|| Jai Sri Gurudev||

Sri Adichunchanagiri Shikshana Trust®

SJB INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi & Approved by AICTE, New Delhi.)
Accredited with NAAC ‘A’ grade
No. 67, BGS Health & Education City, Dr. Vishnuvardhan Road Kengeri, Bengaluru – 560 060

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Academic Year : EVEN SEM /2022-23

Semester : 4TH SEMESTER ‘A’ SECTION

Subject : NON -TRADITIONAL MACHINING
By
UDAY M
Asst. Professor
 MODULE 3:

ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING (ECM)

&
CHEMICAL MACHINING (CHM)

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ELECTROCHEMICAL HONING PROCESS

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ELECTROCHEMICAL HONING PROCESS
 Electrochemical Honing is a process in which material is removed with
help of electrical energy, chemical energy, and honing process.

 In an ECH process, a DC Power Supply is used of which the tool act as the
cathode and the workpiece act as anode.

 The pressurized electrolyte is injected to the area being cut at a set

temperature.

 The feed rate is same as the rate of liquefaction of the material or the rate
of conversion of material into a liquid state.

 In this process, the gap between the tool and the workpiece varies between
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80-800 micrometers (.003 in. and .030 in.).
Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT
ELECTROCHEMICAL HONING PROCESS
 As electrons cross the gap, material from the workpiece is dissolved as the
tool forms the desired shape in workpiece. The metal hydroxide formed
during the process is carried away by the electrolytic fluid

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ELECTROCHEMICAL HONING WORKING PROCESS
 In electrochemical honing, electrolyte like sodium chloride, sodium nitrate
are used.

 The workpiece used in the electrochemical machining is a cylinderical

workpiece which has to be cleaned from inside using electrochemical
honing process.

 At first, the abrasive tool is inserted into the cylindrical workpiece.

 The abrasive tool which is inserted into the workpiece rotates inside it as
well as have up and down reciprocator motion.

 Electrolyte is supplied to this process inside the cylindrical workpiece

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using a nozzle.
Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT
ELECTROCHEMICAL HONING WORKING PROCESS
 In this process, the workpiece acts as anode and the tool acts as cathode. In this
process, a constant DC current is supplied.

 The metal part of the tool apart from the stone is conductive, this metal part
reacts with the electrolyte.

 Due to the reaction, material starts removing from the internal part of the
workpiece and a surface finish is obtained in the inside surface of the cylindrical
workpiece.

 The final finish is given by the abrasive tool or the honing stone. As the
abrasive tool is an insulator so it will be only used in rubbing.
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 The final finish provided by the abrasive tool is very neat and of high quality.
Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT
ANIMATION VIDEO OF ECH

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Source : YouTube

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ADVANTAGES
 In this process, no heat is produced.
 Another advantage is that we do not have to do the shaping process after
the electrochemical honing process as both surface finish and shaping is
done in the same process.
 For hard materials, traditional process of machining are not applicable
but by using electrochemical honing hard or tough material can also be
machined.
 Very low tolerance is obtained in this process.
 This process also results in deburring and no stress is developed as a
result of this process. 54

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

DISADVANTAGES
 The cost of the equipment's used in this process is high.

 It is only applicable to hard materials.

 This process can be carried out by skilled labour only.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

APPLICATIONS
 ECH is widely used in power generation and power chemicals industries.

 It is used in gear teeth error correction.

 It is used in increasing life span of the roller, gears, sleeves, dies, gears
and internal cylinders.

 It is also used in processing different materials like carbide, titanium,

alloys, Titanium alloys, etc

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ASSIGNMENT
 Calculate the MRR and electrode feed rate in an ECM of (Fe) that
has a cross section area of 25*25mm with NaCl in water as
electrolyte. The gap between the tool and workpiece is 0.25mm.
The supply voltage is 12VDC and specific resistance of electrolyte
is 3Ωcm.Given the atomic weight of iron 55.85 valence=2, density
7.87*10^6 g/m³
Soln:


 V=IR

R=ρsh/A
 . 74

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

CHEMICAL MACHINING(CHM)

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

INTRODUCTION

 A material removal process to produce shape/ pattern on

material (metal, glass, plastics, etc) by means of chemical
etching (the etching medium is called etchant - acid, alkali)
usually through a pattern of holes/apertures in adherent etch-
resistant stencil (maskant/resist, photoresist).

