Improvement of the Machining Performance of the TW-ECDM Process Using Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) on Quartz Material

Abstract

Many microslits are typically manufactured on quartz substrates and are used to improve their industrial performance. The fabrication of microslits on quartz is difficult and expensive to achieve using recent traditional machining processes due to its hardness, electrically insulating nature, and brittleness. The key objective of the current study was to demonstrate the fabrication of microslits on quartz material through a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)-assisted traveling wire-electrochemical discharge micromachining process. Hydrogen gas bubbles were concentrated around the entire wire surface during electrolysis. This led to a less active dynamic region of the wire electrode, which decreased the adequacy of the electrolysis process and the machining effectiveness. The test results affirmed that the MHD convection approach evacuated the gas bubbles more rapidly and improved the void fraction in the gas bubble scattering layer. Furthermore, the improvements in the material removal rate and length of the cut were 85.28% and 48.86%, respectively, and the surface roughness was reduced by 30.39% using the MHD approach. A crossover methodology with a Taguchi design and ANOVA was utilized to study the machining performance. This exploratory investigation gives an unused strategy that shows a few advantages over the traditional TW-ECDM process.

A review on micro-drilling by electrochemical discharge machining

“…Similar results have been obtained where the MHD convection improves electrolyte circulation leading to better MRR [25]. The enhanced electrolyte circulation improves removal of debris from machining zone developing straight surface with less surface roughness [138,139]. Better removal of debris and more bubbles from electrolysis led to reduction in discharge current and uniform sparking [140].…”