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Fabrication of cylindrical micro tools by micro electrochemical form turning

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Article  in  Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part B Journal of Engineering Manufacture · August 2013
DOI: 10.1177/0954405413497007

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Original Article

Proc IMechE Part B:

J Engineering Manufacture
0(0) 1–8
Fabrication of cylindrical micro tools Ó IMechE 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0954405413497007

operation pib.sagepub.com

Alok K Das1 and Partha Saha2

Abstract
Cylindrical micro tools of tungsten material have various applications in micro devices and systems because of its high
rigidity and toughness. This article deals with the fabrication of cylindrical micro tools from tungsten rod by micro elec-
trochemical form turning operation using KOH solution as electrolyte. The experiments were conducted with an indi-
genously developed setup with the variation of different experimental parameters to get good cylindrical shape of the
tool. Cylindrical micro tools of diameter less than 50 mm and length of up to 1 mm have been fabricated through this
process from tungsten rods of initial diameter of 1.5 mm within the time duration of 15 min. This process produces
cylindrical micro tools from a much larger initial diameter of tungsten rod and with low lead time, as compared to the
reported literatures. The variation of the cylindrical length of the micro tool according to the variation of parameters
such as pulse on time, applied voltage and concentration of electrolyte has been analyzed, and the optimum parameter
settings for getting the better shape and surface finish of the cylindrical electrode are electrode gap distance of 100 mm,
frequency of the pulse power supply of 500 kHz, voltage of 18 V, electrolyte concentration of 3 M and pulse on time of
1400 ns.

Keywords
Micro machining, micro electrochemical machining, micro tool, pulse power supply, electrochemical form turning

Date received: 26 March 2013; accepted: 17 June 2013

Introduction (2) electro-discharge process,6 (3) electrochemical

Micro electrochemical machining (micro-ECM) is one
of the unconventional manufacturing process, which
has several advantages over the conventional processes
such as (1) it can machine any metals regardless of its
strength and hardness, and (2) the process produces
stress-free and burr-free surfaces without any heat-
affected zone. In addition to the above required charac-
teristics, surface finish also plays a vital role on the
functional properties of the components such as wear
resistance, energy loss due to friction,1,2 which can be
realized with micro-ECM process. The process is
becoming an attractive area of research due to the
growing demand for fabrication of microstructures and
devices with better surface integrity.3 In micro-ECM,
the microelectrode/tool is required to be fabricated in
situ in the same setup to avoid the damage of the tool
due to bending while handling and eccentric rotation of
the tool in the machine spindle. The micro tools are
usually fabricated ex situ, by either of the following
processes: (1) conventional turning/grinding process,4,5
machining,7–9 and (4) deposition process.10–13 A few
research articles, describing the different methods for
the fabrication of cylindrical micro tools, have been
reported recently. For example, Onikura et al.14 have
fabricated cylindrical micro tools from ultra-fine grain
cemented carbide material by grinding process com-
bined with ultrasonic vibration. They have used the
end face of an offset grinding wheel to fabricate cylind-
rical micro tools. But very thin cylindrical micro tools
are often difficult to fabricate by conventional mechan-
ical methods because of its small diameter of the order
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
Corresponding author:
Alok K Das, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian School of
Mines, Dhanbad 826004, Jharkhand, India.
Email: eralok@yahoo.co.in

