to adjust the cutting inducing obvious structural damages, thereby facilitating
processes. Recently, Liu et al. [85,123‒125] proposed a permeation of the MQL coolant into the cutting area. In
new hybrid machining method that combined the cold addition, the cold plasma jet promoted material fracture
plasma jet and MQL, and applied the method in the due to the Rehbinder effect, which led to the decrease of
turning, micro-grinding, and micro-milling processes of cutting forces and alleviation of cracks on the machined
metal materials, including pure iron, GCr15 bearing steel, surface.

Fig. 18 Schematic diagram of the hybrid turning process (combining the cold plasma jet and ultrasonic elliptical vibration). Reproduced
with permission from Ref. [121] from Springer Nature.

Fig. 19 Machining process of Inconel 718: (a) cold plasma-assisted micro-milling and (b) minimum quantity lubrication-assisted micro-
milling. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [125] from Springer Nature.
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 13

Katahira et al. [47] investigated the cold plasma jet- the reaction mechanisms between the active particles in
assisted micro-milling of silicon carbide and found that the cold plasma jet and material surfaces. Meanwhile, for
the cold plasma jet obviously reduced surface roughness the machining processes under higher temperature and
Ra and improve surface quality. During the CPAC more severe lubrication conditions, such as grinding,
process, the relatively optimum Ra reached ~0.73 nm and techniques to ensure the plasma jet can break through the
remained around 1–2 nm after micro-milling for 3000 air barriers remain to be further studied.
mm. By contrast, for the conventional micro-milling, the In summary, cold plasma could achieve low-damage
Ra gradually increased from ~3 to ~6 nm with the and high-precision machining of various materials, as
increase of cutting distance. According to their investiga- listed in Table 3 [47,84–86,89–102,119,121,122,124]. For
tion on the influence mechanism of the cold plasma jet, the CPAP of non-metallic materials, such as silicon
the plasma treatment led to better hydrophilicity by carbide and single-crystal diamonds, the main mechanism
generating silicon dioxide layers on the silicon carbide involved the chemical reactions between the cold plasma
surface. Thus, coolants could more easily permeate into and the materials reduced material hardness. By contrast,
the cutting area (Fig. 21 [47]), which contributed to the the machining mechanism of CPAC was attributed to the
improvements of cooling and lubrication environment, hydrophilization and Rehbinder effects.
surface quality, and tool life. While the mechanisms of the CPAM have been studied
The CPAC technique effectively improved material and attributed to chemical reactions and the Rehbinder
machinability via the hydrophilization effect, chemical effect, the influences of these reactions on material
reactions, and the Rehbinder effect induced by the cold properties still require further investigation. When the hot
plasma jet. It should be of great importance to investigate plasma is applied in auxiliary machining, the main

Fig. 20 Surface quality of Ti‒6Al‒4V machined by different micro-milling methods: (a) surface roughness Ra; scanning electron
microscope images of (b1) surface microstructure and (b2) tool mark obtained by dry micro-milling; (c1) surface microstructure and
(c2) tool mark obtained by cold plasma + minimum quantity lubrication (MQL)-assisted micro-milling. Reproduced with permission from
Ref. [85] from Springer Nature.

Fig. 21 Schematic diagrams illustrating the influence mechanism of the cold plasma jet on tool-workpiece interface: (a) without plasma
jet and (b) with plasma jet. Reproduced from Ref. [47] with permission from Elsevier. PCD: polycrystalline diamond.
14 Front. Mech. Eng. 2023, 18(1): 18

