An Experimental Investigation of Microhole Generation on Ti-6Al-4V Through Electrochemical Micromachining
摘要
Micromachining is being used more and more in practically every industry. Materials like titanium alloys, nickel alloys, carbide, superalloys, tool steel, etc., are heavily influencing microstructures, particularly in aerospace engineering, automobiles, electronics, and biomedical devices. These materials are difficult to cut by conventional machining methods. Some limitations are found while machining by non-conventional machining methods such as electric discharge machining (EDM), laser beam machining (LBM), ultrasonic machining (USM), electron beam machining (EBM), etc. Due to its unique characteristics, electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is a potential technique to handle microscale machining of this challenging material. In this study, efforts have been made to examine the effects of various process parameters on the accuracy of microhole formation on Ti-6Al-4V using the electrochemical micromachining process, such as pulse frequency, duty ratio, voltage, and electrolyte concentration. The microhole minimum entry diameter machined was 600 µm with a taper angle of 0.44°. The results of this study will help produce microfeatures on Ti-6Al-4V alloy.