Non-acid, alcohol-based electropolishing enables high-quality electron backscatter diffraction characterization of titanium and its alloys: Application to pure Ti and Ti-6Al-4V

Ferreri, Nicholas C.; Savage, Daniel J.; Knežević, Marko

doi:10.1016/j.matchar.2020.110406

Cited by 37 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Increasingly, however, there is a growing trend to use green electrolytes, which are ionic liquids that keep the environment clean and safe [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 46 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 ]. Those most commonly used are ethylene glycol, choline chloride, and salt mixtures.…”

Section: Important Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electropolishing and Shaping of Micro-Scale Metallic Features

2022

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Electropolishing (EP) is most widely used as a metal finishing process. It is a non-contact electrochemical process that can clean, passivate, deburr, brighten, and improve the biocompatibility of surfaces. However, there is clear potential for it to be used to shape and form the topology of micro-scale surface features, such as those found on the micro-applications of additively manufactured (AM) parts, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMs), biomedical stents, and artificial implants. This review focuses on the fundamental principles of electrochemical polishing, the associated process parameters (voltage, current density, electrolytes, electrode gap, and time), and the increasing demand for using environmentally sustainable electrolytes and micro-scale applications. A summary of other micro-fabrication processes, including micro-milling, micro-electric discharge machining (EDM), laser polishing/ablation, lithography (LIGA), electrochemical etching (MacEtch), and reactive ion etching (RIE), are discussed and compared with EP. However, those processes have tool size, stress, wear, and structural integrity limitations for micro-structures. Hence, electropolishing offers two-fold benefits of material removal from the metal, resulting in a smooth and bright surface, along with the ability to shape/form micro-scale features, which makes the process particularly attractive for precision engineering applications.zx3

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Section: Important Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electropolishing and Shaping of Micro-Scale Metallic Features

2022

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“…158 Therefore, in order to handle such oxide layers, titanium alloys are conventionally electropolished using strong acids such as HF and HClO 4 at low temperatures and high voltages. [159][160][161] The situation becomes even more complicated in the case of titanium AM parts. On one hand, it has been reported that EP solutions with low chloride concentrations can not completely remove the particles on the AM part nor can they significantly reduce the surface roughness because of the small current density which results in non-uniform distribution of the thin TiCl 4 layer formed on the surface.…”

Section: Electropolishing Of Am Parts: Potentials and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…159,178 For example, studies reported the successful application of some alcoholic solutions for electropolishing of Ti alloys. 132,160,161 Aside from acting as non-aqueous electrolytes, alcoholic solutions are less harmful than the strong acids previously used. Another approach is to start the electropolishing treatment by application of a high voltage to speed up the oxide removal and resuming the process under a lower voltage.…”

Section: Future Research Avenuementioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Electropolishing of Additive Manufactured Metal Parts

Chaghazardi

Wüthrich

2022

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Most metal additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are rapidly approaching, and in some cases even exceeding, the Technology Readiness Level 8, indicating that they are widely available and capable of completing a wide range of projects despite identified process restrictions. Thanks to significant technological progress made in the last decade, more industries are incorporating metal AM in their production processes to obtain highly customized parts with complex geometries. However, the poor surface finish of AM parts is a major drawback to their aesthetics and functionality. Over the years, different approaches were proposed to enhance surface quality, each bearing its limitations. Among the proposed technologies, electropolishing is a strong candidate for improving the surface finish of AM parts. Here we review the literature on electropolishing of AM parts, and, to provide a comprehensive study of the different aspects involved, the origin and consequences of the surface properties of AM parts as well as an evaluation of other available post-treatment technologies. Finally, the existing challenges on the way and potential countermeasures to expedite the industrial application of the electropolishing process for post-treatment of AM parts as well as future research avenues are discussed.

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“…They added 20% ethanol in a 1 mol/L NaCl-containing ethylene glycol solution to regulate the TiCl 4 adhesive layer, and then obtained a surface with Ra = 2.341 nm on pure titanium. Ferreri et al [23] used an ethanol-ethylene glycol-NaCl electrolyte to prepare the EBSD samples, and collected high-quality EBSD datasets. Moreover, Huang et al [24] placed the anode in translational motion to control the surface adhesive layer, obtaining a surface roughness Ra of 1.9 nm on a Ti-6Al-4V alloy surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, because the surface oxide layer hinders the anodic dissolution in the electropolishing process, most researchers have used sandpaper for mechanical polishing to improve the surface reactivity in the pre-treatment stage. [21][22][23]25] However, different surface treatment processes affect the surface roughness, microstructure, and stress state of the materials, which can change their sensitivity to corrosion [26]. Zuo et al [27] noted that the nucleation rate of metastable pitting increases with an increase in the surface roughness of polished stainless steel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of electrolyte flushing and surface state on electropolishing TB2 titanium alloy

Wei

Fang

et al. 2022

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

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TB2 titanium alloys are widely used in the aerospace industry. A high surface quality is required for the performance and fatigue life of titanium alloy parts. Electropolishing is useful for thin metal plates owing to its good processability and conformability. In this study, electrolyte ushing was proposed for electropolishing a large surface and a NaCl-containing ethylene glycol electrolyte was adopted. Three different mechanical grindings were employed for pretreatment, and the ideal surface quality was obtained with a rubber grinding head. Therefore, in the process of electropolishing a large surface, electrolyte ushing is superior to stirring because its ow eld is even and controllable. The effects of the main processing parameters (voltage, ow rate, and process time) on the surface roughness and morphology were studied. Finally, a mirror-like surface with a surface roughness of 10.5 nm was obtained after ushing electropolishing for 30 min under a voltage of 25 V and a ow rate of 0.84 m/s.

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Non-acid, alcohol-based electropolishing enables high-quality electron backscatter diffraction characterization of titanium and its alloys: Application to pure Ti and Ti-6Al-4V

Cited by 37 publications

References 37 publications

Electropolishing and Shaping of Micro-Scale Metallic Features

Electropolishing and Shaping of Micro-Scale Metallic Features

Review—Electropolishing of Additive Manufactured Metal Parts

Effects of electrolyte flushing and surface state on electropolishing TB2 titanium alloy

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