Non-conductive Ceramics Research Articles

Electro-plastic effect on the indentation of calcium fluoride

Calcium fluoride (CaF2) possesses excellent optical properties, making it a promising material for many optical components. However, due to its brittleness, the intrinsic plasticity of CaF2 needs to be improved to enhance its machinability. The adoption of the external electric field is a feasible scheme, but the relevant electric effect on the mechanical performances of non-conductors remains little explored. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the applied electric field and the plasticity of CaF2 using both experimental and numerical approaches. Micro-indentation tests are conducted under varying electric field conditions to identify the effect of the electric field on the plasticity of CaF2. Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the deformation mechanisms under the electric effect. Specifically, the study investigates the correlated influence of the electric field direction and field intensity on plastic behavior. Combining the experimental and simulation results, it is demonstrated that the applied electric field significantly enhances the plasticity of CaF2. The field direction influences the growing direction and distribution of plastic deformations while the field intensity affects the degree. The systematic study deepens the understanding of the electro-plasticity of non-conductive ceramics, further informing the development of electric field-assisted machining techniques.

ANALSYS OF DEFECT LAYER IN ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING OF NON-CONDUCTIVE CERAMIC

The aim of the research is to describe a new approach for processing non-conductive ceramics. A method of electrical discharge machining with an assisting electrode is presented, which allows the machining of zirconium ceramics. An analysis of the defective layer, i.e., the recast layer and the heat-affected zone, was performed. Two parameters, discharge current and pulse duration, were chosen to study the effects on the thickness of the defect layer. The test results show that increasing the discharge current and pulse duration increases the thickness of the defect layer. This is due to the increase of discharge energy, which causes more heat in the machining zone. Future research can be directed to the analysis of a larger number of test points to see a better dependence between the machining parameters and the thickness of the defect layer.

A numerical investigation on material removal mechanism of electro discharge machining of non-conductive ceramics

A numerical investigation on material removal mechanism of electro discharge machining of non-conductive ceramics

Highly efficient electrical discharge machining of yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics with graphene nanostructures as fillers

Electrical-discharge machining (EDM) of advanced ceramics allows the miniaturization of parts with complex shapes. Since electrical conductivity is required, non-conductive ceramics need a conductive second phase. This work assesses the feasibility of industrial EDM in advanced yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (3YTZP) composites with 20 vol% graphene nanostructures with different morphology using different EDM energies. The structural integrity of the graphene nanostructures, the roughness of the machined surfaces and the geometrical tolerances have been evaluated by Raman spectroscopy, confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, showing that it is possible to obtain a stable and efficient EDM process in these composites using low electrode energies. The use of the largest and thickest graphene nanostructures led to the best performance in terms of EDM machinability, the smallest nanostructures produced the best surface finish for low electrode energy and the thinnest nanostructures allowed the highest material removal rate at medium energy in the composites.

Joule-heatable bird-nest-bioinspired/carbon nanotubes-modified sepiolite porous ceramics: An efficient, sturdy, and continuous strategy for oil recovery

Oil-spill accident is a severe globally concerned environmental issue. In this work, a Joule-heatable bird-nest-bioinspired/carbon nanotubes-modified sepiolite porous ceramic (JBN/CM-SC) was developed, using inexpensive sepiolite porous ceramics as the substrate and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) derived from waste plastics as the modifier. The former exhibited outstanding mechanical property (1.7 MPa of compressive strength), gas permeability (9.1 × 10−11 m2), thermal conductivity (0.215 W·m−1·K−1) and thermal/chemical stability. As expected, the deposited CNTs not only conferred a hydrophobic surface, but also resulted in a Joule-heating ability of intrinsically non-conductive ceramics. As-prepared JBN/CM-SC demonstrated a separation rate as high as 120−200 kg·s−1·m−2 for oil recovery and a high selectivity of over 95%. The Joule heat generated by the heated JBN/CM-SC could in-situ reduce the oil-viscosity, remarkably increasing the oil-diffusion. The separation rate was enhanced by ~12 times with respect to that of the non-heated counterpart. In addition, the idea of modular design was proposed. By simply combining JBN/CM-SC components with pipes and a pump, a continuous in-situ collection of oil from an oil/water mixture was realized, providing an efficient, sturdy, and continuous approach to recover the spilled oil in an oil-spill accident.