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2 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture 0(0)
of few micrometers and are easily bent by the lateral
force.15,16 Masuzawa et al.17 have reported that micro-
electrodes of diameter less than 15 mm can be fabri-
cated repeatedly. Lim et al.6 have reported that micro
electro-discharge machining (micro-EDM) process can
be potentially utilized in the fabrication of cylindrical
micro tools with high aspect ratio using the sacrificial
electrode. Kim et al.18 have fabricated the microelec-
trodes of various shapes by reverse electro-discharge
machining process by varying the applied voltage and
the capacitance of the capacitor. But, the lead time for
the fabrication of a micro tool is too long with the
micro-EDM and wire EDM process. However, the ten-
sile stresses generated in the resolidified layer may
cause deformation/bending or the surface cracks to
microelectrode.
The fabrication of micro tools by micro electroche-
mical dissolution process has several advantages as
compared to the mechanical grinding or EDM process
as discussed above. But, the formation of conical or
reverse conical shape of the micro tool is a critical
problem with this process. A good number of research
articles, emphasizing the above difficulties, have been
reported. For example, Lee et al.19 have fabricated
cylindrical micro tools under 10 mm in diameter and 1
mm in length from tungsten carbide (WC) material,
using NaOH solution as electrolyte and by controlling
the ultra-short pulse voltage. Choi et al.20 have fabri-
cated WC micro-shaft (diameter of 5 mm and length of
3 mm) with the electrochemical etching process by con-
trolling different process parameters, and H2SO4 solu-
tion has been used as electrolyte to dissolve both
tungsten and cobalt simultaneously. Researchers like
Lim et al.,21 Zhang et al.,22 Wang and Zhu,23 and Kim
et al.18 have also reported the different methods for the
fabrication of cylindrical microelectrodes from tungsten
rod by micro electrochemical processes. Researchers
like Bhattacharyya et al.,24 Schuster et al.25 and Lim
and Kim26 have described the principle and the possibi-
lities of electrochemical micromachining process to be
used in the area of micro fabrication.
In the reported literature, the initial diameter of the
tool electrodes, used for the fabrication of micro tools,
is always \ 500 mm and low pulse duration of the sup-
ply voltage (\ 200 ns) is used to neutralize the influ-
ence of geometry in micro-ECM and to achieve the
cylindrical shape of the tool. The effect of geometry
always leads to conical and reverse conical shaped elec-
trodes. In this study, experiments are conducted to fab-
ricate cylindrical microelectrodes from tungsten bar of
initial diameter of 1.5 mm, by the process of pulsed
micro electrochemical form turning, using KOH solu-
tion as electrolyte. Micro tools with diameters less than
50 mm and a cylindrical length of 0.8 mm have been
fabricated by this process within the time duration of
15 min. The parameters and experimental arrangements
(such as putting insulating and chemical inactive mate-
rial coating over the electrode at the desired places) are
made in such a way to minimize the effect of geometry
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Figure 1. Principle of micro electrochemical form turning.
and hence to get the cylindrical shape of the microelec-
trode. The variation of cylindrical length with the varia-
tion in different experimental parameters has been
discussed.
Theory of micro electrochemical form
turning
The micro electrochemical form turning process reduces
the diameter of a cylindrical workpiece, analogous to
the conventional form turning process in a lathe. It is
accomplished by choosing a suitable combination of
the tool and job material and type of electrolyte. In
micro electrochemical form turning process, the tool
never touches the workpiece. The material removal
takes place due to the electrochemical dissolution of
anode material by charging and discharging of electrical
double layer capacitor, which is formed at the interface
of electrode and electrolyte.
Figure 1 represents the principle of the process. The
job is a cylindrical bar, which has been coated with a
chemically inert material (paraffin) at the two places, as
shown in Figure 1, so as to get a uniform distribution
of electric field in the interelectrode gap while machin-
ing operation is carried out. The edges of the form tool
