CHEMICAL MACHINING
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Submitted To: Ajay Jain
Submitted By: Harsh Sharma 11610666 (M-5)
Birender Kumar 11610664 (M-5)
MACHINING
Machining is a process in which a piece of raw material is cut into a desired final shape and
size by a controlled material-removal process.
Material removal processes can be divided into two groups:
1. Conventional Machining Processes mostly remove material in the form of chips by
applying forces on the work material with a wedge shaped cutting tool that is harder
than the work material under machining condition.
2. Non-conventional manufacturing processes is defined as a group of processes that
remove excess material by various techniques involving mechanical, thermal,
electrical or chemical energy or combinations of these energies but do not use a sharp
cutting tool as it needs to be used for traditional manufacturing processes.
Q. Why do we need Advanced machining processes or non-Conventional
manufacturing process?
Technologically advanced industries like aeronautics, nuclear reactors, auto-mobiles etc.
have been demanding materials like high strength temperature resistant (HSTR) alloys
having high “strength to weight” ratio. Researchers in the area of materials science are
developing materials having higher strength, hardness, toughness and other diverse
properties. This also needs the development of improved cutting tool materials so that the
productivity is not hampered.
It is a well-established fact that during conventional machining processes an increase in
hardness of work material results in decrease in economic cutting speed. It is no longer
possible to find tool materials which are sufficiently hard and strong to cut materials like
titanium, stainless steel, nimonics and similar other high strength temperature resistant
(HSTR) alloys, fibre-reinforced composited, stellites, ceramics, and difficult to machine
alloys. Production of complex Shapes in such materials by traditional methods is still more
difficult. Other higher-level requirements are better finish, low values of tolerances, higher
production rates, complex shapes, automated data transmission, miniaturization etc. Making
of holes, in difficult-to-machine materials is another area where appropriate processes are
very much in demand. To meet such demands, a different class of machining processes have
been developed.
Classifications of Advanced Machining Techniques
• MECHANICAL
o Abrasive Jet Machining(AJM)
o Ultrasonic Machining(USM)
o Water Jet Machining(WJM)
o Abrasive Water Jet Machining(AWJM)
o Abrasive Flow Machining(AFM)
o Magnetic Abrasive Finishing(MAF)
• THERMOELECTRIC
o Plasma Arc Machining(PAM)
o Laser Beam Machining(LBM)
o Electron Beam Machining(EBM)
o Electric Discharge Machining(EDM)
o Ion Beam Machining(IBM)
• ELECTROCHEMICAL & CHEMICAL
o Electrochemical Machining(ECM)
o Chemical Machining(CHM)
o Biochemical Machining(BM)
CHEMICAL MACHINING
Chemical Machining is a process used to remove material by dissolution in a controlled
manner, from the workpiece by application of acidic or alkaline solution (i.e. etchant).
Maskants (chemically resistant coatings) are used to cover the surfaces which are not to be
machined. Maskants are the materials which do not allow etchants to penetrate through to
reach the work material to dissolve. This technique is quite useful for producing complex
configurations in delicate parts that otherwise would get damaged by application of forces in
case of the conventional machining processes. This process is used in many industries, viz
aviation industries for making aircraft wing panels, printed circuit boards (PCB), jewellery,
etc.
Chemical milling and chemical blanking are two most common version of ChM. During
Chemical Milling, the material is removed to produce “blind” details (pockets, channels, etc)
or to reduce the weight. During chemical blanking, the details that usually penetrate the
material entirely (holes, slots etc) are produced. This is also the process of blanking complete
parts from the sheet by chemically etching the periphery of desired shapes.
Steps for chemical machining:
1. Clean the workpiece with alkaline solution and then wash with fresh water.
2. Apply a thin coating of maskant by ‘cut and peel’ method, screen method, or by
photoresist method.
3. Dip the workpiece in the etchant bath and let it be there for the desired duration of
time.
4. Take the workpiece out from the etchant bath and remove the maskant layer, if any.
5. Wash the workpiece thoroughly under fresh water.
Chemical cleaning is necessary to ensure proper adhesion of the masking material to
workpiece. In case of debonding of maskants, stray etching would occur. The type of
cleaning to be used depends upon the kind of maskants, kind of work material, and required
machined depth. However, cleaning of porous workpiece material is rather difficult.
Etch factor= undercut/ machined depth
Total Machined depth and extent of undercut are controlled by controlling the immersion
time in the etchant.
MASKANTS
Masking material which is called maskant is used to protect workpiece surface from chemical etchant. Polymer or
rubber-based materials are generally used for masking procedure. The selected maskant material should have
following properties.
