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Electrochemical magnetorheological finishing for hard-to-machine functional materials with nanometer-scaled surface roughness

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Abstract

WC-Co cemented carbide (WC-Co) is widely used in micro/nano-manufacturing owing to its excellent chemical stability, high-temperature resistance, and stiffness. Yet, its significant hardness and wear resistance make machining a challenging endeavor. In response, this study explores electrochemical magnetorheological finishing (ECMRF), a method combining magnetorheological finishing (MRF) and electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP). ECMRF demonstrates an encouraging increase in material removal rate (MRR), achieving up to 92.0 nm/min, compared to the 16.7 nm/min of conventional MRF. This improvement is largely due to a surface loosening effect on WC, facilitated by an oxide layer from surface electrooxidation. Furthermore, ECMRF shows a potential to enhance the convergence of surface roughness (Sa), at a rate significantly faster than traditional MRF. Post-polishing analyses indicate the WC workpiece remains chemically intact, without surface or subsurface damage. The process effectively reduces the Sa from 87.2 to 2.1 nm. This pioneering research underscores the prospect in polishing challenging materials and presents an innovative route to achieve highly efficient surface polishing with nanoscale roughness.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory for sample characterization.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22202166, 52075463, 21827802, 22132003, and 22021001), Technology Projects of Shenzhen (JCYJ20210324122001003), Hunan Province Key Research and Development Program (No. 2023GK2069), Fujian Province Science and Technology Plan Project (2021H6008), and the 111 Project (B08027, B17027).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Jiaming Liu, Xiaoting Lin, Huiming Feng & Yunfeng Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces (PCOSS), Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Electrochemical Technologies of Ministry of Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Shiyi Luo & Dongping Zhan

  3. Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750021, China

    Shiyi Luo & Dongping Zhan

  4. Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Yunfeng Peng

  5. Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Lianhuan Han

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  1. Jiaming Liu
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Contributions

Jiaming Liu performed the research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; Lianhuan Han, Shiyi Luo, and Yunfeng Peng designed the study and revised the manuscript; Xiaoting Lin performed the data processing; Huiming Feng helped with the experiment.

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Correspondence to Yunfeng Peng.

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Liu, J., Han, L., Lin, X. et al. Electrochemical magnetorheological finishing for hard-to-machine functional materials with nanometer-scaled surface roughness. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 130, 4713–4722 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12898-6

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