Electrochemical micromachining of Hastelloy B-2 with ultrashort voltage pulses

By Maurer, Joseph J.; Mallett, Jonathan J.; Hudson, John L.; Fick, Steven E.; Moffat, Thomas P. & Shaw, Gordon A.
Published in Electrochimica Acta NULL 2010

Abstract

Electrochemical micromachining (ECMM) with ultrashort voltage pulses, a maskless all-electrochemical micro and nanofabrication technique, was used to fabricate microstructures on a corrosion resistant nickel-based superalloy, Hastelloy B-2,11This article is authored by employees of the U.S. federal government, and is not subject to copyright. Commercial equipment and materials are identified in order to adequately specify certain procedures. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose. whose work hardening behavior makes it difficult to machine on the macroscale. This work presents a viable, strain-free micromachining strategy for this technologically important material. ECMM was used to machine microstructures to depths of 3 μm and 10 μm, and the resolution of the machining was found to be dependent on the duration of the nanoscale pulses. Microstructures were also machined to 100 μm depths, demonstrating the potential for the fabrication of high aspect ratio features using this technique. The ECMM was performed utilizing an apparatus consisting of standard electrochemical equipment combined with a custom electrical circuit that was constructed easily and at low cost.

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