Generating plane and microstructured surfaces applying Jet Electrochemical Machining

The electrochemical machining (ECM) with closed electrolytic free jet (Jet-ECM) is a micromanufacturing technique to produce structures with dimensions in hundredth millimeter range. Based on localized anodic dissolution it's possible to generate three-dimensional geometries and microstructured surfaces [1,2,3]. The main advantage of Jet-ECM in comparison to conventional EC methods is that the electric current density is located in the electrolyte jet. Due to the high stream velocity in the electrolyte jet which is average about 20 m/s, continuous direct current can be used. This leads to higher local material removal rates compared to EC processes that work with pulsed DC. In the present work the application of Jet-ECM for production of plane and microstructured surfaces is presented. It is shown that applying different processing strategies the surface parameters Sz and Sa [4] and the machining depth h can systematically be varied.