Micro-slot array processing by ultrasonic assisted electrochemical micro-machining
摘要
The micro-slot array structure has been widely used in fields such as automotive and aerospace as an effective method to enhance product performance. Therefore, it has become an urgent problem to develop methods for the scalable and efficient fabrication of micro-slot array structures. Electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is a non-contact machining method that has unique advantages in the preparation of surface microstructures. However, it is difficult to control the flow field in the processing gap to be uniform in multiple micro-slot processing in EMM, resulting in poor precision and consistency of micro-slots. In this study, a localized machining method using ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical micromachining (UAEMM) is proposed to improve the machining capability of radially arranged micro-slot arrays. The finite element analysis method was selected to simulate the variation of two different channel structures in the interelectrode gap (IEG) on the flow field distribution. In addition, the effects of different parameters in UAEMM on the machining accuracy and surface quality of micro-slot arrays are investigated based on experimental research. Ultimately, micro-slot arrays with good dimensional consistency were fabricated by UAEMM based on the optimized parameters. The inner-slot width was 0.25 mm ± 0.03 mm, the outer-slot width was 0.24 mm ± 0.04 mm, the slot slope was less than 8%, and the surface roughness was approximately 0.3 µm.