Jian-guo Lei

Micro-electrical discharge machining of 3D micro-molds from Pd40Cu30P20Ni10 metallic glass by using laminated 3D micro-electrodes

For obtaining 3D micro-molds with better surface quality (slight ridges) and mechanical properties, in this paper 3D micro-electrodes were fabricated and applied to micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) to process Pd40Cu30P20Ni10 metallic glass. First, 100 μm-thick Cu foil was cut to obtain multilayer 2D micro-structures and these were connected to fit 3D micro-electrodes (with feature sizes of less than 1 mm). Second, under the voltage of 80 V, pulse frequency of 0.2MHZ, pulse width of 800 ns and pulse interval of 4200 ns, the 3D micro-electrodes were applied to micro-EDM for processing Pd40Cu30P20Ni10 metallic glass. The 3D micro-molds with feature within 1 mm were obtained. Third, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction analysis were carried out on the processed results. The analysis results indicate that with an increase in the depth of micro-EDM, carbon on the processed surface gradually increased from 0.5% to 5.8%, and the processed surface contained new phases (Ni12P5 and Cu3P).

Error Analysis of 3D Metal Micromold Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Cutting and Microelectric Resistance Slip Welding

We used micro-double-staged laminated object manufacturing process (micro-DLOM) to fabricate 3D micromold. Moreover, the error of the micro-DLOM was also studied. Firstly, we got the principle error of the micro-DLOM. Based on the mathematical expression, it can be deduced that the smaller the opening angle α and the steel foil thickness h are, the smaller the principle error δ is. Secondly, we studied the error of femtosecond laser cutting. Through the experimental results, we know that the error of femtosecond laser cutting is 0.5 μm under 110 mW femtosecond laser power, 100 μm/s cutting speed, and 0.75 μm dimension compensation. Finally, we researched the error of microelectric resistance slip welding. Based on the research results, we can know that the minimum error of microcavity mold in the height direction is only 0.22 μm when welding voltage is 0.21 V and the number of slip welding discharge is 160.