Fabrication of serpentine micro-channels on glass by ultrasonic machining using developed micro-tool by wire-cut electric discharge machining

Abstract

A rapid method for fabrication of micro-channel on glass substrates is introduced and investigated in this paper. Wire-cut electro discharge machining (WEDM) and ultrasonic machining (USM) were used as manufacturing processes for machining the micro-tools and micro-channels, respectively. The copper micro-tool was machined using WEDM and the optimal design of the tool was achieved using Taguchi design of experiment. After overall evaluation criteria (OEC) analysis, the optimum conditions were achieved as Ton as 25 μs, Toff as 6 μs, Ip as 1 A, and Wf as 75 mm/s. Further, it was used for fabrication of micro-tools with different profiles such as square, circular, and zigzag. The fabricated micro-tools were used to machine serpentine micro-channels on glass using USM at various power ratings such as 40, 50, and 60%. After machining, net overcut of the micro-channels were found as 74.65, 75.86, and 81.75 μm for square, circular, and zigzag profiles, respectively.