Christopher Torres

Phone Number: 608-263-1622
Email: cdtorres_at_wisc.edu
Office: 85 CAE

Education:

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, (expected 2011), U. Wisconsin-Madison
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, (2008), U. Wisconsin-Madison
B.S., Engineering Mechanics (2006), U. Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests:

My work focuses on the development of a thin, conformal diamond films for use as a hard, wear resistant, low friction coating in micro-scaled milling applications. The small diameter of the micro end mill often results in limited and sporadic tool life. The use of a diamond coating will help increase both the performance and life of the end mills.

Currently, my main focus on this project include characterization and analysis of the performance improvements, along with optimization of the diamond coating for various different machining conditions.

Publications:

Wet and Dry Machining Performance of Nanocrystalline Diamond Coated Micro End Milling of Aluminum
Torres, C.D., P.J. Heaney, A.V. Sumant, R.W. Carpick, F.E. Pfefferkorn. 4M/ICOMM Conference, Karlsruhe, Germany, Sep. 23-25, 2009. [Submitted Feb. 2009]

Analyzing the Performance of Diamond-Coated Micro End Mills
Torres, C.D., Heaney, P.J., Sumant, A.V., Hamilton, M.A., Carpick, R.W., Pfefferkorn, F.E. International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, v 49, n 7-8, p 599-612, June 2009.

Characterizing Performance and Impact of Nanocrystalline Diamond Coatings on Micro End Milling
Torres, C.D., P.J. Heaney, M.A. Hamilton, A.V. Sumant, R.W. Carpick, F.E. Pfefferkorn. 3rd International Conference on Micromanufacturing, Pittsburgh, PA, Sep. 9-11, 2008.

Diamond coatings for micro end mills: enabling the dry machining of aluminum at the micro-scale
Heaney, P.J., Sumant, A.V., Torres, C.D., Carpick, R.W., Pfefferkorn, F.E. Diamond & Related Materials, v 17, n 3, 223-33, March 2008.

Improving Tribological Properties of Micro End Mills Utilizing Nanocrystalline Diamond Coatings
C.D. Torres, P.J. Heaney, D.S. Grierson, A.V. Sumant, G.W. Sawyer, F.E. Pfefferkorn, R.W. Carpick. Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference, Philadelphia, PA, May 6-10, 2007.

Effect of Nanocrystalline Diamond Coatings on Micro-End Milling Performance
P.J. Heaney, Torres, C.D., A.V. Sumant, R.W. Carpick, F.E. Pfefferkorn. 1st International Conference on Micromanufacturing, Urbana-Champaign, IL, Sep. 13-15, 2006.

Awards:

Graduate Engineering Research Scholar, U. Wisconsin-Madison Collage of Engineering, 2006-Present
UW-Madison Chancellor’s Scholar, U. Wisconsin-Madison, 2001-2006
College of Engineering Diversity Affairs Scholar, U. Wisconsin-Madison Collage of Engineering, 2001-2006
Shell Oil Company SIF Scholar, Shell Oil Company, 2004-2005
Engineering Physics Department Scholarship, 2004