Deposition of 3YSZ-TiC PVD Coatings with High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS)

Optimized coating adhesion and strength are the advantages of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) as an innovative physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. When depositing electrically non-conductive oxide ceramics as coatings with HiPIMS without dual magnetron sputtering (DMS) or mid-frequency (MF) sputtering, the growing coating leads to increasing electrical insulation of the anode. As a consequence, short circuits occur, and the process breaks down. This phenomenon is also known as the disappearing anode effect. In this study, a new approach involving adding electrically conductive carbide ceramics was tried to prevent the electrical insulation of the anode and thereby guarantee process stability. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) with 30 vol.% titanium carbide (TiC) targets are used in a non-reactive HiPIMS process. The main focus of this study is a parameter inquisition. Different HiPIMS parameters and their impact on the measured current at the substrate table are analyzed. This study shows the successful use of electrically conductive carbide ceramics in a non-conductive oxide as the target material. In addition, we discuss the observed high table currents with a low inert gas mix, where the process was not expected to be stable.

Understanding Material Removal Mechanism and Effects of Machining Parameters during EDM of Zirconia-Toughened Alumina Ceramic.

Non-conductive structural ceramics are receiving ever-increasing attention due to their outstanding physical and mechanical properties and their critical applications in aerospace and biomedical industries. However, conventional mechanical machining seems infeasible for the machining of these superior ceramics due to their extreme brittleness and higher hardness. Electro discharge machining (EDM), well known for its machining of electrically conductive materials irrespective of materials hardness, has emerged as a potential machining technique due to its noncontact nature when complemented with an assistive electrode technique. This paper investigates the material removal mechanism and effects of machining parameters on machining speed and dimensional and profile accuracies of features machined on zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) ceramics using assistive electrode EDM. Our experimental results demonstrate that both increasing peak current and pulse on time improves the MRR, however, it also aids in generating thicker layer on machined surface. In addition, pulse interval time is crucial for the machining of nonconductive ceramics, as larger value might cause the complete removal of intrinsic carbon layer which may lead to non/sparking condition. Higher peak current increases circularity whereas short pulse on and pulse off time aid in increasing circularity due to rough machining. In addition, taperness is found to be regulated by the peak current and pulse on time. Overall, thermal cracking and spalling appear to be a dominating material removal mechanism other than melting and evaporation for the EDM of ZTA.

The Capabilities of Spark-Assisted Chemical Engraving: A Review

Brittle non-conductive materials, like glass and ceramics, are becoming ever more significant with the rising demand for fabricating micro-devices with special micro-features. Spark-Assisted Chemical Engraving (SACE), a novel micromachining technology, has offered good machining capabilities for glass and ceramic materials in basic machining operations like drilling, milling, cutting, die sinking, and others. This paper presents a review about SACE technology. It highlights the process fundamentals of operation and the key machining parameters that control it which are mainly related to the electrolyte, tool-electrode, and machining voltage. It provides information about the gas film that forms around the tool during the process and the parameters that enhance its stability, which play a key role in enhancing the machining outcome. This work also presents the capabilities and limitations of SACE through comparing it with other existing micro-drilling and micromachining technologies. Information was collected regarding micro-channel machining capabilities for SACE and other techniques that fall under four major glass micromachining categories—mainly thermal, chemical, mechanical, and hybrid. Based on this, a figure that presents the capabilities of such technologies from the perspective of the machining speed (lateral) and resulting micro-channel geometry (aspect ratio) was plotted. For both drilling and micro-channel machining, SACE showed to be a promising technique compared to others as it requires relatively cheap set-up, results in high aspect ratio structures (above 10), and takes a relatively short machining time. This technique shows its suitability for rapid prototyping of glass micro-parts and devices. The paper also addresses the topic of surface functionalization, specifically the surface texturing done during SACE and other glass micromachining technologies. Through tuning machining parameters, like the electrolyte viscosity, tool–substrate gap, tool travel speed, and machining voltage, SACE shows a promising and unique potential in controlling the surface properties and surface texture while machining.

