Electrochemical Microfabrication Lab

ME 374 | Manufacturing processes lab

Electrochemical Discharge Machining

In recent years the need for glass micromachining has grown tremendously with its
increasing application in the field of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Micro
fluidic devices, medical devices, micro pumps, micro sensors, etc. due to its properties
such as biocompatibility, transparent nature, low thermal and electrical conductivity
and resistance to chemicals. Unconventional machining processes i.e. Electro Discharge
Machining (EDM), Electro Chemical Machining (ECM) are capable of machining only
conductive difficult-to-cut materials, whereas Ultrasonic Machining (USM) and Abrasive
Jet Machining (AJM) can machine non-conductive materials which are hard and brittle.
Laser Beam Machining (LBM), Chemical Machining (CM) or Chemical Etching can be
employed for micromachining of glass. However, these processes have certain limitations
which are listed in table 1.

Table 1: Comparison of Different methods for machining

Machining Processes Characteristic Features

Laser Beam Machining (LBM) High machining cost and thermal damage of workpiece.

Chemical machining (CM)/ Etching Difficult to fabricate High aspect ratio, Good surface finish
but very slow MRR.

Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) Low machining time, high setup cost, high tool wear, tool
blockage and poor surface quality.

Ultrasonic Machining (USM) Low machining time, high tool wear, poor surface quality.

ECM and EDM Can be used for only electrically conductive materials
ECDM Economical, High machining rate and good surface finish.
 However, electro Chemical Discharge Machining (ECDM) offers a better alternate way
for micromachining of glass, quartz, ceramics, composites, etc. since it can machine both
ductile and brittle materials irrespective of their conductivity. ECDM is basically a hybrid of
two other non–conventional machining processes, namely, ECM and EDM, in which
electrochemical discharge occurs due to the application of a potential higher than the critical
voltage between a tool and an electrolyte shielded by an insulating hydrogen film. Due to the
discharging action, bombardment of large number of electrons onto the workpiece takes place
in the vicinity of the tool electrode. Consequently, the temperature of workpiece rises and
material removal occurs due to melting, vaporization and high temperature chemical etching.
Fig. 1 shows the in-house developed ECDM experimental setup and the complete sequence of
steps involved during the ECDM discharge process is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1: In-house developed ECDM setup.

Fig. 2: Schematic of the ECDM process and steps involved in the discharge mechanism.
 Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the machining voltage and measured electrical
current during the ECDM machining of glass substrates with NaOH and KOH electrolytes.
From this graph, five different regions of ECDM process can be clearly categorized. When the
applied voltage is less than 3 V, the electrolysis process does not start and negligible current
flows between the electrodes. This region is termed as an over-potential region (OA). In ohmic
region (AB), bubbles are evolved at the tool electrodes and the measured current increase in a
linear fashion with the applied voltage. This is followed by limiting current region (BC) in
which bubbles coalesces and marginal increase in current value is observed. Then an instability
region (CD) is observed. The current value drops suddenly with the applied voltage and a film
is formed around the tool electrode. Finally, an electrochemical discharge region (DE) is seen
in which discrete succession of short pulses occurs with little variation in current value. It can
also be noted that the breakdown voltage is almost same for both KOH and NaOH electrolyte.
But, the discharge current (i.e. region DE) in case of KOH is higher than NaOH due to higher
mobility of K+ ions than Na+ in aqueous medium.

Fig. 3: V–I characteristics of ECDM process with 10 % KOH and NaOH electrolytes.

The typical ECDM process parameters can be broadly divided into six group i.e. contribution
form workpiece, tool electrode, electrolyte, electric power supply, auxiliary electrode, and
miscellaneous as shown in Fig. 4. With a large number of process variables, randomness, and inter-
dependence among variables, accuracy and repeatability of the ECDM process remains a challenge.
 Fig. 4: Process parameters affecting ECDM performance

Applications and capabilities:

ECDM process can be used to fabricate microholes (through and blind) and microchannels on
various non-conducting materials by milling and drilling techniques. Some of the capabilities
of the ECDM process are shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5: Capabilities of the ECDM process.

