Laser Micromachining in Fabrication of Reverse-µEDM Tools for Producing Arrayed Protrusions

Area of Science:

• Manufacturing Engineering
• Materials Science
• Micromachining Technologies

Background:

• Micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM) is a key technology for fabricating micro-scale components.
• Reverse-µEDM offers a variant approach for creating specific product geometries.
• Tool plate quality is critical for the precision and success of µEDM processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate high-quality novel products utilizing the Reverse-µEDM process.
• To optimize the fabrication of tool plates for Reverse-µEDM using laser beam micromachining (LBµM).
• To investigate the influence of LBµM process parameters on micro-hole quality for tool plate applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of tool plates using Nd:YAG laser beam micromachining (LBµM) on 0.5 mm titanium sheets.
• Optimization of LBµM parameters (duty cycle, current percentage) using Grey Relation Analysis.
• Production of micro-holes with elliptical and droplet profiles.
• Utilizing the fabricated tool plates in the Reverse-µEDM process to create product features.

Main Results:

• Optimized LBµM parameters (1.25% duty cycle, 20% current) yielded burr-free micro-holes with minimal dimensional error.
• Elliptical and droplet profile micro-holes were successfully fabricated on titanium sheets.
• The LBµM-fabricated tool plates enabled the production of analogous protrusions with high dimensional accuracy and minimal deterioration via Reverse-µEDM.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully demonstrated the fabrication of precise tool plates using optimized LBµM.
• Reverse-µEDM, utilizing these specialized tool plates, is effective for producing high-quality micro-features.
• The integrated approach of optimized LBµM and Reverse-µEDM offers a viable pathway for advanced micro-manufacturing.