Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213

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Precision Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precision

Realization of eco-friendly electrochemical micromachining using mineral water

as an electrolyte
Ye Yang a,b , Wataru Natsu b,∗ , Wansheng Zhao a
a
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
b
Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology, 2-24-16 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a new electrochemical micromachining method, which uses everyday mineral water
Received 9 February 2010 as an electrolyte. The advantages of the new method include totally green machining, high precision, high
Received in revised form 15 June 2010 efficiency, and low-cost. In this paper, practical experiments and results that focus on the fabrication of
Accepted 30 June 2010
micro pins and micro hole drilling as well as a more detailed theoretical analysis to explain the phenomena
Available online 17 September 2010
concerned are presented.
© 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Electrochemical machining
Micromachining
Green machining
Micro pin and micro hole fabrication

1. Introduction ECM machining of micro pins, low voltages and high-concentration

Electrochemical micromachining (ECMM) has several advan-
tages over other machining methods; these advantages include no
tool wear, no residual force, no cracks, high machining rate, and
the capability of fabricating complex 3D geometries. Because the
principle of electrochemical machining (ECM) involves dissolving
an anodic workpiece in the form of atoms, ECM can be utilized
as a microscale or nanoscale machining method. With an increas-
ing need for microscale parts, such as medical implants, microscale
batteries, and fuel cells, micro holes for fiber optics, micro noz-
zles for high-temperature jets, optical lenses, and inkjet printers
or other MEMS, more and more attempts are being made to use
ECM for micromachining [1]. The application of ultra-short-pulse
power supplies makes ECMM with sub-micrometer precision pos-
sible. Schuster et al. [2] reported that local etching of copper and
silicon is possible by applying ultra-short voltage pulses, since the
electrochemical reactions are confined to electrode regions in close
proximity during nanosecond pulses.
In ECMM, fabrication of micro pins and micro holes, and genera-
tion of 3D features are generally carried out. Micro pins are usually
machined by WEDG, EDM, chemical etching, or ECM processes. The
WEDG method used for micro pin fabrication provides high pre-
cision but is time-consuming [3], and the unavoidable tool wear
may influence the accuracy of the process. In previous attempts of
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 42 388 7421; fax: +81 42 388 7776.
E-mail address: summer@cc.tuat.ac.jp (W. Natsu).
alkali solutions are utilized. Fan and Hourng [4] investigated micro
pin fabrication by electrochemical machining. A 510 ␮m tung-
sten rod was used as the anode and nickel plates were used as
the cathode to fabricate the micro pin used in STM by electro-
chemical polishing. By applying low voltage, a high-concentration
electrolyte, and an appropriate rotation of the electrode, micro pins
with a diameter of 100 ␮m were fabricated. Choi et al. [5] fabricated
a tungsten carbide (WC) micro-shaft in the way of electrochemi-
cal etching using a H2 SO4 solution as the electrolyte. Using their
approach, a WC rod that was 200 ␮m in diameter and 2.5 cm long
was reduced to 5 ␮m in diameter and 3 mm in length using an
electrolyte of 1.5 M H2 SO4 , and an applied voltage of 4.1 V with
a machining time of 210 s. As for surface generation, Kim et al. [6]
used a 10 ␮m diameter platinum wire electrode and a 0.1 M H2 SO4
solution to machine various 3D features on a stainless steel plate.
From the above review, it can be seen that ECMM has signif-
icant potential for micromachining. However, the environmental
measure still remains a big issue, because the acid and alkaline elec-
trolytes used are dangerous to operators and cause environmental
problems.
To solve the environmental problems and expand the appli-
cation range of ECMM, this study presents an environmentally
friendly, high precision, and low-cost method of ECMM using min-
eral water as the electrolyte instead of the traditionally used acid or
neutral solutions, such as H2 SO4 and NaNO3 [7]. In addition, a brand
new method of micro pin fabrication by applying a high-voltage
power supply and monitoring the change in the inter-electrode
voltage is proposed, and the effectiveness of the method is verified

