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OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTOCHEMICAL
MACHINING
Article September 2011

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Atul R. Saraf et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTOCHEMICAL
MACHINING
ATUL R. SARAF
Department of Mechanical Engineering,Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
Raigad, Maharashtra State, India
atul.saraf001@gmail.com*

Dr. M.SADAIAH
Department of Mechanical Engineering,Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
Raigad, Maharashtra State, India
msadaiah@dbatu.ac.in

SANTOSH DEVKARE
Department of Mechanical Engineering,Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
Raigad, Maharashtra State, India
santoshdevkare@gmail.com
Abstract :
This paper presents the machining of Oxygen-Free High Conductivity (OFHC) copper using
Photochemical Machining (PCM). Twenty-seven experimental runs base on full factorial (33) Design of
Experiments (DoE) technique were performed. The control parameters considered were the etchant
concentration, etching temperature and etching time. The response parameters were Undercut (Uc) and the
Surface roughness (Ra). The effects of control parameters on undercut and surface roughness were analyzed
using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique and their optimal conditions were evaluated. An optimum
surface roughness was observed at an etching temperature of 55 c, an etching concentration of 600 gm/litre and
15 minutes etchings time. The minimum undercut (Uc) was observed at the etching temperature of 45 c, etching
concentration of 600 gm/litre and 15 minutes etching time. It was found that etchant temperature and etching
time are the most significant factors for undercut.
Keywords: PCM, DoE , ANOVA, Surface Roughness, Undercut.

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1. Introduction
The PCM is one of the non-conventional machining processes that produces a burr free and stress free
flat complex metal components. The machining takes place using a controlled dissolution of work-piece
material by contact of the strong chemical solution. The PCM industry currently plays a vital role in the
production of a variety of precision parts viz. microfluidic channels, silicon integrated circuits, copper printed
circuit boards and decorative items. It is mainly used for manufacturing of micro-components in various fields
such as electronics, aerospace and medical. It employs chemical etching through a photo-resist stencil as a
method of material removal over selected areas. This technique is relatively modern and became established as a
manufacturing process. The newly-developed products made from PCM especially relevant to Microengineering, Micro-fluidics and Microsystems Technology.
OFHC copper is an important material for various engineering applications, as because of its excellent
electrical and thermal conductivity, easy fabrication, and good strength and fatigue properties. An aqueous
solution of ferric chloride (FeCl3) is the most commonly used etchant. Less literature is available on the
photochemical machining of OFHC copper. In the literature, Cakir (2006) studied that the copper etching with
CuCl2 etchant and a suitable regeneration process of waste etchant simultaneously. This would reduce the
overall manufacturing cost and environmentally friendly etching process which ultimately enhances the
productivity. David et al. (2004) studied the characterization of aqueous ferric chloride etchant used in industrial
photochemical machining. He found that FeCl3 is most commonly used etchant with a wide variety of grades.
Rajkumar et al. (2004) investigated the cost model for PCM which defines standards for industrial etchants and
methods to analyse and monitor them. Cakir (2004) stated that the etch rate of FeCl3 is higher than CuCl2 but
CuCl2 gives a better surface finish than FeCl3 during machining of Cu-ETP copper.
From literature, it is observed that no statistical study has been reported to analyse the interaction effects of
process parameters on etching process of OFHC Copper. Till date an accuracy of PCM depends only on the skill
and experience of the operator. Work to date an optimal set of process parameters is not calculated. The
statistical study is necessary to investigate the performance in different ranges as well as to find the global
optimum process parameters. It is also necessary to find out the single optimum process parameters setting to
satisfy the requirements of excellent etching quality. In this work, an attempt is made to study the optimum
process parameters by using full factorial design method and an ANOVA technique.

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2. Experimental work
In this work, Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) was used as an etchant for machining of OFHC copper. The chemical
composition of OFHC Copper is shown in Table 1. The etchant, FeCl3 was prepared in 600,700, and 800
gm/litre respectively. For each experiment 5000 ml. of etchant was used.
Table 1. Chemical composition of OFHC copper.

Grade

Type

Cu

Tellurium

Cr

Ni

Copper

OFHC

99.99

0.0003

0.0010

Etchant was poured into etching bath that is coated by insulator jacket to control chemical etching temperature
and also partially air tight is shown in Fig. 1. Photochemical machining tests were carried out at 45 C, 50 C
and 55 C. The temperature was maintained within a range of 1 C. Single-sided chemical etching process was
used. The etching times were 15, 20, and 25 minutes.

