Electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) is an emerging micromachining method to drill advanced non-conductive materials such as Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Physical contact of micro tools with work material could cause machining inaccuracies, excessive tool wear, and even tool breakage. In this study, a control system based on monitoring the force generated by the ECDM gas film has been developed to achieve non-contact machining of ECDM by dynamically adjusting the tool feed rate. The accuracy of the control system was verified by accelerometer and Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) data. In the modules, it was found that a non-contact machining process requires the FFT amplitude to be lower than 42 V for a 1200 rpm tool rotation. The experimental results show consistent micro-holes with an average diameter of 650 µm and less than 20 µm error in the overcut achieved using this control system.
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