Modelling Studies of Rotary Magnetic Field in ECDM for Microchannel Fabrication of Silica Glass

Abstract

Recent developments in the fabrication of microfluidic channels of silica glass require repeatability and surface integrity for the industrial purpose of the ECDM process, which is made possible by controlling the dynamic parameters during machining. The characteristics of gas film, i.e., nucleation growth and bubble departure away from the tool, play a vigorous role in enhancing the quality characteristics of ECDM. MHD convection induced by a rotary magnetic field precisely regulates the gas film characteristics. It improves the ejection of particles at higher depths after chemical etching, which enhances the machining capability to fabricate a high aspect ratio microchannel. Various researchers have already done work by applying static magnetic fields in the ECDM process for micro-drilling. This work uses the novel approach of the rotary magnetic field in the electrochemical discharge machining process to fabricate microchannels using an in-house fabricated RMAECDM (Rotary magnetic field assisted ECDM) setup. The percentage reduction in the width overcut obtained by a rotary magnetic field compared to conventional ECDM and static magnetic field application is 21% and 8 %, respectively, under the same environments. Nature-inspired algorithms, coupled with Taguchi techniques, were applied to find the optimal setting of input parameters. The optimal voltage setting, concentration, field rotation, and magnetic strength are 40V,20%, 20000 RPM, and 220mT.