Table 3 Summary of selected research papers in CPAM

Workpiece Optimal surface
Reference Machining process Effects compared with conventional machining
material roughness
Silicon carbide Yamamura et al. Polishing Decrease in hardness from 37.4 to 4.5 GPa, achieving atomic RMS: ~0.1 nm
[84,89–94] flattening
Aluminum nitride Sun et al. [95,96] Polishing 2 times gain in material removal rate, improvement in surface Sa: ~3 nm
quality
Gallium nitride Deng et al. [97] Polishing Decrease in hardness from 22.7 to 13.9 GPa Sq: ~0.1 nm
Single-crystal Yamamura et al. Polishing 20 times gain in material removal rate Sq: ~0.13 nm
diamond [98–101]
Single-crystal Bastawros et al. [102] Polishing 2 times improvement in material removal rate Sq: ~0.23 µm
sapphire
304 stainless steel Liu [119] Turning 13%–17% reduction in cutting forces, 69% decrease in flank Not mentioned
wear
NAK80 die steel Huang et al. Turning (with ultrasonic 50% decrease in flank wear Ra: ~1.5 µm
[86,121,122] vibration)
Ti‒6Al‒4V Liu et al. [85] Micro-milling (with MQL) 25% reduction in main cutting force, 50% improvement in Ra, Ra: ~0.08 µm
alleviation of cracks on machined surfaces
Silicon carbide Katahira et al. [47] Micro-milling Significant improvements in surface quality and tool life Ra: ~0.73 nm
GCr15 Liu et al. [124] Micro-grinding (with 82% reduction in main cutting force, 65% improvement in Ra, Ra: ~0.23 µm
MQL) alleviation of chip adhesion
Note. RMS: root mean square.

mechanisms for different materials are indeed similar, equilibrium states, low-temperature plasma can be
i.e., reducing material hardness and strength via the classified as hot plasma and cold plasma corresponding to
thermal softening effect. By contrast, for the cold plasma, different macroscopic temperatures. Under a local
its influence on properties of various materials can vary thermodynamic equilibrium state, the macroscopic
widely. Therefore, it is promising to conduct experimen- temperature of hot plasma is higher than the melting
tal research and molecular dynamic simulation to further points of most materials, and it can improve material
reveal the influence mechanisms of cold plasma on machinability via the thermal softening effect. By
material properties, which are expected to largely contrast, cold plasma is under a non-local thermodynamic
facilitate the further application of CPAM in the future. In equilibrium state with a macroscopic temperature that is
addition, the Rehbinder effect is mainly concerned about close to room temperature. The main mechanisms of
the interaction between reactive particles and crystal CPAM can be attributed to the chemical reactions that
materials. For non-crystal brittle materials, the influences reduce material hardness, improve surface wettability,
of cold plasma on mechanical properties and minimum and promote fracture.
chip thickness also require further investigation. (2) Hot plasma can reduce material hardness and
strength through the thermal softening effect, thus
contributing to the decrease in cutting force, the extension
5 Conclusions of tool life, and the improvement in surface quality. The
relatively optimal surface roughness Ra varied from ~0.1
Materials with high hardness, strength, or plasticity have to ~0.6 µm for different workpiece materials, showing
significant improvement compared with conventional
been widely used in aviation, aerospace, military, and
machining. However, the relatively large temperature
other fields, but the machinability of these materials is
gradient and limited controllability of hot plasma heating
generally poor. These lead to problems, such as large may result in thermal damage and thermal stress.
cutting forces, high cutting temperatures, serious tool Therefore, HPAM has been mostly used in semi-precision
wear, and chip adhesions, which seriously affect machin- and rough machining of difficult-to-cut materials with
ing quality. Low-temperature plasma, which contains a high hardness or strength. It may be promising to develop
variety of active particles, could effectively improve methods to better control the heat-affected zones by
material machinability and has been widely applied in experimental research and thermal analysis, which can
auxiliary machining process of difficult-to-cut materials. help achieve low-damage and high-efficient machining.
However, the mechanisms, applications, and development (3) With low macroscopic temperature, cold plasma can
prospects of this promising technique have been rarely realize rapid surface modification without changing
discussed in the literature. In this paper, after introducing surface microstructures or textures. During the machining
the basic characteristics, classifications, and action process, cold plasma can effectively reduce material
mechanisms of low-temperature plasma, we respectively hardness or improve surface wettability through the
discussed the influence mechanisms, machining accuracy, chemical reactions between the active particles and
and applications of HPAM and CPAM. The main material surfaces, as well as promote material fracture of
conclusions and prospects are summarized as follows: metal materials via the Rehbinder effect. On this basis,
(1) According to the different thermodynamic cold plasma has been applied into precision machining of
 Jiyu LIU et al. A review on low-temperature plasma assisted machining 15

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