Performance optimization of electrochemical micromachining process with modified electrolyte and tool electrode

Abstract

The need for micro components in the field of aerospace, automobile and medical is increasing day by day. There are various machining methods are available for manufacturing of such components. Among the various non-traditional machining techniques, electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is found to be more suitable due to the reason for its higher material removal rate (MR), good surface quality and accuracy. The copper has the numerous applications in the manufacturing sectors, electronics industries and automobiles sectors. Machining of copper alloy in conventional method is a challenging task due to its crystallographic microstructure which is intensely affected by the machining conditions like chip interference between the tool and work, high speed of spindle, tool edge accuracy, operating temperature and generation of burrs. Hence in order to overcome these difficulties, non-conventional method such as EMM is prescribed for the micro-feature fabrication on copper material. However, existing machining methods in EMM for making micro-holes are generally accompanied with higher overcut (OC). Therefore it is important to improve the machining rate (MR) and suppress the OC. Moreover these factors mainly depend upon the type of electrolyte, tool electrode parameters and its temperature. Therefore, more inherent studies are required for better understanding of electrolyte temperature and its effect on MR and OC. In line up with these requirements, the following experiments are focused in this research: (i) experimental study with different possible heated electrolytes to find the effect of electrolyte temperature on machining process parameters such as electrolyte concentration in g/l (Ec), machining voltage in V (Mv), duty cycle in % (Dc), electrolyte temperature (Et) and frequency (Fr). (ii) To find the influence of tool electrode insulations and modified geometries. The experiments have been carried out with suitable machining parameters levels on copper material using indigenously developed EMM setup. The exper