Micro-milling of 3D micro-electrode and its application in 3D micro-EDM

Since it is difficult to obtain 3D micro-electrodes, simple micro-electrodes with round or rectangular cross-sections are used when performing layer-by-layer scanning EDM to machine 3D micro-structures. This process can process 3D micro-structure, which has deficiencies of complicated technical process and low processing efficiency. In the study, copper was used to fabricate 3D micro-electrodes by micro-milling. Using a reciprocating processing method, micro-EDM was conducted with the 3D micro-electrodes to obtain 3D micro-structures. This method had the advantages of high processing efficiency and a simple technical process. The above work is the main content and novelty of this paper. The paper detailedly studied the effects of the stand-off distance and flushing quantity of dielectric fluid on the machining quality of 3D micro-structure. Furthermore, the effects of rough machining and finish machining on the machined surface were also analyzed. Finally, with flushing quantity of 0.3 L/min, stand-off distance of 300 μm, the 3D micro-structures with 5 μm dimensional error were machined in 304# stainless steel by applying 3D micro-electrodes in micro-EDM, which had good processing efficiency and processing accuracy.