Evaluation of Surface Integrity in Electrochemical Micromachining of A286 Super alloy

Surface integrity of micro components is a major concern particularly in manufacturing industries as most geometry of the products must meet out necessary surface quality requirements. Advanced machining process like electrochemical micro machining possess the capabilities to machine micro parts with best surface properties exempting them from secondary operations. In this research work, different electrolytes have been employed for producing micro holes in A286 super alloy material to achieve the best surface quality and the measurement of surface roughness and surface integrity to evaluate the machined surface is carried out. The machined micro hole provides detailed information on the geometrical features. A study of parametric analysis meant for controlling surface roughness and improvement of surface integrity has been made to find out the suitable parameters for machining. The suitability of various electrolytes with their dissolution mechanism and the influence of various electrolytes have been thoroughly studied. Among the utilized electrolytes, EG + NaNO3 electrolyte provided the best results in terms of overcut and average surface roughness.

Electrochemical Microslot Machining by Ultrasonic-Vibration-Aided Electrolyte on Nitinol Wire

In this research, the main purpose was to study the applicability of a machining method on microscale medical-equipment manufacturing. The characteristics of wire electrochemical micromachining (WECMM) against NiTi 50-50 wire was investigated. The study utilized a tungsten wire 0.03 mm in diameter as an electrode to cut a fine slot into the nickel–titanium wire. In order to reach a high-precision WECMM finish, an ultrashort pulse power generator was used as a power source to minimize the stray current effect, thus improving the machining accuracy. During the process, various machining parameters were tested for their effects on machining characteristics. In addition, ultrasonic-vibration-aided WECMM was investigated to determine whether it benefited the machining characteristics. The experiment’s results showed that under such an experiment setting, microslots can be successfully manufactured. Furthermore, with the advance adjustment of experimental parameters, the machining accuracy was improved. Finally, a fine slot was manufactured under the optimum experiment parameters and aided by ultrasonic vibration.