Effect of system parameters on the size distributions of hollow nickel microspheres produced by an ultrasound-aided electrical discharge machining process

Abstract

Ultrasound-aided electric discharge machining (EDM) is an emerging technology for producing hollow nickel microspheres. This technology combines traditional EDM with the cavitation and vibration effects of ultrasound to produce hollow microspheres. In this paper, ultrasound-aided EDM was carried out in a kerosene medium (the working solution). The effects of various parameters on the sizes of microspheres were investigated using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Smileview software was used to measure the sizes of the microspheres. Originpro software was used for statistical analysis to determine the size distributions of the microspheres. To study the effects of the system parameters on the sizes of the microspheres, we first investigated the necessity of using an ultrasonic wave with EDM. After comparing the experimental results with and without the ultrasonic field, we found that ultrasound-induced cavitation and vibration effects reduced the diameters of the microspheres. We then studied the effects of several electrical parameters, including the arc current, pulse width, and gap voltage, on the sizes of the microspheres at an ultrasound frequency of 40kHz. Smaller microspheres could be obtained by lowering the arc current, pulse width, and gap voltage.