A three-dimensional finite element simulation approach to analyze material removal in electrochemical discharge machining

Industrial applications of glass and ceramic materials have increased manifold due to their relatively low friction, high compression strength, high temperature and wear resistance, and excellent chemical inertness, etc. In microelectromechanical systems the use of glass, along with silicon and polymer, has become very popular. However, microfabrication of glass is a difficult process. The electrochemical discharge machining is now often used as one of the chipless machining solutions for these materials. The electrochemical discharge machining, however, is a complex process with multiple controllable parameters and exhibits stochastic nature. The mechanism of material removal in the process is yet to be understood well in spite of many theories. In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a three-dimensional finite element model for simulation of material removal in electrochemical discharge machining drilling in order to explore the mechanism further and correlated the findings with the experimentally obtained values. The model outputs were compared with experimental results available in literature. The computed results from the model show good agreement with the trial results.