Parametric Investigation of Various Electrolytes During Micro-electrochemical Texturing on Stainless Steel

Abstract

Microsurface textures, especially micro-circular patterns, have played a significant role in many micromanufacturing applications, i.e., biomedical, aerospace, tribological, etc., for improving their functionality and service life. Micro-circular pattern enhances the product duration and functionalization of mechanical systems for enhancing machining efficiency. In this article, an alternative approach, i.e., maskless micro-electrochemical texturing process, namely maskless electrochemical micromachining (EMM) method, is introduced for generation of microsurface textures. The developed micro-electrochemical texturing setup consisting of EMM cell, electrode fixtures, electrical connections, electrolyte flow guiding scheme, etc., has been utilized for experiments. One masked patterned tool can produce more than twenty-five samples. Effects of EMM process variables, i.e., voltage, inter-electrode gap, duty ratio, and pulse frequency on machined responses such as overcut and surface roughness(Ra), have been investigated for three different types of electrolytes, i.e., NaNO3(0.17 M/L), NaCl(0.25 M/L), and NaCl(0.25 M/L) + NaNO3(0.17 M/L). An attempt has been done to analyze the influence of process variables using various micrographs, which are generated using three different electrolytes. The friction test has also been carried out to demonstrate the tribological effects of micro-circular patterned surfaces.