0141-6359/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.precisioneng.2010.09.009
 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213 205

Fig. 1. Electrochemical cell used for measuring the polarization curve.

experimentally. Furthermore, the characteristics of hole drilling
in mineral water is investigated and the influence of electrolyte
concentration on machining characteristics is discussed.
2. Proposed use of mineral water as an electrolyte
Compared with the traditional acid or neutral solutions, as far
as the environmental impact and maintenance of the machine
setup are concerned, mineral water is totally clean, eco-friendly,
and non-corrosive. Also, since water is low-cost and easily avail-
able, machining costs can be reduced considerably. However, the
electrical conductivity of water cannot be compared with that
of acid or neutral chemical solutions, even with dilute solutions,
because the amount of ions existing in common mineral water is
rather low. The concentration of mineral water is approximately
10−7 mol/L, and it has a pH value of around 7. To guarantee consis-
tency and comparability, commercial mineral water of the same
brand is chosen as the electrolyte in all our experiments. The
detailed chemical–physical properties and substances in mineral
water are listed in Tables 1 and 2.
Although the electric conductivity of mineral water is much
lower than that of the conventional electrolytes, the data in the
tables show that the electric conductivity of mineral water is bet-
ter than both the ultrapure and the vaporized water because there
are still a few ions such as H3 O+ , OH− , and Na+ in mineral water.
To determine if mineral water has a potential to be used as
an electrolyte for ECMM, the polarization curve was investigated.
In general, a polarization curve is measured either in potentiostat
mode or galvanostat mode. In this study, the polarization curve is
measured in potentiostat mode. A high-power potentiostat, which
can provide a maximum voltage of 300 V between the tool electrode
and the workpiece, is used in the experiments. This specialized
potentiostat has an advantage over the common potentiostats for
high-resistance studies. A schematic of the apparatus used for mea-
suring the polarization curve is shown in Fig. 1.
In the electrochemical cell, the working electrode (WE) is con-
nected to the workpiece, which is a SUS304 plate. The reference
electrode (RE) or the auxiliary electrode is a standard Ag/AgCl elec-
trode, and the counter electrode (CE), corresponding to the tool
electrode in ECM, is a tungsten carbide (WC) rod with a diameter of
0.3 mm. The electrolyte flowing between the electrodes is mineral
water. The voltage is measured between WE and RE, and the cur-
rent flows through CE and WE. The measured polarization curve of
the electrochemical cell composed of the stainless steel workpiece,
WC tool, and mineral water are shown in Fig. 2.
Compared with the polarization curve of a dilute acid electrolyte
[8], the initial overpotential found for mineral water is not much
different. However, the applied voltage between the anode and the
cathode electrodes differs significantly because it is divided into
several portions, as shown in Fig. 3, and expressed with Eq. (1)
VApplied = VAdl + VE + VCdl (1)
where, VApplied is the total power supply on both the electrodes, VE
is the voltage drop on the bulk electrolyte, VAdl and VCdl stand for
voltage drops on the anodic and cathodic double layer, respectively.

Table 1
Chemical–physical properties of the mineral water used in the experiment.

Brand Morimizu (Coca-Cola Japan Company)

Electric conductivity 0.014 S/m
pH 7
Water hardness 33.1

Table 2
Composition of the mineral water (mg/L).

Na 12.5
Ca 8.5
K 1.0
Fig. 2. Polarization curve of the electrochemical cell (anode – SUS304 board; elec-
Mg 2.9
trolyte – mineral water; cathode – WC rod; RE – standard Ag/AgCl electrode).
206 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213

Fig. 3. Illustration of voltage on the double layer and electrolyte in different electrolyte cells. (a) Traditional electrolyte. (b) Mineral water electrolyte.

