urface Roughness and Material emoval Rate in Machining Using icroorganisms

he use of bacteria as a tool for machining, also known as bioachining, is a novel material removal process. This study charcterizes the surface changes and relates the material removal ate to quantified bacterial concentrations resulting from machinng of pure polycrystalline Cu using the bacterium Acidithiobacilus ferrooxidans. Cu blocks, polished to four levels of surface oughness, were utilized to examine the surface effects of bacterial achining. The mass change in Cu foil was measured to find the aterial removal rate. The most probable number method, a staistical enumeration technique, was applied to estimate bacterial oncentrations. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs emonstrate that bacterial machining is anisotropic, and roughess measurements of the polycrystalline Cu samples showed a eterioration of Ra values of 1.5–2.5 m. Finally, suggestions for uture work are presented that could potentially ameliorate curent process problems. DOI: 10.1115/1.2401629