Fabrication of Glass Micro-Holes with High Quality by Electrochemical Discharge Machining with a Rotary Helix Electrode

Title:Fabrication of Glass Micro-Holes with High Quality by Electrochemical Discharge Machining with a Rotary Helix Electrode

Volume: 11 Issue: 2

Author(s): Zhiyuan Wei, Yong Liu*, Minghong Li, Shihui Deng and Songsong Li

Affiliation:

• Associated Engineering Research Center of Mechanics and Mechatronic Equipment, Shandong University, Weihai 264209,China

Keywords: Electrochemical discharge machining, high quality, glass, micro-holes, discharge energy, control model.

Abstract: Background: Micro-holes have been widely used in the fields of micro-accelerometer, micro flow sensor, micro reaction container, micro pump, and biological medicines. However, due to the properties of the non-conductive hard and brittle materials, it is very difficult to fabricate the microholes structure with the traditional method. Electrochemical discharging machining is put forward to fabricate micro-holes on such material. Various relevant papers and patents have studied different methods to improve the machining localization and stability.

Objective: In order to improve the process localization of glass micro-holes and reduce the possibility of micro-holes outlet damage, the micro-electrochemical discharge machining was studied and optimized.

Methods: Firstly, according to the principle of electrochemical discharge machining, the film forming mechanism and material removal mechanism were discussed. The influence of discharge energy on the micro-holes machining technology of glass was analyzed, and the energy control model of electrochemical discharge was established. Secondly, according to the experiment, the influence of pulse voltage, frequency and feed rate on the inlet diameter and outlet quality of micro-holes was analyzed.

Results: Micro-holes are fabricated by suitable parameters on the glass workpiece with thickness 300µm. A 3 × 3 high-quality glass micro-holes array is machined successfully, the inlet diameter is 172µm and the outlet diameter is 167µm, and the taper of single micro-hole is less than 1°.

Conclusion: It is proved that controlling the discharge energy can improve the process localization of glass micro-holes and reduce the possibility of micro-holes outlet damage.

Cite this article as:

Wei Zhiyuan , Liu Yong *, Li Minghong , Deng Shihui and Li Songsong , Fabrication of Glass Micro-Holes with High Quality by Electrochemical Discharge Machining with a Rotary Helix Electrode, Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering 2018; 11 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2212797611666180309163030