Dr. Viveksheel Rajput

Mudimallana Goud

Narendra Mohan Suri

Abstract

Spark assisted chemical engraving (SACE) is a triumph process for processing the non-conductive materials such as glass, ceramics, composites, quartz, and so on regardless of their physical properties. It shows different criticalness in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and lab-on-chips for manufacturing items with the miniaturized dimension on a large scale. Due to the increasing demand for micro-components such as microsensors, micro-batteries, micro-needles, etc in aerospace, nuclear, and medical industries, there has been an escalation in the product miniaturizations. The material removal phenomena in SACE is a consolidated impact of electrochemical machining (ECM) and electric discharge machining (EDM) together. This article discusses the fundamental principles, recent studies, and influential parameter’s effect on gas film stability. Moreover, the performance enhancement of the SACE process and the influence of varying discrete process parameters includes applied voltage, electrolyte concentration, tool feed rate, tool shape is discussed. Result revealed that any change in the applied voltage and electrolyte concentration results in the variable spark intensity over the work material. Tool shape significantly affects the formation of the stabilized gas film at its vicinity and its feed rate controls the effective machining gap for electrolyte availability. The present study on SACE reveals that machining with an optimum range of input parameters is crucial for its effectiveness and repeatability. The study highlights the conceivable future regions to improve the machining performance of the SACE process

Keywords- SACE, micro-holes, material removal rate (MRR), gas film, spark, spherical tool.