A Simple Technique for the Precise Establishment of the Working Gap in an Electrochemical Discharge Machining Process and Some Experimental Results Thereof
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- What is the influence of the Wg on the geometric features (i.e., width and depth) and surface quality of the machined micro-channels?—Here, the Wg is considered an additional parameter along with the machining voltage and the TTR;
- What is the maximum Wg beyond which no machining would occur on a quartz substrate for different parametric conditions?—It is to be noted that Wuthrich et al. [30] have mentioned that the tool should be kept at a distance of less than 25 µm from the workpiece. The authors have observed that this number—though correct for one tool travel—is a strong function of TTR and machining voltage. Therefore, experiments were conducted to quantify the maximum Wg for different process parameters.
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- ➢
- First, the procedure to establish the Wg using a laboratory-scale multimeter and commercially available feeler gauge blades was demonstrated. This method can easily be used by any researcher working in ECDM as it does not require any cost-intensive equipment or complex feedback mechanisms;
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- Next, a systematic experimental investigation was carried out to explore the working gap’s influence on the quality and quantity metrics of micro-channels fabricated on quartz substrates;
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- Electrolytic concentration, machining voltages, and the TTR were varied to study the influence of Wg on quality and quantity metrics of microstructures on quartz substrates;
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- An increase in the Wg resulted in shallow and narrow micro-channels with poor surface finish. Even a minor change in the working gap down to 2 µm resulted in a significant variation in the fabricated micro-channels;
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- Micro-channels with a good surface finish and linear edges without heat-affected zones were obtained at a TTR of 1 mm/min with a Wg of 2 µm while using 30 wt% NaOH and a machining voltage of 33 V;
- ➢
- The maximum value of Wg beyond which no machining would occur for various combinations of tool travel rate (TTR), applied voltage, and electrolytic concentration was experimentally found. It was observed that no machining occurred beyond a Wg of 25 µm even when a TTR as low as 0.5 mm/min and an applied voltage greater than 44 V were used.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Process Parameters | Values |
---|---|
Anode | Platinum electrode |
Cathode | Tungsten carbide tool of 0.2 mm diameter |
Electrolyte | 20–40 wt% Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) |
Machining Voltage | 28–44 V |
Workpiece | 1 mm thick fused quartz (SiO2 ≥ 99.99%) |
Tool immersion depth | 0.5 mm |
Tool travel rate | 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 mm/min |
Tool feed rate | 0.8 µm/s |
Temperature | Room temperature |
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Sambathkumar, S.; Arunagirinathan, R.S. A Simple Technique for the Precise Establishment of the Working Gap in an Electrochemical Discharge Machining Process and Some Experimental Results Thereof. Micromachines 2022, 13, 1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13091367
Sambathkumar S, Arunagirinathan RS. A Simple Technique for the Precise Establishment of the Working Gap in an Electrochemical Discharge Machining Process and Some Experimental Results Thereof. Micromachines. 2022; 13(9):1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13091367
Chicago/Turabian StyleSambathkumar, Saranya, and Ravi Sankar Arunagirinathan. 2022. "A Simple Technique for the Precise Establishment of the Working Gap in an Electrochemical Discharge Machining Process and Some Experimental Results Thereof" Micromachines 13, no. 9: 1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13091367