Fig. 1. Experimental set-up for etching.

The DOE technique was used to design the experiments to know the interaction of process parameters. Each
parameter was designed to have three levels namely low, medium and high respectively (Number of treatment
conditions = 3k = 33 = 27) using a full factorial DoE technique. The experimental design matrix was a simplified
method of putting together an experiment (Table 2).

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Table 2 . Experimental design matrix.

Sr.No.

Temperature
(Co)

Concentration
(gm/litre)

Time
(minute)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

45
45
45
50
50
50
55
55
55
45
45
45
50
50
50
55
55
55
45
45
45
50
50
55
55
50
55

600
600
600
600
600
600
600
600
600
700
700
700
700
700
700
700
700
700
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800

15
20
25
15
20
25
15
20
25
15
20
25
15
20
25
15
20
25
15
20
25
20
25
15
20
15
25

3. Results and discussion

The analysis of experimental data was performed in order to determine the effect of temperature, time
and concentration on the magnitude of undercut and surface roughness. The analysed results are presented using
main effects and interaction plots.
3.1 Statistical analysis of the undercut (Uc)
The summary of analysis of variance (ANOVA) is shown in Table 3. It is observed that the factor undercut has a
significant effect at 95% confidence interval as evident from ANOVA Table 3. It is observed that etching time
and etchant temperature has a large contribution on the variability of undercut among the selected parameters.
However, the concentration has negligible effect on undercut. The ANOVA for undercut shows that the time
and temperature are the most significant parameters for undercut.

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Table 3. ANOVA for undercut (mm).

Degree of
freedom

Sequential sum
of squares

Adjusted
sum of
squares

Adjusted sum
of squares

F-ratio

p-value

Temperature (0C)

0.0060512

0.0060512

0.0030256

193.35

0.000

Concentration(gm/litre)

0.0000223

0.0000223

0.0000111

0.71

0.519

Time (Minute)

0.0262614

0.0262614

0.0131307

839.12

0.000

Temperature*
Concentration

0.0004097

0.0004097

6.55

0.012

Temperature*Time

0.0007259

0.0007259

0.0001815

11.60

0.002

Concentration*Time

0.0011228

0.0011228

0.0002807

17.94

0.000

Error

0.0001252

0.0001252

0.0000156

Total

26

0.0347185

Control factor

S=0.00395577

0.0001024

R-sq.=99.64%

R-sq. (Adj.) = 98.83%

Etching process if prolonged, undercut was always going to be more, as etching starts in sidewise with
downward action also. The evaluation of undercut as a function of temperature, concentration and time is shown
in Fig. 2.

Main effects plot for undercut Uc (mm)

Fitted Means
Tepmerature

Time

0.18
0.16
0.14

Mean

0.12
0.10
45

50
Concentration

55

600

700

800

0.18

15

20

25

0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10

Fig. 2. Main effect plots for undercut Uc (mm).

The main effects plots show that the response undercut was increased with increasing in etch time and
temperature. But initially at lower level undercut was very small and it was very high at higher levels. The
parameters that have greater influence on undercut in the decreasing order of importance are temperature, time

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and concentration as shown in Fig. 2. The temperature has the most dominant effect amongst all the main
parameters. Further, it is better to set the concentration, time and temperature at a lower level.
It is observed from the main effects plots (Fig. 2) that the optimum etching performance parameters for
the undercut were observed at a temperature of 45 c, a concentration of 600 gm/litre and etching time of 15
minutes. Fig. 3 shows the interaction plot for undercuts, with each plot exhibits the interaction between two
different machining parameters.

Interaction plot for undercut Uc (mm)

Data Means
600

700

800

Tepmerature
(c)
45
50
55

0.20

0.15

T epmer atur e

0.10
0.20

0.15

C oncentr ation

C oncentration
(gm/litre)
600
700
800

0.10

Time
(minutes)
15
20
25

0.20

0.15

T ime

0.10
45

50

55

15

20

25

Fig. 3. Interaction plots for undercut Uc (mm).

An interaction between factors takes place when the variation in response from a level of a factor to another
level varies from the change in response in the same two levels of a another factor; this implies that the effect of
one factor is dependent upon another factor.
3.2 Statistical analysis of surface roughness value (Ra)
The summary of analysis of variance (ANOVA) is shown in Table 4. It is observed that the factor Ra has a
significant effect at 95% confidence interval as evident from ANOVA Table 4. It is also observed that etching
time and the enchant concentration have a large contribution on the variability of Ra among the selected
parameters. However the temperature has negligible effect on surface roughness value.