1. Tough enough to withstand handling
2. Well adhering to the workpiece surface
3. Easy scribing
4. Inert to the chemical reagent used
5. Able to withstand the heat used during chemical machining
6. Easy and inexpensive removal after chemical machining etching
There are basically three types of maskants:
1. Cut and Peel: Cut and peel maskants are neoprene, butyl, or vinyl-based materials which are
applied either dipping the component in the tank, spraying the mask on the part, or by low coating.
This maskant is first applied to the entire surface then it is cut and peeled off from the safety. The
thickness of the coating usually ranges from 0.025-0.13 mm. The maskant is first applied on the full
surface and then it is cut and peeled off from the selected areas to be exposed to the etchant. The
technique is good for batch size production, for products with large depths (>1.5mm) to be etched
etc.
2. Screen Printing: This technique is goof for high volume production with low accuracy,
comparatively low etching depth (<1.5mm). and for parts sized normally not more than 1.2 m X 1.2
m. In this method, a screen is used. The screen has the areas blocked off that are to be selectively
etched. Press the screen against the surface of the part and roll up the maskants. Now, remove the
screen and dry the part by baking. The exposed area is the one from which material to be etched.
3. Photoresist: This technique has become very common and is called “photochemical
machining (PCM)”. This method is used to produce complicated but accurate shapes. In this method,
the following successive operations are carried out.
The process starts by printing the shape of the part onto optically clear and dimensionally
stable photographic film. The "photo tool" consists of two sheets of this film showing negative
images of the parts. The two sheets are optically and mechanically registered to form the top and
bottom halves of the tool.
The metal sheets are cut to size, cleaned and then laminated on both sides with a UV-
sensitive photoresist. The coated metal is placed between the two sheets of the photo tool and a
vacuum is drawn to ensure intimate contact between the photo tool and the metal plate. The plate is
then exposed in UV light that allows the areas of resist that are in the clear sections of the film to be
hardened. After exposure, the plate is "developed", washing away the unexposed resist and leaving
the areas to be etched unprotected.
The etching line is a multi-chambered machine that has driven-wheel conveyors to move the plates
and arrays of spray nozzles above and below the plates. The etchant is typically an aqueous solution
of acid, frequently ferric chloride, that is heated and directed under pressure to both sides of the
plate. The etchant reacts with the unprotected metal essentially corroding it away fairly quickly.
After neutralizing and rinsing, the remaining resist is removed and the sheet of parts is cleaned and
dried.
ETCHANT
• Purpose: to dissolve a metal by turning it into a metallic salt, which then goes into
solution
• Many chemicals are available as etchants: FeCl3, Chromic acid, FeNO3, HF, HNO3
• Etchant selection is based on various criteria.
1. Surface Finish
2. Material removal rate
3. Depth of penetration
4. Type of workpiece
5. Type of maskant
6. Damage to the work piece by etchant
7. Availability and cost
Advantages
• Metal removal is completely stress free
• Complex shapes and deeply recessed areas can be uniformly chemically milled
• Extremely thin sections can be chemically milled without burr
• Many parts can be chemically milled at one time either by processing a large workpiece before
cutting out the parts, or by milling many separate pieces in the tank at one time
• Tapered sections can be chemically milled
• Extremely close thickness tolerance is achievable
• Tooling and tool maintenance costs are low
• Cut outs and the periphery of difficult to machine parts can be rough trimmed by etching through the
metal, at minimum added cost
• Company logos, part numbers or other identifying marks can easily be etched into the surface during
manufacture at no extra cost
• Setup and tooling costs are extremely low
• Design change costs are low, because only art work is altered – allows great design flexibility
LIMITATIONS
• Fillet radius is approximately equal to depth of cut
• Extremely deep cuts are usually not cost effective
• Welds and castings often produce pitted surfaces when
• chemically milled
• Process costs depend on the quality of the original
• workpiece (thickness variation, presence of surface
• scratches and corrosion)
• It is impractical to make grooves of width less than twice
• the depth
• Hazardous chemicals used in the process present difficult
• safety, waste disposal and air pollution problems
• A relatively high level of operator skill is required for PCM
Applications
• Used extensively to etch preformed aerospace parts to obtain
• maximum strength to weight ratios:
• Integrally stiffened Titanium engine ducts
• Spray etching a rotating tube for cruise missile launch tubes
• Thinning and sizing of a delta booster tank bulkhead
• Chemical sizing of engine cowl inlet duct skins
• Undercut on clad aluminium
• Removing the alpha case from a Titanium casting
• Elimination of decarburized layer from low-alloy steel forgings
• Elimination of recast layers from EDM