Electrical Discharge Machining Non-Conductive Ceramics: Combination of Materials

One of the promising processing methods for non-conductive structural and functional ceramics based on ZrO2, Al2O3, and Si3N4 systems is electrical discharge machining with the assistance of an auxiliary electrode that can be presented in the form of conductive films with a thickness up to 4–10 µm or nanoparticles - granules, tubes, platelets, multidimensional particles added in the working zone as a free poured powder the proper concentration of which can be provided by ultrasound emission or by dielectric flows or as conductive additives in the structure of nanocomposites. However, the described experimental approaches did not reach the production market and industry. It is related mostly to the chaotic development of the knowledge and non-systematized data in the field when researchers often cannot ground their choice of the material for auxiliary electrodes, assisting powders, or nano additives or they cannot explain the nature of processes that were observed in the working tank during experiments when their results are not correlated to the measured specific electrical conductivity of the electrodes, particles, ceramic workpieces or nanocomposites but depends on something else. The proposed review includes data on the main electrophysical and chemical properties of the components in the presence of heat when the temperature in the interelectrode gap reaches 10,000 °C, and the systematization of data on ceramic pressing methods, including spark plasma sintering, the chemical reactions that occur in the interelectrode gap during sublimation of primary (brass and copper) and auxiliary electrodes made of transition metals Ti, Cr, Co, and carbon, auxiliary electrodes made of metals with low melting point Zn, Ag, Au, Al, assisting powder of oxide ceramics TiO2, CeO2, SnO2, ITO, conductive additives Cu, W, TiC, WC, and components of Al2O3 and Zr2O workpieces in interaction with the dielectric fluid - water and oil/kerosene medium.

Enhancing process capabilities of electric discharge machining for nonconductive ceramics

The application of nonconductive ceramic materials is growing in engineering and manufacturing field due to their properties such as high hardness, low thermal conductivity, and resistance to oxidation. But fabricating structures from such materials are difficult and most of the traditional machining techniques are not appropriate. The electrical discharge machining has become a popular machining process for machining nonconducting oxide and nonoxide ceramics such as alumina, silicon nitrides, SiAlON, and zirconium. In the present study, a technique to machine the nonconductive SiAlON ceramic, having resistivity of the order of 100000 Ω-cm is developed. An assistive electrode technique along with graphite powder mixed specially made dielectric mixture of hydrocarbon fluids was used for the electrical discharge machining process. The experiments were conducted according to the Taguchi design and analysis of variance using signal-to-noise ratios showcasing significant parameters and their optimal values for material removal, electrode wear, and size overcut achieved after electrical discharge machining. For multiparameter optimization, the grey relational analysis was carried out for response parameters with suitable weights. Analysis of variance on the grey relational grade showed discharge current, duty factor, and additive percentage as most significant parameters. As the central aim of this research is material removal, the significant parameters found for material removal rate were further used for response surface methodology and their optimum values as central design values for experimentation. A second-order response model was formulated to estimate the machining performance. To validate the study, confirmation experiments were carried out and predicted results have been found to be in good agreement with experimental findings. Based on the experimental investigations, it can be said that a novel and efficient technique has been developed to machine the high resistivity ceramics. The scanning electron microscopic images confirmed that material is removed mostly by spalling and no significant cracks are visible.

On Electrical Discharge Machining of Non-Conductive Ceramics: A Review

The inability of ceramic and nanoceramic processing without expensive diamond tools and with a high-material-removal rate hampers the scope of its potential applications and does not allow humanity to make a full shift to the sixth technological paradigm associated with Kuhn scientific revolutions and Kondratieff’s waves and restrains the growth of the economy. The authors completed a review on the research state of ceramic and nanoceramic processing by electrical discharge machining, which is possibly solved by two principal approaches associated with the usage of standard commercially available machine tools. The first approach is related to the introduction of expensive secondary phase; the second approach proposes initiate processing by adding auxiliary electrodes in the form of coating, suspension, aerosol, or 3D-printed layer based on the components of silver, copper, or graphite in combination with an improved dielectric oil environment by introducing graphite or carbon nanoparticles, which is hugely relevant today.

Powder Mixed Micro Electro Discharge Machining of Aluminium Nitride Ceramic

Advanced ceramic materials possess superior mechanical characteristics in terms of hardness, wear resistance, fracture toughness and flexural strength. However, these materials experience machining limitations due to their hardness. Machining process of such materials requires high cutting forces and results in high tool wear. Electro- discharge machining (EDM) can be considered as an alternative machining process for advanced ceramics, since this technique is a non-contact machining process, it does not involve high cutting forces but experiences moderate tool wear. However, EDM requires materials to have certain level of electrical conductivity, therefore, non-conductive and semi-conductive ceramic materials experience challenges during machining process. Assisting Electrode Method was suggested as a solution for machining of non-conductive ceramics by EDM. In this method, conductive layer is applied on top of non-conductive ceramics and thus workpiece can be machined by EDM process using residual conductive layer. In this study, coating consisting of three layers, where silver nanoparticles were sandwiched between two layers of silver and copper on top, was used as assisting electrode to machine Aluminium Nitride (AlN) ceramics by silver nanoparticles mixed micro-EDM. Successful machining of AlN was demonstrated and blind micro hole with higher than three aspect ratio was achieved.