 Experiment No. 10

Experimental investigation of glass micromachining by ECDM

Aim: To study the effect of machining voltage and tool feed rate on the geometrical
characteristics (width, depth, overcut, etc.) of microchannels created by the ECDM process.

Apparatus: High carbon steel needles (tool electrodes), glass substrates, power supply,
electrolyte and circulation system, polishing machine, and Optical microscope.

Experimental Procedure:

1. Using the optical microscope, check if the tool tips are fine. If they are blunt, bent then use
the other needles. The average size of a new tool is < 100 µm.
2. Polish the tool tip by using polishing machine so that the tool tip size should be in range of
130±10 µm. Polishing will take about 10 seconds.
3. Before and the ECDM process, measure the tool size at 4 different locations which are at
equal intervals of 500 µm from the tool tip. Use the optical microscope and Image-J
software for this purpose. This measurement will be used in finding any change in the
dimensions of the tool electrode. The change may be either positive or negative.
4. Mount the tool electrode and the glass substrate properly on the tool holder and the work
piece holder, respectively.
5. Never move the X, Y, Z table to the extreme positions, otherwise the table will be jammed.
6. Using aluminium thin foil (thickness 20µm±10 µm), maintain the initial gap between the
tool electrode and the glass workpiece using slow manual jog mode or at lower travel rate
reduce (< 10%).
 7. Switch ON the electrolyte pump and maintain a constant electrolyte level. The average
immersion depth of the tool electrode is 2 mm. Ask the TA for any assistance if needed.
Electrolyte level is important for having stable sparks.
8. Upload the required G-code. Make sure that correct feed rate value is used. The code should
be written such that the actual travel length should be 1 mm more than the channel length.
Students are welcomed write their own G-code to create different shape of the
microchannel; however, it has to be first verified by the TA.
9. Once, all the above steps are completed, switch ON the power supply, increase the voltage
slowly to the required voltage settings. Electrolysis of water will start at Voltages > 2.5 V;
however, the electric sparks will be seen at voltages >30 V (depending upon the electrolyte
concentration and type).
10. Run the G-code.
11. After the completion of the ECDM process, reduce the voltage to zero slowly and switch
OFF the power supply, remove the electrode connection.
12. Switch OFF the electrolyte pump, remove the glass substrate and the tool electrode.
13. Clean the glass substrate and the tool electrode with running water and dry it.
14. Polish the glass substrate if necessary to observe the channel cross-section and observe
and note down the depth, width, overcut of the microchannels (figure 6).
15. The tool dimension reduction should be measured with respect to the reference line as
shown in Figure 7 using an optical microscope.
16. Repeat the above steps for all other experiments as per the observation table.

Observation table (for 20% NaOH electrolyte):

Sl. Machining Tool feed Channel depth Channel Overcut Tool length and
No. voltage [V] rate [µm/s] [µm] width [µm] [µm] diameter change [µm]
1 35 5 values
2 40 50
3 45
4 25
5 45 50
6 75
 Observation table (for 10% NaOH electrolyte):

Sl. Machining Tool feed Channel depth Channel Overcut Tool length and
No. voltage [V] rate [µm/s] [µm] width [µm] [µm] diameter change [µm]
1 40 5 values
2 45 50
3 50
4 25
5 50 50
6 75
Note: different batches may get different electrolyte concentration

Data Measurement

Fig. 6: Depth and width measurement.

Fig. 7: Tool wear measurement.

Result: Plot graphs of the machining voltage and the tool feed rate with the depth, width,
overcut of the microchannels, and tool length and diameter change of the tool electrode. Attach
the tool images captured before and after machining and cross section images of the fabricated
microchannels.

Conclusion: Give comments on the graphs and reasons for such variations. List the sources of
errors.

References: