The array micro-holes were tested. The mechanism design for the experiment is shown in
Figure 2. The machinery equipment is an engraving EDM (Sodick AP1L). The XYX three-axis displacement accuracy can be 0.1 μm. First, the lower die holes were directly stamped by the punch head in the lower die. The stamping sample was placed on the lower die holes and fixed by vacuum adsorption. The lower die is made of an aluminum alloy (Al5052), a soft alloy. The punch head directly punches it at a stamping depth of 100 μm. After the lower die stamping, it is placed on the lower die holes and fixed by vacuum adsorption. As the punch head only moves on the Z-axis, the concentric position of the punch head and the lower die holes can be maintained. In the subsequent micro-stamping process, as long as the vacuum pump is depressurized, a new sample can be placed for the next stamping.
2.1. Design of experiments
The main objective of this experiment is to process the micro-hole array. First, the lower die holes are stamped in the lower die. Afterward, the stamping sample is fixed to the lower die by vacuum adsorption. As shown in
Figure 2(a), when the sample is fixed by vacuum, the punch head only moves on the Z-axis. The lower die is made of aluminum alloy (Al5052), a soft alloy. It can be directly stamped by the punch head. The stamping depth is 100 μm. After stamping, the lower die is placed on lower die holes and fixed by vacuum adsorption. The punch head only moves on the Z-axis, and the concentric position of the punch head and lower die holes can be maintained. During microstamping, as long as the vacuum is relieved, a new sample can be placed for the next stamping.
As shown in
Figure 2. (b), the size of the stamping sample is 25×25×1 mm, the size of the center milling groove is 6×6 mm, the depth is 0.74 mm, and the sample thickness is 0.26 mm (260 μm). In the microstamping process, it is difficult to accurately locate the punch head and lower die holes [
10,
11]. Therefore, this study used a structure combining the lower die holes with vacuum adsorption. The lower die holes were made using the punch head to stamp the lower die directly. The punch stroke setting mode was similar to peck drilling, and reciprocating progressive stamping was adopted. The punch head is a ø2 mmWC round bar with 37 microneedles, as shown in
Figure 2. (c).
2.2. Punch head manufacturing
As shown in
Figure 3 (a), the micro punch head used in this study is formed by Reverse-EDM. The microhole electrode for EDM is made of 25×25×1 mm brass material. There are 37 holes with a diameter of 140 μm. In the drilling process, the brass electrode is fixed by a self-made fixture. A high-speed spindle and micro drill bit are fixed to the spindle of the electrical discharge machine by 3R SYSTEM for drilling. The cooling fluid is the working fluid of the electrical discharge machine. There is a ø8 mm channel in the base of the fixture for the brass sample has two major functions. First, the bottom of the drilling sample is a hollow structure, and the channel is available for perforation processing. Second, in the EDM process, the channel acts as the channel for the bottom cooling fluid.
As shown in
Figure 3 (b), the second step is to connect the bottom of the channel to the brass electrode after drilling. In the EDM process, the working fluid flows from the bottom into the gap between the WC and brass electrode to remove the debris and implement stable and efficient EDM. The working fluid flows through the bottom channel into the discharge region between the WC electrode and the brass. The micro-hole array channel can spray a lot of working fluid more efficiently than a single-hole. A large amount of debris and gas produced by micro-drilling can be removed effectively. The electrode (WC) is fed downwards in the Z direction. The feed path is in tapered dynamic tracking mode. The three parameters, Z (depth), R (major diameter), and Q (minor diameter) of the tapered dynamic tracking mode, are set up. The discharge depth (Z) is set up to achieve the punch head length of 500μm. According to the test results, the discharge depth is about 750 μm. The shaking radius of Q is set as 1μm.
This section aims to produce an annular array micro punch head. Reverse-EDM is a high-accuracy machining method. Its forming process is influenced by multiple factors, such as the discharge circuit, the magnitude of current, discharge time, off time, discharge depth, and shaking radius. These factors can influence the shape of the micro punch head. Therefore, the micro-hole array is drilled in the brass sample (C2680) using a high-speed spindle. The required array punch head is formed using a Ø2 mm WC for reverse discharge. As the micro-hole array is an annular array, the produced punch heads are arranged in an annular array fashion. As shown in
Figure 2 (c), the number of annular array micro punch heads is 37.