Micro Electro Discharge Machining of Nonconductive Ceramic: The Issue of Spalling

Nonconductive ceramic materials are used in many engineering applications such as car brake, turbine blade, and hip-bone replacement because of its high dimensional accuracy, corrosion and wear resistant, and biocompatibility. These materials are usually processed with diamond grinding and limited laser applications such as cutting, drilling and scribing. Specific shapes and profiles are still difficult and costly to machine using these processes. Electrical discharge machining (EDM), extensively used for various shapes and profiles on conductive materials having minimum electrical conductivity of 0.10 S.cm-1. It is not directly applicable on nonconductive ceramic materials due to its very low electrical conductivity (<10-10 S.cm-1). However, recently EDM is used on nonconductive materials with the aid of assisting electrode to initiate the spark between conductive tool electrode and nonconductive workpiece. The available material removal models of EDM are based on single spark erosion with uniform melting and vaporization of workpiece materials. However, in EDM of nonconductive ceramics, material removal is not uniform because of random spalling due to alternating thermal stress. In addition, it is difficult to create single spark erosion on a nonconductive ceramic workpiece as initial sparks are occurred between tool electrode and assisting electrode attached to workpiece. This paper presents the empirical factor for the estimation of spalling along with melting and vaporization through experimental study. Model of material removal rate as a function of capacitance and voltage are developed in micromachining of nonconductive zirconium oxide (ZrO2) using (R-C) pulse type micro-EDM. The single spark erosion volume is derived from the fundamental principle of melting and vaporization. An empirical correction factor is introduced to compensate random spalling and multi-spark erosion effect.

Micro Electro Discharge Machining for Nonconductive Ceramic Materials

In micro-electro discharge machining (micro-EDM) of nonconductive ceramics, material is removed mainly by spalling due to the dominance of alternating thermal load. The established micro-EDM models established for single spark erosion are not applicable for nonconductive ceramics because of random spalling. Moreover, it is difficult to create single spark on a nonconductive ceramic workpiece when the spark is initiated by the assisting electrode. In this paper, theoretical model of material removal rate (MRR) as the function of capacitance and voltage is developed for micro-EDM of nonconductive zirconium oxide (ZrO2). It is shown that the charging and discharging duration depend on the capacitance and resistances of the circuit. The number of sparks per unit time is estimated from the single spark duration s derived from heat transfer fundamentals. The model showed that both the capacitance and voltage are significant process parameters where any increase of capacitance and voltage increases the MRR. However, capacitance was found to be the dominating parameter over voltage. As in case of higher capacitances, the creation of a conductive carbonic layer on the machined surface was not stable; the effective window of machining 101 - 103 pF capacitance and 80 - 100 V gap voltage or 10 - 470 pF capacitance and 80 - 110 V gap voltage. This fact was confirmed EDX analysis where the presence of high carbon content was evident. Conversely, the spark was found to be inconsistent using parameters beyond these ranges and consequently insignificant MRR. Nevertheless, the effective number of sparks per second were close to the predicted numbers when machining conductive copper material. In addition, higher percentage of ineffective pulses was observed during the machining which eventually reduced the MRR. In case of validation, average deviations between the predicted and experimental values were found to be around 10%. Finally, micro-channels were machined on nonconductive ZrO2 as an application of the model.

Extended Anode Effect for Tube Inner Coating of Non-Conductive Ceramics by Pulsed Coaxial Magnetron Plasma

For uniform tube inner coating of non-conductive thin films, the double-ended coaxial magnetron pulsed plasma (DCMPP) method was investigated. In this study, coating of TiN and TiO2 was performed. It was clearly shown that the extended anode effect was strongly influenced by the electric resistance of the coated thin films on the inner surface of an insulator tube. Additionally, high frequency (100 kHz) was better for relatively high plasma density. On the other hand, in the case of titanium oxide deposition, negative ion productions drastically decrease the deposition rate and the shifting velocity of plasma main position for coated TiO2 films.

High wear-resistance characteristic of boron-doped nano-polycrystalline diamond on optical glass

Boron-doped nano-polycrystalline diamond (B-NPD) uniformly containing boron atoms in the diamond lattice has been successfully produced by direct conversion sintering under ultra-high pressure and high temperature using boron-doped graphite as a starting material, and its wear properties on optical glass materials have been investigated. The chemical wear of B-NPD sliding on glass was highly suppressed under sliding conditions where undoped NPD is worn considerably by chemical reaction with glass because the frictional resistance of NPD decreased and its sliding performance was improved by adding boron. In addition, because B-NPD has electrical conductivity, tribo-microplasma damages attributed to frictional electrification were not observed. Thus, the wear resistance of B-NPD on glass materials was improved greatly in comparison with that of undoped NPD. These results indicate that B-NPD has outstanding potential as a cutting tool material for high-performance and high-precision cutting on various types of glass, nonconductive ceramics and rigid plastics which are difficult to cut by conventional diamonds because of tribo-chemical wear or tribo-electrical wear.