Therefore, the total voltage applied on both the electrodes can be
divided into the voltage drop on the double layer in the interfaces of
both electrodes, and the voltage drop on the bulk electrolyte itself.
The difference in VApplied mainly results from VE , as shown in Fig. 3,
while the values of VAdl and VCdl are almost the same.
Since the electrical resistance of mineral water is much higher
and the thickness of the double layer is larger because of the lower
concentration [9], much higher voltage is required to make the ions
in the electrolyte conduct electricity.
Moreover, mineral water is a passive electrolyte compared to
an active solution such as NaCl, since its current changes sharply
with different voltage values. Therefore, controlling the machining
voltage is the most important factor for controlling the machining
current during this process. According to Faraday’s Law of Elec-
trolysis, the amount of a substance dissolved or deposited on each
electrode of the electrolytic cell is directly proportional to the quan-
tity of electricity passing through the cell. In other words, the
dissolved quantity per unit time of the workpiece is proportional
to the machining current. Therefore, by utilizing the appropriate
machining voltage on WE and CE, the corresponding current and
dissolved quantity will be realized.
The obtained polarization curve shows that mineral water is a
suitable electrolyte for ECM. Furthermore, the experimental data
confirms that the voltage between WE (the workpiece) and CE (the
tool) varies from 20 V to 40 V when the overpotential between WE
and RE varies from −1.2 V to −1.5 V vs. SHE. This overpotential
zone is appropriate for machining, since the corresponding cur-
rent is suitable for ECMM, being neither too small nor too sharp.
The above results show that mineral water can be used as an elec-
trolyte, although a much higher machining voltage compared to
the conventional ECM is necessary.
the workpiece per unit time. The anode, which needs to be fabri-
cated or dissolved, is a WC rod that is fixed to the Z-axis and has
a diameter of 0.3 mm. The cathode, which is a 2 mm thick SUS304
plate with a 1 mm hole drilled in the center, is fixed on the movable
X–Y stage.
The top and bottom surfaces of the stainless steel plate were
insulated with an insulating material during the experiments. The
insulation layer on the tool electrode surface plays an important
role in micro pin fabrication. Because the current density tends
to focus on areas having large curvature, without the insulation
layers, the dissolved machining will mainly take place at the end
surface of the workpiece electrode instead of the side surface, which
will lead to a sharp end of the micro pin. Experimental results
show that without the insulation layers, it is impossible to obtain
a straight electrode with a flat end surface. The process of micro
pin fabrication using the proposed method is schematically shown
in Fig. 5.
3.2. Time control by monitoring the change in inter-electrode
voltage
When variable electric current is used, the total charge, Q, is
obtained by integrating the electric current I(t) over time t, as