According to the parameter selection shown in
Table 1, this section aims to discuss the feasibility of Reverse-EDM. Therefore, two modes of discharge circuit are selected: Generator Mode (GM) and Servo Feed (SF). The GM circuit is one of the most fundamental circuits in EDM, which uses a voltage pulse to generate discharge. It is suitable for rapidly processing simple geometric shapes. The SF circuit is developed from the GM circuit, which achieves higher machining accuracy and more complicated geometric shapes by controlling the motion of the discharge electrode [
12,
13]. In this study, the minimum discharge energy is selected for GM and SF circuit experiments. A current of 0.1A, discharge time of 6μs, and off time of 24 μs were selected for the GM circuit. The capacitance of 1000 pF and shaking radii of 70 μm and 80μm were selected for the SF circuit. This study aims to further understand the influence of different parameters on EDM from this experiment. It also aims to determine the optimum parameter combination for implementing efficient and high-precision machining.
For the convenience of subsequent experimental discussion, three micro punch heads are represented by the abbreviations of the circuit and initial shaking radius, respectively. To be specific, Experiment I: GM-R70; Experiment II: SF-R70; Experiment III: SF-R80. This naming method helps simplify the experimental records and improve the readability of experimental data. It is convenient for comparing different experimental results.
According to
Figure 4, the profile of the array punch head after Reverse-EDM is observed. Due to the different discharge parameters of the three micro punch heads, there are differences in the profile of the punch head and machining time. The main discharge circuits of GM-R70 μm and SF-R70μm are different, but the discharge depth and shaking radius are the same. They use the same minimum discharge energy, so the difference in machining time is only 57 sec. However, the difference in the average length of the punch heads is 182 μm, i.e., 52%. The difference between the main initial shaking radii of SF-R70μm and SF-R80μm is 10 μm. The larger the shaking radius, the greater the influence on the overcut phenomenon at the front end of the punch head. Compared to SF-R70 μm, the average length of punch heads of SF-R80 μm is shortened by about 8.1%, which is 464 μm. The array micro punch head consists of 4 annular arrays, and each punch head has a similar appearance.
Measuring each punch head, especially the inner annular micro punch head, is difficult. Samples are used to simplify the analysis. The micro punch head is fixed to a cubic material by an ER collet. The material has 4 faces: I, II, III, and IV. By placing it on the 4 faces, 4 circumferential surfaces of the micro punch head can be observed. One micro punch head in the middle of each array is selected as the measurement sample. Four micro punch heads are taken from each array for analysis, including punch length, angle, and root diameter.
As shown in
Figure 4, according to the observation through OM at magnifications of 25 times and 100 times, the micro punch head profile after reverse discharge shows high replicability. Each punch head of the array has the same shape. After processing, the GM-70 μm and SF-70 μm micro punch heads have the same discharge depth, shaking radius, and root diameter. This is due to the difference in energy consumption induced by different discharge circuits. A shorter length of the GM-70 μm micro punch head results in a larger punch angle.
According to the results shown in
Figure 5 (a), the lengths of micro punch heads are measured. The minimum, average, and maximum lengths of SF-70 μm are 503 μm, 505 μm, and 508 μm, respectively. The difference is less than 1%. The minimum, average, and maximum lengths of SF-80 μm are 450 μm, 460μm, and 468 μm with a difference of 4%. The average length of GM-70 μm is 328 μm. It is the shortest punch head, but the difference among the punch heads is about 6.9%. According to the experimental results, the micro array punch head made by reverse discharge has high replicability of punch length, and SF is more suitable than GM. As shown in
Figure 5, the image measurement system of OM is used for the geometric measurement of punch angle. In the measurement results of four faces, the maximum error of the punch angle is less than 1%. The punch heads manufactured by SF-70 μm have the minimum punch angle, and the average angle is 14.2°.