Study on Influence of Tool Design on Electrochemical Micromachining

Electrochemical Micromachining (EMM) is a promising technology for machining the microstructures and components. EMM appears to offer several advantages including better precision, wide range of materials could be machined and no stress on the machined workpiece. This paper is focused on development of an EMM system in which the micro structure and components are fabricated. Influences of tool electrode design (flat, conical with rounded and wedged electrode) on machining rate and overcut by varying the electrolyte concentration are discussed in detail. The wedged electrode produces higher machining rate and conical with rounded electrode improves the micro-hole accuracy by 2.2 times compared to flat electrode. Finally, applications of electrochemical micromachining are also discussed.