3. Method and experimental setup for micro pin fabrication

3.1. Method and experimental setup

In this study, a new method of micro pin fabrication using min-

eral water as an electrolyte is presented. The schematic of the
system for micro pin fabrication is shown in Fig. 4. The experimen-
tal setup consists of an X–Y stage, a non-rotational Z axis, and a
high-voltage galvanostat, which is required for the high-resistance
mineral water. Also, the high-precision constant current provided
by the galvanostat guarantees the same dissolved mass quantity of Fig. 4. Setup for fabricating a micro pin.
 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 5. Schematic of the fabrication process of a micro pin.
expressed with the following Eq. (2):
 t
Q = I(t)dt
0 does not increase sharply at the end of the machining, regardless
Since micro pin fabrication is carried out under constant cur-
rent conditions, the total electric charge, Q, and the amount of the
workpiece material removed, m, are expressed with Eqs. (3) and
(4).
Q = It
m = It
Here,  is a constant coefficient, which is related to the material
properties, and t is the total time for which the constant current is
applied.
It can be seen that the only variable parameter in this experi-
ment is the machining time. Precise control of the machining time is
critical in micro pin fabrication. Fig. 6 shows the change in voltage
between the tool and the workpiece electrodes when a constant
current of 50 mA is applied. As soon as the galvanostat is turned on,
an instantaneous voltage needs to be provided at around 120 V to
maintain the constant current at 50 mA, while as the process con-
tinues, the voltage required gradually decreases to a stable value,
about 12 V, and then a sudden voltage rise is observed.
The reason for this is the large resistance change caused by
the inter-electrode gap, because mineral water itself possesses low
electrical conductivity. About 10 min after the power is turned on,
the voltage suddenly increases. This sudden voltage change is con-
sidered to be caused by the dropout of the extruding part of the
workpiece electrode from the center of the plate (the red part
in Fig. 4 and at the situation depicted in Fig. 5(c)), resulting in a
decrease in the area over which current flows between the micro
pin and the cathode plate.
It was observed from the experiments that the shape of the
micro pin is straight and the front end of the electrode is flat, if the
galvanostat is turned off at the moment the voltage rises. Even with
a little longer machining time, the micro pin sharpens in the end
Fig. 6. Machining voltages of the experiments using mineral water and NaNO3
solution.
207
and the diameter of the front part will be much larger, because the
thinner part dissolves within a very short period of time. Therefore,
in this research, tc (shown in Fig. 6) is defined as the power cut-off
time, which also indicates the end of pin fabrication. As shown in
Fig. 5(c), the smallest possible electrode with a straight and flat end
has been machined at tc . Beyond tc , even machining for 10 s, leads
to a sharp end of the electrode and decreases the accuracy, both of
which are not suitable for later micro electrochemical machining
of holes.
To compare the controllability of mineral water with a tra-
ditional electrolyte, experiments using low concentration NaNO3
solutions were also performed. The change in voltages during the
machining process using 5% NaNO3 solutions is also shown in Fig. 6.
(2) It can be clearly seen that in the case of NaNO3 solution the voltage
of the amount of material dissolved. Thus, it is more difficult to
ensure the exact machining time and the finished accuracy with
NaNO3 solution used as the electrolyte. Based on the above results,
micro pin fabrication using mineral water is more controllable and
repeatable than those using traditional electrolyte solutions.
(3)
(4) 4. Influence of electric current on micro pin fabrication
4.1. Example of micro pin fabrication
Using the method described in Section 3, micro pin fabrication
is carried out with a constant current of 50 mA, and the machin-
ing time is controlled by monitoring the inter-electrode voltage.
The photographs in Figs. 7 and 8 show the workpiece electrode
just after power is cut-off and the final micro pin after ultrasonic
cleaning for 15 min. Note that better results can be obtained when
the ultrasonic cleaning is conducted at a little higher temperature.
It is evident from the photographs that the original micro pin is
covered with machining sludge and film. The black sludge can be