are machined to make it round shaped (Figure 1), as it
also contributes to the uniform distribution of the elec-
tric field in the interelectrode. The shaping of tool and
coating of job with paraffin have been carried out to
reduce the effect of geometry, which is reported by Lim
and Kim26 and Fan et al.27 The initial interelectrode
gap is fixed at 100 mm. During the tool fabrication pro-
cess, the job is rotated about its own axis and the tool is
fed uniformly toward the job, to maintain the uniform
interelectrode gap and to reduce the effect of diffusion
layer.26 The surface of the tool, which is exposed to the
electrochemical reaction, has been polished to minimize
the effect of surface roughness. The diameter of the
cylindrical bar (anode) reduces gradually at uniform
rate when a required potential difference is applied
between the tool and the job, and the tool is fed uni-
formly toward the job. By this process, the cylindrical
micro tool is fabricated.
Das and Saha
Figure 2. (a) Experimental setup and (b) different components of pulse power supply.
MOSFET: metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor.
Experimental setup
A micro-ECM setup has been developed indigenously
for performing wide range of noncontact type tool–
based micromachining operations such as micro-ECM
and micro-EDM. The outline of the setup is illustrated
in Figure 2(a). It consists of computer numeric control
(CNC) stages, for providing X–Y motion (with resolu-
tion of 1 mm) to the workpiece and Z motion (with res-
olution of 0.1 mm) to the tool, and the reverse
distribution of motion is followed when machining of
micro tool is performed. The tool can also be rotated
about its own axis in both clockwise and anticlockwise
directions. Pulse power supply is the one of the very
important components of the machine. The full
description of the pulse power supply has been illu-
strated in the following paragraph.
A metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor
(MOSFET)-based pulse power supply (Figure 2(b)) has
been designed to handle the power requirement of the
machine in different micromachining operations. The
monitoring and controlling of interelectrode gap dis-
tance at a required level is one of the essential require-
ments to localize the electrochemical reaction. In the
present system, the interelectrode gap control has been
performed by measuring the gap current. A Hall cur-
rent sensor is deployed for converting the gap current
to the equivalent voltage and is acquired by a data
acquisition card. The acquired data are processed in
the software program, and accordingly, the movement
action of the stage is decided. The details of experimen-
tation for cylindrical micro tool machining have been
described in the succeeding sections.
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3
Experimentation
A high-speed steel (HSS) bar of square cross section
(5 mm 3 5 mm), tungsten rod of 1.5 mm diameter and
KOH solution have been used as cathode, anode and
electrolyte, respectively. The setup arrangement for the
experimentation is shown in Figure 2(a). The experi-
mental parameters such as machining voltage (V), pulse
on time (Ton) and concentration of electrolyte (M) are
chosen as variable parameters. Other parameters like
frequency (kHz) of pulse power supply, rotational
speed (r/min) of the anode (job), agitation of the elec-
trolyte, electrolyte temperature and tool feed rate
(1 mm/s) are maintained at the uniform level for all the
experiments. The time of fabrication of micro tools
with different parameter settings has been decided after
conducting the pilot experiments.
In the present research framework, the microelec-
trodes have been fabricated by varying input para-
meters to observe the influence on the length cylindrical
shape of the machined micro tool. The working ranges
of different experimental parameters have been chosen
by conducting trial experiments. Four experiments have
been performed for the variation of each parameter
within the pre-decided range. After machining, the
obtained tool looks like a dumbbell shape toward both
ends due to the diffusion layer effect. But at the middle
portion of the fabricated tools, up to some length,
cylindrical shape was observed. So from the lower end,
unwanted portion has been removed by electrochemical
dissolution process to get the cylindrical portion of
micro tool. In this way, cylindrical micro tools are
fabricated.
4 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture 0(0)

