Effect of Ceramic Coated Tool on Stray Cut in Electrochemical Micromachining

Abstract

Electrochemical micromachining (ECMM) is an important machining process for machining materials susceptible to produce burrs during contact machining process. In this research copper plate of thickness 2mm and tool electrode of 464μm were machined through ECMM process under the sodium nitrate electrolyte (NaNO3).The tool electrode is coated with ceramic material and prevent stray current and chemical attack. The control factors namely, voltage, electrolyte concentration and duty cycle are varied on machining time and overcut. Higher voltage of 12V takes 1 minute to complete the through hole and the use of ceramic coated tool produces good arc on the circumference of the micro-hole and 65% reduction of overcut. The suitable range of electrolyte concentration for reduced machining time is 24 to 26g/lit. As per TOPSIS analysis, 10V, 24g/lit and 65% duty cycle and 11V, 24g/lit and 75% are the best optimal combinations. ANOVA results show that voltage and electrolyte concentration are the most significant factors with 57.73% and 28.83% contribution, respectively