easily cleaned in a short period using ultrasonic cleaning, while the
thin oxide film (Eq. (5)) is a dense covering and requires ultrasonic
cleaning for more than 10 min at a high temperature of around
325 K. After ultrasonic cleaning, most of the sludge and the oxide
films are cleaned off.
WC + 5H2 O → WO3 + CO2 + 10H+ + 10e− (5)
Fig. 9 shows a magnified photograph of the micro pin. It is evi-
dent that a micro pin with a diameter of 20 ␮m and a flat end surface
was obtained by the proposed method in about 10 min.
Fig. 7. Originally machined micro pin.
208 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 8. Micro pin after ultrasonic cleaning.
The photo shows that the front part of the micro pin is not totally
straight. In this paper, the diameter of the fabricated micro pin is
defined as the average diameter of the front part which is 60 ␮m
long from the flat end (see Eq. (6) and Fig. 9(b)).
1 fabrication. The experiment using 40 mA current took more time
D= (D60␮m + D40␮m + D20␮m + D0␮m ) (6)
4 than that performed using 50 mA, and the diameter of the machined
4.2. Influence of constant current value
Since the electric current is one of the important factors in the
constant current electrolysis of micro pins, experiments were per-
formed under different current values to establish the influence
Fig. 9. Fabricated Micro pin and diameter definition. (a) Micro pin fabricated using
a constant current of 50 mA. (b) Diameter definition of fabricated micro pin.
Fig. 10. Range of micro pin diameters fabricated using different currents (maximum,
average, and minimum values under different current values).
of the constant current value on the fabrication of micro pins.
The experiments were carried out under current values of 40 mA,
50 mA, and 60 mA. The diameter of the machined micro pin and the
machining time were recorded and plotted in Figs. 10 and 11.
From the data in Figs. 10 and 11, it is evident that of the current
values used, 50 mA current produced the best results for micro pin
micro pin was not as small as that of the micro pin in the 50 mA
current experiment (Fig. 12). Also, longer machining time results
in a thicker film on the pin surface, which makes ultrasonic clean-
ing more difficult. Meanwhile, when using a larger current, 60 mA,
although it took less machining time, the process became less sta-
ble, resulting in a wider distribution of the diameter of the micro
pins obtained.
It has been mentioned above in Section 3 that control of the
machining time is crucial to the fabrication results, and that con-
trolling the machining time is easier when using mineral water as
the electrolyte, because there is an obvious indication of voltage
increase, which is not present when using other solutions as elec-
trolyte. Fig. 13 shows a micro pin with a sharp end, which occurred
because the machining time was around 10 s longer than tc . Also,
note that the thinner part of the micro pin has been dissolved by
the constant current in just 10 s. These experimental results prove
that the electric current value and the machining time are the two
most important factors in micro pin fabrication.
Fig. 11. Machining time for micro pin fabrication under different applied currents
(maximum, average, and minimum values under different current values).
 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 12. Micro pin fabricated under a constant current of 40 mA.
Fig. 13. Micro pin fabricated with a machining time 10 s longer than the cutting
time.
5. Machining characteristics of hole drilling
Experiments for machining micro holes were performed to find
out the machining characteristics when mineral water is used as
the electrolyte. In these experiments, the cathode is a WC micro pin
with a diameter of 100 ␮m, and the anode is a 30 ␮m thick SUS304
plate. No insulation was used on the side surface of the cathode.
Fig. 14. Drilled hole entrance and exit fabricated using direct current (30 V, tool Ø 0.1 mm). (a) Entrance of the hole. (b) Exit of the hole.
209
Fig. 15. Drilled hole diameters produced using a DC power supply.
A manual feeding method was performed by adjusting the gap
every 20 s. In particular, the initial gap was set to 15 ␮m, and the
operation to adjust the gap was repeated every 20 s until the hole
was penetrated.
A comparison between direct current and a pulsed power supply
in ECM of holes was also performed to determine any differences
in accuracy and machining time.
The hole drilling experiments were performed with different
electrical parameters using a direct current power supply and a