Figure 3. SEM images of the tungsten micro tools fabricated with variation of pulse on time, (a) 1000ns, (b) 1200ns, (c)1400ns and
(d) 1600ns.

Result and discussion

1800
After performing the experiments, scanning electron
microscope (SEM) images of the fabricated tungsten 1600
micro tools have been captured. Figures 3–5 illustrate 1400
the SEM images of microelectrodes, which have been
Cylindrical length (um)

fabricated with the variation of input parameters such 1200

as pulse on time, applied voltage and concentration of 1000
electrolyte. The values of the variable experimental
parameters have been indicated on the respective SEM 800
images. Using a simple software technique, the cylindri- 600
cal length of the electrodes has been measured and
plotted against the respective parameters. The length of 400
the cylindrical portion has been marked with white lines 200
in the respective images except in Figure 3(d) because
the full length of the cylindrical portion could not be 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
captured in the SEM image. Pulse-on-time (ns)

Figure 4. Variation of cylindrical length with the pulse on time.

Influence of pulse on time on cylindrical length of the
microelectrodes
In this group of experiments, the values of constant
experimental parameters are as follows: initial interelec-
trode gap distance of 100 mm, frequency of the pulse
power supply of 500 kHz, voltage of 18 V and electro-
lyte concentration of 3 M. SEM images of the resulting
electrodes have been captured and illustrated in
Figure 3. From the plot (Figure 4), it has been observed
that the length of the cylindrical portion of the
fabricated microelectrode increases as the Ton increases.
But with high value of Ton (. 1800 ns), the spark
machining starts and the surface roughness of the fabri-
cated microelectrodes increases due to the nonuniform
dissolution of the anode material, and it is difficult to
control the process. The bending of the tool in Figure
3(c) is due to the mishandling, while capturing the
SEM image.
The ascending nature of the graph can be explained
in the following. During the pulse on time, the dual

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Das and Saha 5

Figure 5. SEM images of the tungsten microelectrodes fabricated with variation of applied voltage, (a) 15V, (b) 18V, (c) 21V and (d)
24V.

layer capacitor charges, and during pulse of time, the 900

charged dual layer capacitor discharges, as a result of
800
which the current flows in the interelectrode gap. As
the area of the job is fixed by providing the paraffin 700
Cylindrical length (µm)

coating, with an increase of Ton, the machining current

increases and thereby the machining rate increases. At 600

low value of Ton (1000 ns), the dual layer capacitor

500
does not get enough time to be charged fully, which
leads to irregular charging and discharging of the capa- 400
citor. This leads to the irregular surface of the micro-
300
electrode (Figure 3(a) and (b)). And at high value of
Ton ( . 1800 ns), very high surface roughness is 200
observed. Due to the improper flushing of electrolyte,
the debris cannot be fully flushed out of the interelec- 100
14 16 18 20 22 24
trode gap, leads to spark machining. When the Ton
applied voltage (V)
value is set in the range of 1400–1600 ns, good cylindri-
cal shape of the fabricated micro tools is fabricated. Figure 6. Variation of cylindrical length with the applied
voltage.

Influence of machining voltage on cylindrical length of

the microelectrodes
Figure 5 shows the SEM images of the tungsten micro-
electrodes with the variation of machining voltage. The
values of the constant parameters are pulse on time of
1200 ns, frequency of 500 kHz and electrolyte concen-
tration of 3 M. The variation of the cylindrical length
with respect to the applied voltage is illustrated in
Figure 6. At the machining voltage of 21 V, the
maximum length of the cylindrical tool is obtained and
beyond 21 V, and the length is reduced due to the spark
machining in the interelectrode gap. This happens due
to the high rate of formation of hydrogen bubbles in
the interelectrode gap.
The formation of neck has been observed in
Figure 5(c) due to the loose bonding of the paraffin to
the surface of the electrode, which indicates that the

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6 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture 0(0)

Figure 7. SEM images of tungsten microelectrodes fabricated with concentration variation, (a) 2.5M (KOH), (b) 3M (KOH),
(c) 3.5M (KOH) and (d) 4M (KOH).

nonconductive coating neutralizes the effect of geome- 650

try in other experiments. With the increase of applied
voltage, the diffusion layer effect is increased,15 but as 600
the job rotates at the close vicinity of the tool and due
Cylindrical length (µm)

to the rigorous agitation of the electrolyte, the diffusion 550

layer effect feds away. At low voltage (15 V) and with a
Ton value of 1200 ns, the dual layer capacitor cannot 500
charge fully. So the irregular machining takes place,
which leads to low cylindrical length of the micro tool. 450
As the applied voltage increases, with the same Ton
duration, the capacitor charges fully and hence uniform
400
machining is carried out. Because of this reason, the
cylindrical length of the micro tool increases with
350
increase of applied voltage. 2.5 3 3.5 4
Concentration of electrolyte (M)

