Investigations on the effect of tool geometry on diametrical overcut and current efficiency in electrochemical micromachining of titanium sheet

Abstract

The technological advancement in material science requires advancement in machining techniques also The present trend in machining is towards micro machining of advanced materials for biomedical aerospace and nuclear reactor applications The stress free machining has become one of the most important requirements for precision machining Electrochemical Machining ECM and Electrochemical Micromachining EMM are the processes which satisfy the above said characteristics and thus research is active in this field Electrochemical Machining ECM process also known as anodic dissolution process is generally applied to deburring of microbores nozzle holes and shaping of electrically conductive materials This process also has the advantage of stress free machining as there is no tool to workpiece contact The ECM process when it is applied to machine features less than 1mm it is called as Electrochemical Micromachining EMM which has been gaining popularity in the production of biomedical MEMS aerospace and nuclear components The EMM process is influenced by many parameters such as voltage current current density electrolyte concentration electrolyte flow electrolyte boiling vaporization of electrolyte variation in the electrical conductivity of electrolyte and sludge formation to name a few The diametrical overcut of the holes machined using EMM process and current efficiency of this process is determined by the influence of these parameters individually and due to the interaction among them newline