pulsed power supply, with different pulse properties, to determine
the optimum machining conditions. During these experiments, the
influence on the machining accuracy and the machining time by
voltage value, pulse-on, and pulse-off time was investigated.
5.1. Hole drilling with a direct current power supply
First, the direct current power supply was used to investigate
the influence of voltage value on the machining characteristics.
Fig. 14(a) and (b) shows photographs of the drilled holes on the
top and bottom surfaces fabricated using a DC power supply.
The measured hole diameters fabricated using different voltage
values are shown in Fig. 15. Since the top part of the hole is exposed
to the tool electrode for longer duration than the bottom side, the
hole diameter on the upper surface is larger than that on the bot-
tom surface, which means that an unavoidable taper is generated.
The results also indicate that a 30 V voltage is the optimum value
for the present experimental conditions, because the hole drilled
at this voltage has a smaller diameter. When 30 V is utilized, the
side gap tends to be the smallest, around 50 ␮m, among the exper-
imental voltage range. Here, the side gap is defined as half of the
difference between the hole diameter on the bottom surface and
the tool diameter.
210 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 16. Machining time required for drilling holes for different applied voltages.
Fig. 16 shows the machining time needed to penetrate the work-
piece electrode with different voltage values. The larger the applied
voltage value, the less is the required machining time. When the
voltage is 20 V or 25 V, the machining time is longer, which also
leads to a larger corrosion area at the upper side of the machined
hole. While using 35 V, a larger current reduces the machining
accuracy of the hole fabrication. Therefore, considering both accu-
racy and machining time, 30 V is the optimum voltage value to be
applied in the present experiment.
5.2. Hole drilling with a pulsed power supply
Machining experiments under different pulse-on and pulse-off
times when using a pulsed power supply were also investigated.
Experiments with pulse-on times of 500 ns and 300 ns, with dif-
ferent pulse-off times, were carried out. All the experiments were
performed at the voltage value of 30 V.
Figs. 17 and 18 show the relationship between the pulse-off time
and the drilled diameter for 500 ns pulse-on time and 300 ns pulse-
off time, with a pulse rise time of 7 ns limited to the precision of
the power supply. Fig. 19 shows the corresponding time needed for
the hole penetration machining operation. It can be seen from the
results that experiments with 300 ns pulse-on time show a smaller
side gap on the hole, while the amount of taper appears similar.
Fig. 17. Drilled hole diameters produced using a 500 ns pulsed power supply.
Fig. 18. Drilled hole diameters produced using a 300 ns pulsed power supply.
As to the influence of pulse-off time, it can also be seen by
comparing the data in Figs. 17 and 18 that with relatively longer
pulse-off time on the basis of the same pulse-on time, the machin-
ing accuracy is improved.
5.3. Discussion of the difference between DC and pulsed power
supply
By comparing the data in Figs. 15 and 17, it can be seen that
experiments with the DC power supply had comparable accuracy
to the experiments with the 500 ns pulsed power supply. We con-
sider that mineral water itself may act to localize the machining
current. Since mineral water has high electric resistivity, a larger
distance will lead to a distinct rise in resistance. Thus, corrosion
current generated far away from the machining zone is prevented.
However, using a shorter pulse power supply of 300 ns pulse-on
time, even more accurate results are obtained than those obtained
using either the DC power supply or the 500 ns pulsed power sup-
ply. Furthermore, by comparing the data in Figs. 16 and 19, it can be
seen that experiments with DC power supply do not always take
less machining time than the pulsed power supply experiments,
especially when the pulse-on time is longer than the pulse-off time.
The reason for this is that during the pulse-off time of the pulsed
power supply, the heat, bubbles, and micro products are migrating
away from the narrow inter electrode gap, which is not only helpful
to machining accuracy but also for the efficiency.
Fig. 19. Machining time required to drill holes by varying pulse-on and pulse-off
times using a pulsed power supply.
 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213 211

