Chapter Five - Machining processes utilizing chemical and electrochemical energy

Abstract

Machining processes utilizing chemical and electrochemical energy include mainly chemical machining and electrochemical machining. Chemical Machining (CM) is one the oldest in which material is dissolved from the workpiece by controlled chemical reaction by means of reactive chemical solutions. Chemical machining is discussed in detail where material removal is achieved by chemical reactions which is extensively employed to produce the precise components for different industrial applications such as semiconductor industries and MEMS. Various types of CM processes have been highlighted. It includes the material removal mechanism, parametric influences, advantages and limitations, applications and recent advancement. Electrochemical machining (ECM) is an anodic dissolution process which has tremendous potential on account of versatility of applications and expected to be one of the most promising, successful and commercially utilized machining processes in the modern manufacturing industries. It includes the material removal mechanism, setup details, major influencing factors, impact of different parameters, modeling and tool design, advantages and limitations, applications and recent advancement. Different variants of ECM, e.g., EC Drilling, Deburring, Milling, Wire ECM, Sawing, Grinding, Honing and Turning as well as environmental impacts of ECM are also discussed in details.