Abstract
Tungsten carbide (WC) micro-shaft can be used as various micro-tools for MEMS because of its high rigidity and toughness. In this study, we performed fabrication experiments of the WC micro-shaft using electrochemical etching. H2SO4 solution was used as the electrolyte because it can dissolve tungsten and cobalt simultaneously. Optimal electrolyte concentration and applied voltage resulting in uniform shape, good surface quality, and high material removal rate (MRR) of a workpiece were experimentally selected. A straight micro-shaft with 5 μm diameter and 3 mm length was obtained by controlling the various machining parameters. Using the fabricated micro-shafts as tools, we machined a high quality micro-hole with 8 μm diameter and a micro-groove with 9 μm width in stainless steel 304 (304 SS).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sato T (1994) Nontraditional machining. Yokendo, Tokyo
Muller EW, Tsong TT (1969) Field ion microscopy: principles and applications. American Elsevier, New York
Lim YM, Lim HJ, Kim SH (2001) Shape and diameter control of microshafts in electrochemical process. J Korean Soc Precis Eng 18:50–56
Human AM, Roebuck B, Exner HE (1998) Electrochemical polarisation and corrosion behavior of cobalt and co (W, C) alloys in 1 N sulphuric acid. Mater Sci Eng A241:202–210
Basu SN, Sarin VK (1996) Oxidation behavior of WC–Co. Mater Sci Eng A209:206–212
Andersson KM, Bergstrom L (2000) Oxidation and dissolution of tungsten carbide powder in water. Int J Refract Met H 18:121–129
Bard A, Faulkner L (2001) Electrochemical methods. Wiley, New York
Paik W K, Park S M (2001) Electrochemistry: science and technology of electrode processes. Cheongmoongak, Seoul, South Korea
Schuster R, Kirchner V, Allongue P, Ertl G (2000) Electrochemical micromachining. Science 289:98–101
Ahn SH, Choi SH, Ryu SH, Choi DK, Chu CN (2003) Localized electro-chemical micro machining using ultra short pulses. KSME 2003 spring annual meeting, Muju, South Korea, pp 1052–1058
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Choi, S.H., Ryu, S.H., Choi, D.K. et al. Fabrication of WC micro-shaft by using electrochemical etching. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 31, 682–687 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-005-0241-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-005-0241-4