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Wear mechanism and preventive method of silicon electrodes in micro ECM

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Abstract

In micro electrochemical machining (ECM), sidewall-insulated electrodes are often used to constrain stray current and improve processing localization. Our research team has proposed a silicon electrode with outstanding sidewall-insulation performance. However, abnormal wear of silicon electrodes occurred in experiments. For the excellent insulation performance of silicon electrodes and their exploitability in micro ECM, this research aims to reveal the wear mechanism of silicon electrodes and prevent the wear of silicon electrodes. Through experimental and theoretical analysis, it is found that the wear of silicon electrodes is caused by alternating generation and dissolution of silicon hydrides during the electrolysis process. To be more specific, the generation of silicon hydrides is caused by the invasion of hydrogen atoms into silicon crystal during pulse width period, and their dissolution is aroused by the reverse current during inter pulse period. According to the wear mechanism, reverse current is eliminated to prevent the dissolution of silicon hydrides, thereby preventing electrodes wear. The reverse current is eliminated by replacing the original power supply, a pulse power supply with inter pulse depolarization loop (DePPS), with a pulse power supply without inter pulse depolarization loop (NDePPS) or with a DC power supply (DCPS). Micro ECM experiments are carried out under the NDePPS and the DCPS. Micro grooves with steep sidewalls are obtained under both power supplies. There is no wear of silicon electrodes after a long period of continuous use. The experimental results indicate the wear of silicon electrodes has been successfully prevented.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author or the first author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51775302) and Engineering Science and Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Key Project (2021YFF0500202).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yulan Zhu, Yong Li & Hao Tong

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guodong Liu

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  1. Yulan Zhu
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  2. Guodong Liu
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  3. Yong Li
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  4. Hao Tong
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the investigation, study conception, design and editing. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Yulan Zhu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yulan Zhu and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yong Li.

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Zhu, Y., Liu, G., Li, Y. et al. Wear mechanism and preventive method of silicon electrodes in micro ECM. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 131, 1137–1149 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13166-x

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