Influence of concentration on cylindrical length of the
microelectrodes
Figure 7 shows the SEM images of the microelectrodes,
which have been fabricated with concentration varia-
tion. The values of different fixed parameters are pulse
on time of 1200 ns, frequency of 500 kHz and applied
voltage of 18 V. The variation of concentration of elec-
trolyte does not show any significant role in achieving
a higher cylindrical length of the fabricated microelec-
trodes (Figure 8).
In the present research purview, higher cylindrical
length is achieved at 2.5 M solution of KOH. As the
Figure 8. Variation of cylindrical length with concentration of
electrolyte.
concentration is increased, the reaction rate in the inter-
electrode gap is increased proportionally. The present
uniform agitation of electrolyte may not be sufficient to
disperse all the residues of the electrochemical reaction
from the narrow interelectrode gap, and furthermore,
the conductivity of the electrolyte changes due to the
poor agitation rate. This leads to nonuniform reaction
on the surface of the electrode, and hence, the cylindri-
cal length is reduced with increase in concentration of
electrolyte.

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Das and Saha
Figure 9. Optical images of the fabricated microelectrodes with optimum machining parameter setting (500 kHz, 18 V, 3 M and
1400 ns).
Summary of result and discussion
Based on the experimental results and discussions, it is
observed that with the increase of Ton and the applied
voltage, higher cylindrical length of the micro tools can
be realized. The increase in concentration (. 3 M) dete-
riorates the surface quality and also reduces the cylind-
rical length. Better surface quality is obtained by
controlling the Ton as compare to other experimental
parameters. Better cylindrical shape and surface finish
of the fabricated micro tool can be obtained at initial
interelectrode gap distance of 100 mm, frequency of the
pulse power supply of 500 kHz, machining voltage of
18 V, electrolyte concentration of 3 M and pulse on
time of 1400 ns. The confirmation experiments have
been performed to fabricate cylindrical microelectrodes
from tungsten bar of initial diameter of 1.5 mm with
the optimal parameter settings, and the optical images
are presented in Figure 9. In Figure 9(a), initial dia-
meter of the tungsten bar along with the fabricated
cylindrical tool is shown. The optical images in
Figure 9(b)–(d) have been captured with same scale to
observe the length of cylindrical shape. In Figure 9(b)
and (c), the length of the cylindrical portion is similar
except in Figure 9(d). The fabricated microelectrodes
get dumbbell shape at both ends and cylindrical shape
at the middle. The lower portion of the dumbbell is pre-
cisely dissolved electrochemically to get cylindrical
length. In Figure 9(d), the smaller length is observed as
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7
more amount material is dissolved from the lower end.
The time duration for machining of each electrode in
Figure 9 is 15 min.
Conclusion and future scope
The fabrication of microelectrodes with an indigenously
developed setup has been carried out successfully with
different parameter settings to see the parametric influ-
ences on the cylindrical length of the microelectrodes,
and the following conclusions are drawn.
The influence of geometry, during the fabrication of
microelectrodes, can be minimized with chemically inert
and electrically nonconductive coating on both ends of
the anode (at the bottom end of the anode and at the
interface of air and electrolyte). The influence of diffu-
sion layer is reduced by rotating the job about its own
axis in the close vicinity of the tool and by proper agita-
tion of electrolyte. The machining of cylindrical micro-
electrodes of diameter of 50 mm and length more than
800 mm can be performed in a time duration of 15 min
by this process from the tungsten bar of initial diameter
of 1.5 mm. In the present experimental framework,
cylindrical micro tool with better surface finish is
obtained at the parameter settings of initial interelec-
trode gap distance of 100 mm, frequency of the pulse
power supply of 500 kHz, voltage of 18 V, electrolyte
concentration of 3 M and pulse on time of 1400 ns. The
8 Proc IMechE Part B: J Engineering Manufacture 0(0)
confirmation experiments are conducted at the optimal
parameter settings. The sharp tip of the fabricated tools
may be beneficial for many applications particularly
for micro drilling operation through micro-ECM.
However, the fabrication of micro tools of desire dia-
meter and length needs further investigation.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any fund-
ing agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit
sectors.
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