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

WORKING PRINCIPLE
 The main working principle of chemical machining is chemical etching.

 The part of the workpiece whose material is to be removed, is brought

into the contact of chemical called etchant.

 The metal is removed by the chemical attack of etchant.

 The method of making contact of metal with the etchant is masking.

The portion of workpiece where no material is to be removed, is mashed
before chemical etching

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PROCESS DETAILS OF CHM
 Cleaning
The first step of the process is a cleaning of workpiece, this is required to ensure
that material will be removed uniformly from the surfaces to be processed.
 Masking

 Masking is similar to the masking action done in any machining operation.

 This is the action of selecting material that is to be removed and another that is not
to be removed.

 The material which is not to be removed is applied with a protective coating called
maskant.

 This is made of a materials are neoprene, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene or any 78

other polymer
Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT
STAGES OF MATERIAL REMOVAL

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS DETAILS OF CHM
 Etching
 In this step the material is finally removed.
 The workpiece is immersed in the etchant where the material of workpiece
having no protective coating is removed by the chemical action of etchant.
 Etchant is selected depending on the workpiece material and rate of material
removal; and surface finish required.
 There is a necessity to ensure that maskant and etchant should be chemically in
active.
 Common etchants are H2SO4, FeCL3, HNO3.
 Selection of etchant also affects MRR.
 As in CHM process, MRR is indicated as penetration rates (mm/min). 80

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS DETAILS OF CHM
 Demasking
 After the process is completed demasking is done.

 Demasking is an act of removing maskent after machining.

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ELEMENTS OF CHEMICAL MACHINING

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 MASKANTS:
 Maskants are generally used to protect parts of the workpiece where chemical
dissolution action is not needed.

 Synthetic or rubber base materials are frequently used as maskants

 It can be applied on work material by various methods like dip, brush, spray, roller,
electro coating & adhesive tapes.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

 MASKANTS:
 Maskants should, however, possess the following properties:

 Be tough enough to withstand handling

 Adhere well to the workpiece surface

 Scribe easily

 Be inert to the chemical reagent used

 Be able to withstand the heat generated by etching

 Be removed easily and inexpensively after etching

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

 ETCHANTS
 Etchants are acid or alkaline solutions maintained within a controlled range of
chemical composition and temperature. Their main technical goals are to achieve the
following:
 Good surface finish
 Uniformity of metal removal
 Control of selective and intergranular attack
 Control of hydrogen absorption in the case of titanium alloys
 Maintenance of personal safety
 Best price and reliability for the materials to be used in the construction of the
process tank
 Maintenance of air quality and avoidance of possible environmental Problems
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ETCHANTS TYPES

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

TYPES OF CHEMICAL MACHINING PROCESS

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TYPES OF CHEMICAL MACHINING PROCESS:
1. Chemical milling:
 In chemical milling, shallow cavities are produced on plates, sheets,
forgings and extrusions.

 The two key materials used in chemical milling process are etchant
and maskant.

 Etchants are acid or alkaline solutions maintained within controlled

ranges of chemical composition and temperature.

 Maskants are specially designed elastomeric products that are hand

strippable and chemically resistant to the harsh etchants.
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TYPES OF CHEMICAL MACHINING PROCESS:
 Steps in chemical milling

 Workpiece pre cleaning

process

 Masking and scribing mask

 Etching

 Cleaning masking material

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

TYPES OF CHEMICAL MACHINING PROCESS:
 Steps in chemical Blanking

 Workpiece pre cleaning

process

 Masking and scribing mask

 Etching

 Cleaning masking material

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

MASKING METHODS

 Cut and peel method

 Photo-graphic resist method

 Screen resist method

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 CUT AND PEEL METHOD
 In this method, the maskant is applied on a large
surface area and then scribed or cut with shape knife
followed by careful peeling of the mask from the
selected areas to be etched.