Fig. 20. Micro hole machined using mineral water as the electrolyte. (a) Entrance of the hole. (b) Exit of the hole.

In all, the decision of the optimum machining conditions

requires a comprehensive consideration of the voltage value, pulse-
on time, pulse-off time, and machining time. Because of the lack
of a sufficient theoretical analysis of the ECMM process occurring
within the inter-electrode gap, the experimental results must be
used to decide the appropriate machining conditions. From the
above experimental results, of 30 V voltage, 300 ns pulse-on time,
and 700 ns pulse-off time generates the smallest side gap, around
30 ␮m.
With these optimized conditions, a micro pin with a diameter of
30 ␮m, fabricated with the method proposed by this research, was
used to drill a hole in a 30 ␮m thick SUS304 stainless steel plate.
The time needed for the penetration was 27 min. A photograph of
the drilled hole is shown in Fig. 20. The results show that the hole Fig. 21. Equivalent circuits for the electrode-double layer-electrolyte half cell. (a)
diameter on the bottom surface is around 90 ␮m with an unavoid- Equivalent circuits model A [2]. (a) Equivalent circuits model B [11].
able taper, and the side gap is around 30 ␮m, about the same as the
inter-electrode gap.
a pulsed power supply in ECMM, several equivalent circuits are
developed to simulate the process of the machining. Fig. 21 shows
6. Discussion of electrolyte concentration suitability for two types of models. Model A [2] is a prototype universally used in
ECMM electrochemistry, and model B [11] is an improved model for the
ECMM. Through a simulation of the equivalent circuit in Fig. 21(b),
The above experimental results show that ECMM with mineral schematic waveforms of the supplied voltage and the current flow-
water as the electrolyte is practical, and satisfactory results are ing through the circuit are illustrated in Fig. 22. When a pulsed
achieved by applying a high-voltage power supply for micro pin power supply is utilized, the schematic current shows an instant
fabrication and a pulsed power supply for micro hole fabrication. rise and then exponential decrease. If the pulse-on time is long
However, another consideration from thermodynamics is that enough, the current will decrease to the value obtained when the
in general, the lower the concentration of a solution, the smaller DC power is applied, which is defined as id , and remains at that
the interaction force between the molecules or the ionic strength, value.
and thus, the faster the reaction rate can reach. This phenomenon
is represented by an activity coefficient, which is a factor used
in thermodynamics to account for deviations from ideal behav-
ior in a mixture of chemical substances. In an ideal mixture, the
deviations from ideality are accommodated by modifying the con-
centration by an activity coefficient. In an ideal solution, the active
coefficients would all be unity. Deviations tend to increase with
increasing concentration under a constant temperature [10]. There-
fore, the activity coefficient of ultra-low concentration mineral
water is much larger than for a traditional electrolyte solution
such as a NaNO3 solution. Since the activity coefficient is directly
related to the reaction rate, in this paper, the concept of response
time of ECMM using an ultra-short pulse power supply is put
forward for the first time to investigate the relation between
the concentration of the electrolyte and the machining response
time.
It is well known that ultra-short pulsed ECMM possesses excel-
Fig. 22. Schematic waveforms of the supplied voltage and the current flowing
lent capability for localized machining, since the limited charging through the circuit (the red line shows the condition when the DC power supply
time results in localized current flow. Based on the application of is applied).
212 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 23. Definition of variables associated with the response current and the
response time.
Fig. 24. Current waveforms flowing through mineral water at an applied voltage of
30 V. (a) 60% (600 ns: 400 ns) in mineral water. (b) 30% (300 ns: 700 ns) in mineral
water.
Fig. 23 shows the definition of variables associated with the
response current and the corresponding response time. In this
study, we are interested in investigating the reaction rate in rela-
tion to the concentration of the electrolyte, especially in the domain
of micromachining using mineral water and a conventional elec-
trolyte. Thus, the electrical current response time in inverse ratio
Fig. 25. Current waveform under the condition of 0.8% NaNO3 , 3.8 V, 0.005 s, 30% duty factor.
Fig. 26. Current waveform under the condition of 10% NaNO3 , 3 V, 0.03 s, 30% duty
factor.
with the response rate of different electrolytes to the ultra-short
pulse power supply is measured. The comparison of the current
response time in different electrolytes informs the decision of
which type of electrolyte to use in ECMM when using a short pulse
power supply.
Our experiments are based on the following assumptions and
conditions:
(1) Similar DC machining current is confirmed at first as the
standard of comparison to fix the machining voltage. In this
experiment, DC machining current, id , around 8 mA, is used as
the standard of comparison.
(2) The response current, ir , of different electrolytes is defined as
the Eq. (7).
 1