The Effect of the Electrical Discharge Machining Process on the Material Properties of Nonconductive Ceramics

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is widely used to manufacture complex shaped dies, molds and critical parts in conductive materials. With the help of an assisting electrode (AE), EDM process can be used to machine nonconductive ceramics. This paper evaluates the mechanical properties of three high-performance nonconductive ceramics (ZrO2, Si3N4, and SiC) that have been machined with the EDM process using AE. Mechanical properties such as Vickers hardness (HV 0.3), surface roughness (Sq), and flexural strength of the machined and the nonmachined samples are compared. The EDM process causes decrease in Vickers hardness, increase in surface roughness, and decrease in flexural strength.

Analyzing the Electrical Pulses Occurring during EDM of Non-Conductive Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4 </sub>Ceramics

With the help of an Assisting Electrode (AE), non-conductive ceramics can be machined using Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process. The AE helps start the EDM process and the intrinsic conductive layer (ICL) ensures that the electrical contact between the workpiece and the generator is maintained. However, the understanding of EDM process of non-conductive ceramics is limited due to the typical characteristic of the process: the geometric dimension of the discharge region is limited to few micrometers and the duration of the dielectric discharge is in the range of few microseconds making it difficult to directly observe the spark and the associated crater formation phenomenon. Analyzing the electrical signals during the EDM process could provide an insight of the process. This paper presents a study on analyzing the electric pulses occurring during the EDM process of a conductive workpiece (copper) and a non-conductive workpiece (Si3N4 ceramics). Typical pulses occurring during the EDM of a metal and a non-conductive ceramics are identified with the signal recorded at a sampling rate of 2.5 GS/s. Sampling rate of 25 MS/s is used to monitor the pulses occurring while machining a hole with depth of 1 mm. The pulses during EDM of non-conductive materials are significantly different than those during EDM of metals. Four most outstanding differences have been identified in terms of the ringing behavior of the voltage signal, the recharge time required to reach the set value of open voltage, the presence of the reverse current and the value of the peak current detected in case of Si3N4. The pulses monitored with lower sampling frequency was characterized and discriminated into sparks, arcs and short circuits. The percentage of the discriminated pulses for varying machining depth of the test structure has been presented.

Parametric Analysis of Micro Electrical Discharge Milling Process of Non-Conductive Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a high performance ceramic material which is increasingly used in applications which demand for high temperature stable materials. The microstructuring of this material in its sintered state is a challenge for conventional machining methods due to its extraordinary mechanical properties. To overcome these limitations the process of electrical discharge machining (EDM) was modified with a so called assisting electrode (AE) to enable the structuring of non-conductive ceramics such as SiC. This paper presents a parametric analysis of micro electrical discharge milling process of non-conductive SiC for two different tool materials, tungsten carbide (WC) and copper (Cu). A full factorial design with four factors was conducted. The significant factors are shown with main effects plots. Two sets of optimized parameters for maximum material removal rate (MRR) and minimum tool wear rate (TWR) for both tool materials are presented. Hardness and surface roughness are measured and compared to the non-machined material.

Effect of Gap Voltage and Pulse-On Time on Material Removal Rate for Electrical Discharge Machining of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a non-conventional machining technique which can be used to machine non-conductive ceramics. This technique removes materials from the workpiece by thermal energy exerted from series of electrical sparks. Using copper foil as assisting electrode (AE), machining of Al2O3 is done successfully. In this investigation, experiments were performed to study the effect of gap voltage and pulse-on time on material removal rate (MRR) for EDM of Al2O3. The results showed that the lowest and the highest values of gap voltage were 12 V and 14 V, respectively, with a fixed peak current of 1.1 A and pulse-on time of 8 μs. Beyond these two voltage values, material cannot be removed due to insufficient pyrolytic carbon layer generation. Similarly, pulse-on time is varied from 6 μs to 8 μs when gap voltage is fixed at 14 V and peak current at 1.1 A. MRR, in this case, is increased almost 20 times from a lowest value of 0.006 mm3/min to a highest value of 0.119 mm3/min for the specified gap voltage and pulse-on time.