Electrochemical Machining of Micro-Structures With Nanosecond Pulses

Electrochemical machining (ECM) is considered an advanced and promising technique due to several special advantages, such as non-contact machining without cutting force, no tool wear and heat-affected layer, etc. Base on the experimental results of micro-ECM, the influence of predominant process parameters, i.e. electrolyte concentration, pulse duration, period and voltage amplitude of power supply, on machining accuracy were investigated and discussed. Experimental showed that lower voltage amplitude and shorter pulse duration in micro-ECM process could produce more accurate micro structure shape. Using the self-developed experimental system, the micro tool-electrode and the complex micro-structures were sequentially machined. Upon the application of ultrashort voltage pulses, the letters with 20μm in line width were fabricated stably by the W tool electrode with 10μm diameter.