 This method is used for those applications where thick

maskants are laid on the worksurface due to the
necessity for withstanding high exposure to the etchant
for extended periods.

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CUT AND PEEL METHOD

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CHEMICAL PROCESS

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PHOTO-GRAPHIC RESIST METHOD
 In this method, the mask is applied on the work surface
using photographic techniques. The masking material
contains photosensitive chemicals, which are exposed to
light through a negative image of areas to be etched.

 These areas are then removed using photographic

developing techniques while the remaining areas are
vulnerable to etching.

 This method is suitable for small parts that are required to

be produced in large quantities.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

SCREEN RESIST METHOD
 Screen resists or maskants are material that can be used on the
workpiece through normal silk-screening techniques.

 The maskants is painted through silk or stainless-steel mesh,

which has areas blocked off to allow selective passage for the
maskants.

 The blocked pattern corresponds to the image that is to be

etched.

 The screen is pressed against the work surface and the maskants
is rolled on.

 When the screen is removed the maskants remains on the work-

part in the desired pattern. 97

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

ASSIGNMENTS
 What is NTM? Classify the NTM process.
 Justify the need of unconventional
manufacturing process in todays industries.
 Classify the difference between conventional and
non conventional machining process.
 List the factors influencing process selection and
explain any two.
 Explain the need & characteristics features of
NTM

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PROCESS PARAMETERS

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS PARAMETERS
 Material removal rate:
 Material removal rate is mainly dependent on the selected
etchant.
 However, etchants that remove metal faster tend to have many
side effects including
 reduction in surface finish,
 increased undercutting,
 higher heating,
 greater chance of etch rate with temperature and
 attack on the bond between the maskant and the work piece.
 The higher heating might lead to higher stress, which can have
an impact on the strength of the material.
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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS PARAMETERS
 Material removal rate:

 The material removal rate should not be very less as it

takes more time for machining.

 More time in machining affects the production rate and the

cost per piece may increase.

 The etch rate is generally limited to 0.02-0.04 mm/min

 when surface finish and accuracy are not important, the

etch rate as high as 0.1-0.2 mm/min have been achieved
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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS PARAMETERS
 Accuracy
 Machining is done to a workpiece for better accuracy of the
element.

 It is very important to know about the range of accuracy of a

process before implementing it.

 The main factor affecting accuracy is undercut.

 The allowance for undercut is provided in the design itself.

 The tolerance on depth of cut increases when machining larger

depths at high machining rates. 102

Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

PROCESS PARAMETERS
 Surface finish

 The machining rate affects the surface roughness and hence the
tolerance produced.

 Slow etching will produce a surface finish like the original

surface.

 The surface finish obtained may be around 5 µm. Aluminium

alloys show better surface of the order of 1.6 µm.

 Typically, surface finish of 0.1 to 0.8 µm, depending on the initial

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roughness can be achieved.
Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT
 ADVANTAGES OF CHM PROCESS
 Low tooling cost.

 Multiple machining can be done on a workpiece simultaneously.

 No application of force so on risk of damage to delicate or low

strength workpiece.

 Complicated shapes/patterns can be machined.

 Machining of hard and brittle material is possible.

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LIMITATIONS OF CHM

 Slower process, very low MRR so high cost of operation.

 Small thickness of metal can be removed.

 Sharp corners cannot be prepared.

 Requires skilled operators.

 Handling and disposal of chemical could be troublesome.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT

APPLICATION
 It is mostly used in aircraft industry
 This process is best suited for production of printed
circuits, thin out walls, webs, and ribs of parts in sheet
metal forming.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering,SJBIT