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Table 4. ANOVA for surface roughness Ra (m).

Control factor

Degree of
freedom

Sequential
Sum of
squares

Temperature (0C)

0.07509

Concentration
(gm / litre)

Time (Minute)
Temperature *
Concentration
Temperature*
Time
Concentration*
Time
Error
Total

Adjusted
sum of
squares

Adjusted
mean of
squares

F-ratio

p- value

Significant
(Yes / No)

0.07509

0.03754

0.41

0.677

NO

1.54596

1.54596

0.77298

8.43

0.011

YES

7.51387

7.51387

3.75693

40.98

0.000

YES

3.06522

3.06522

0.76631

8.36

0.006

0.04231

0.04231

0.12

0.973

1.99484

1.99484

5.44

0.020

8
26

0.73338
14.97067

0.73338

YES

0.01058

NO

0.49871

S = 0.302774

YES

0.09167

R-Sq = 95.10%

R-Sq(adj.) = 84.08%

It is observed etching time is the most significant parameter which affects the surface roughness (Ra).
Etching process if prolonged; Ra was always going to be higher. Fig. 4 shows the evaluation of surface
roughness as a function of temperature, concentration and time. According to the main effects plot, we can
evidence that response Ra was increased with increasing in the etch time.

Main effects plot for surface roughness Ra (m)

Fitted Means
Temperature

Concentration

2.0

Mean

1.5
1.0
45

50
Time

55

15

20

25

600

700

800

2.0
1.5
1.0

Fig. 4. Main effect plots for surface roughness value Ra (m).

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Initially, Ra was very small. It increases as time increases and remains approximately constant for an increase in
the temperature. The effect of concentration on the surface roughness shows different trends than temperature
and time. The value of Ra increases initially and then starts reducing. The time has the most dominant effect
amongst all the main parameters. After analysing, it is advisable to set the temperature at a higher level, time
and concentration at lower levels.
It is found from the main effects plots (Fig. 4) that the optimum etching performance parameters for the
Ra value were observed at a temperature of 55 c, a concentration of 600 gm/litre and time of 15 minutes. Fig. 5
shows the interaction plots of Ra in the PCM process. Two way interactions among the control parameters were
assessed for their effects on the surface roughness.

Interaction plot for surface roughness Ra (m)

Data Means
600

700

800

Temperature
(c)
45
50
55

2
T emper atur e
1
3
2
C oncentr ation
1
3

Time
(minutes)
15
20
25

2
T ime
1
45

50

55

15

20

Concentration
(gm/liter)
600
700
800

25

Fig. 5. Interaction plots for surface roughness Ra (m).

Fig.5 shows the interaction plots among the three process parameters for their effect on surface roughness.
4. Conclusions
From the experimental investigations based on full factorial method and the analysis of the results, the
following conclusions are drawn.

It is observed from the ANOVA, the input variables time and temperature both have statistically
significant effects on the undercut. It is also observed from the ANOVA that the input variables
time and concentration both have statistically significant effect on the surface roughness value Ra.

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The above discussion confirmed the validity of the full factorial methodology for enhancing the
etching performance and optimizing the etching parameters. The undercut and surface roughness
are greatly improved by this approach.

An optimum surface roughness (Ra) was observed at 55 c of etchant temperature, 600 gm/litre of
etchant concentration and 15 minutes etching time. For minimum Undercut (Uc), the temperature
was 45 c, etchant concentration 600 gm/litre and etching time 15 minutes.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

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David M. A., 2004, Photochemical Machining: From Manufacturings Best Kept secret to a $6
Billion per annum, Rapid
Manufacturing Process, CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Systems,53, 559-573.
David M. A., Heather, J.A. Heather J.A., 2004, Characterization of aqueous ferric
chloride etchants used in industrial
photochemical machining, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 149, 238245.
Davis, P.J., Overturf, G.E., 1986, Chemical machining as a precision material removal process, precision engineering , 67-71.
Douglas, C. M.,1997, Design and Analysis of Experiments. Fifth Edition, John wiley and sons, INC.
Rajkumar, R., Heather J.A., Oscar Zamora., 2004, Cost of photochemical machining, Journal of Materials Processing Technology,
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