i r = id 1 + (7)
e
(3) The reason to define this parameter is that usually td , which
is needed to totally reach the id during the pulse-on time, is
longer than tr (Figs. 23 and 24), and in the ECMM process using
a pulse power supply, machining will surely take place if the
current reaches ir . Furthermore, tr usually does not change with
different pulse-on times.
When a pulsed power supply is applied and during the pulse-on
time, the time to reach id is defined as td , and the time needed to
reach ir is likewise defined as tr .
The experiment is performed under the condition that a pulsed
power supply is used. First, the voltage value of the pulsed power
supply is determined according to the above assumption (1).
Second, the pulse-on time is adjusted to observe the waveform
until ir is achieved. The experiments are performed with three
 Y. Yang et al. / Precision Engineering 35 (2011) 204–213
Fig. 27. Response time with varying concentration of the electrolyte.
Table 3
Machining results of the response time investigation.
Parameter Electrolyte
Mineral water ≈ 0.8% NaNO3
2.49 × 10−6 %
Similar DC machining 7.6 8 8.8
current id (mA)
Required voltage (V) 30 3.8
Defined response 10.4 11
current ir (mA)
Corresponding 200 ns 1000 ␮s
response time tr
types of electrolytes: mineral water, a 0.8% NaNO3 solution, and
a 10% NaNO3 solution. The experimental conditions and results are
shown in Table 3. The observed waveforms from an oscilloscope
are shown in Figs. 24–26. It should be noted that the waveform
shows the overall current through the machining gap, consisting of
current flowing through Cd and Rf in Fig. 21. The amount of current
that contributes to machining, flowing through Rf in Fig. 21, remains
unknown. But to a large extent, the waveform represents the con-
ductive electrons within the inter-electrode gap. Fig. 27 shows the
concentration of the electrolyte verses the defined response time
in a log–log plot, obtained from Figs. 24–26. From Fig. 27, it can be
seen that the response time when using a NaNO3 solution is several
orders of magnitude longer than when using mineral water.
If the response time, which can also be regarded as the charg-
ing time, is much longer than the pulse width, there will be no
dissolution, as the electrochemical reaction takes place after the
charging of the double layer according to the electrochemical reac-
tion model. Therefore, the charging time is used to evaluate the
suitability for machining. A longer response time is required for
longer pulse-on times to begin dissolved machining under a cer-
tain applied voltage; that is to say mineral water possesses better
sensitivity and responsivity during short pulsed power supply
machining. Mineral water has even lower concentration compared
with a 0.8% NaNO3 solution; therefore, based on thermodynam-
ics, it possesses more potential for ECMM with ultra-short pulsed
power supply.
Based on the experimental results, mineral water possesses
much faster current response capability than conventional elec-
trolytes in ECMM, which to some extent means that mineral water,
for its rather low concentration and high activity coefficient, is
probably more suitable to be used as the electrolyte when the
ultra-short pulsed power supply is applied according to the ther-
modynamic theory.
213
7. Conclusions
This novel study uses common mineral water as the electrolyte
for ECMM and includes preliminary experiments to confirm its
10% NaNO3
machining capability in ECMM. The obvious advantages of using
mineral water as the electrolyte include aspects of environment
impact, economy, and system control. Mineral water is a promising
3.0 solution to be used in the production of MEMS, such as micro pins,
12 by the method of ECMM because it is totally eco-friendly, unpol-
luted, low cost, highly efficient, and results in no corrosion and wear
5000 ␮s
of the machine tool.
During micro pin fabrication, a high-voltage power supply is
essential, as confirmed through experimental observation, which is
different from voltages required for traditional ECM. In this study,
a WC micro pin with the diameter in the range of 20–30 ␮m is
obtained from a WC pin of 300 ␮m diameter in about 10 min. Fur-
thermore, in this study, the machining properties using mineral
water as the electrolyte are investigated and it is found that the
response to a ultra-short pulsed power supply is much faster than
the conventional electrolytes, such as NaNO3 , and even more suit-
able when using a nano-second pulse power supply, that is, in
micro-ECM.
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