International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108

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Machining of non-conducting materials using electrochemical

discharge phenomenonan overview
R. Wuthricha,*, V. Fasciob
a
Ecole Polytechnique Federole, Laboratoire de Systemes Robotiques, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
b
Laboratoire de Genie Chimique UMR 5503, Universite Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, Cedex 04, France
Received 25 October 2004; accepted 16 November 2004

Abstract
Machining with electrochemical discharges is an unconventional technology able to machine several electrically non-conductive materials
like glass or some ceramics. After almost 40 years of its first mention in literature, this technology remains an academic application and was
never applied in industrial context. The knowledge about machining of non-conducting materials using electrochemical discharge
phenomenon is reviewed up to this date with some particular attention to the electrochemical point of view. Some main limiting factors are
highlighted and possible solutions are discussed.
q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Spark assisted chemical engraving; Machining non-conductive materials; Electrochemical discharge phenomena

1. Introduction established, remain however too slow and expensive

The micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) field is
growing constantly. MEMS emerged in the late 1980s with
the development of integrated circuits fabrication processes.
If silicon remains the most widely used material, glass
becomes more and more important. In particular Pyrexw
glass is widely used because its ability to be bonded to
silicon by anodic bonding (also called field-assisted thermal
bonding or electrostatic bonding).
According to recent publications microfabrication of
Pyrexw glass is one of the key processes in MEMS [1].
Several applications need glass because of its unique
properties like its chemical resistance, transparency, low
electrical and thermal conductivity or biocompatibility. As
some examples can be mentioned micro-accelerometers,
micro-reactors, micro-pumps and medical devices (flow
sensors or drug delivery devices).
The main limiting factor for a growing usage of glass in
MEMS devices is its limited structuring possibility.
Chemical etching technologies (like HF etching) are well
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C41 21 693 38 10; fax: C41 21 693 38 66.
E-mail address: rolf.wuethrich@a3.epfl.ch (R. Wuthrich).
0890-6955/$ - see front matter q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2004.11.011
processes for many industrial applications. Other techno-
logies are available like laser machining or mechanical
machining (ultra-sonic machining or powder blasting). Both
are hampered by the difficulty to obtain good surface
qualities and potential structural damages (micro-cracks). In
general high aspect-ratio structures are a challenging
problem. Machining high-aspect ratio micro-holes in glass
would open several new possibilities in the MEMS field. A
possible answer is spark assisted chemical engraving
(SACE), which is discussed in this contribution.
SACE, based on electrochemical discharge phenomena,
was presented for the first time in 1968 by Kurafuji as
electrical discharge drilling for micro-holes in glass [2].
Several other names are used in literature: Discharge
machining of nonconductors by Cook et al. [3], Electro-
Electrochemical Arc Machining by Kubota [4], Electro-
Electrochemical Discharge Machining by Ghosh et al. [5],
Micro Electrochemical Discharge Machining by Langen
et al. [6], Electro Chemical Spark Machining by Jain et al.
[7] and Spark Assisted Chemical Engraving by Langen
et al. [8]. The diversity of names illustrates the complexity
of the process and the different explanations (partially
contradictory) proposed to explain the nature of
1096 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 1. Schematics of the SACE set-up. Two electrodes, dipped into an
electrolyte are supplied to a constant DC voltage. The cathode, with the
smallest surface, is used as tool to machine the workpiece.
the electrical discharges. It should be mentioned that SACE
has not to be confused with two other, even very similar,
processes: electro chemical machining (ECM) and electro
discharge machining (EDM) [2,3,9]. To avoid this con-
fusions we will refer in the following to this process by
SACE having in mind that this is not the only name used for
it.1 Until today only partial reviews of this process are
available [1012]. The aim of this contribution is to review
the literature up to this date.
The practical implementation of SACE is the following
(see Fig. 1): the sample to be machined is dipped in an
appropriate electrolyte solution (typically sodium hydroxide
or potassium hydroxide). A constant DC voltage or sometime
a pulsed voltage is applied between the machining-tool or
tool-electrode (cathode) and the counter-electrode (anode).
The tool-electrode is dipped a few millimetres into the
electrolyte. The counter electrode is far away from the tool
electrode (a few centimetres typically) and has a much larger
surface (about a factor hundred).
Electrochemical discharges happen if the voltage is higher
than a critical value which depends on the geometry and
concentration of the used electrolyte. Typical values are
around 30 V. At this point the density of gas bubble
production is so high that they coalesce into a gas film
isolating the tool electrode from the electrolyte. The
electrical field in this film is high enough (typically
106108 V/m [13]) to allow electrical discharges between
the electrode and the electrolyte. The heat generated by these
discharges and probably some chemical etching contribute to
the eroding of the to be machined substrate if it is positioned
in the near vicinity of the electrode (typically smaller than
25 mm for glass [1416]). The SACE process itself gave raise
very recently to some patents [1719].
An interesting variant of the above described process was
proposed by Liu et al. [20] as gas filled electrodischarge
1 Composites
The present authors suggest to use following translations: etincelage
assiste par attaque chimique (French), Funken-unterstutzte chemische
Gravur (German) and (Russian).
and electrochemical compound machining. In this process,
a side insulated tool-electrode is used and the gas film is not
produced electro-chemically but by an external gas filling
system. Liu et al. machined successfully non-conducting
ceramic material by drilling holes of a few millimetres in
diameter and length. Another variant is proposed by Allesu
et al. [21,22] for thermocouple welding.
2. Micro-machining with SACE
SACE offers various possibilities to machine different
materials (see Table 1). It can be distinguished between hole
drilling, 3D machining, travelling wire machining and
hybrid techniques. In the following an overview of the
reported investigations until this date is given.
2.1. General experimental investigations
Machining with SACE is a complex process influenced
by several parameters. Until today it is not yet clear which
parameters control mainly the machining and even if the
influence on machining of the various parameter is known
reproducible machining is still not reported.
A pioneering study about the influence of several
parameters, like electrolyte properties, applied voltage and
others on the material removal rate was reported by Cook et
al. [3]. They described the main effects which were later
confirmed by other research groups: the material removal
rate increases with the applied D.C. voltage [2330] and the
electrolyte temperature [3,29,30]. Cook et al. [3] found that
material removal rate increases with electrolyte concen-
tration but latter investigations seems to indicates that there
is an optimum before the rate decreases [23,28,31]. This
behaviour follows the dependence of the electrolyte
conductivity from the concentration.
The tool wear rate and the over-cut follow a similar
behaviour as the machining rate in function of the applied
voltage and the used electrolyte [7,23,29]. However, the tool
wear rate is about two magnitudes smaller than the material
removal rate [23]. A possible mechanism participating to
tool wear was described by Hof et al. [32]. During
electrochemical discharges not only cathodic currents are
Table 1
Overview of the published reports on SACE machining
Micro-hole drilling 3D structuring TW-ECDM
Glass 100500 mm 100 mm!1 mm 110 mm [44,46]
[2,6,11,33,38,40,42,49,51], [6,38,40]
12 mm [3,30,39,40,90]
Quartz 13 mm [29,39] 110 mm [46]
Plexiglas [3]
Ceramics 100500 mm [37,36], 1 mm 110 mm [46]
(mainly [28,29,30] [3]
Al2O3)
1 mm [7] [7,23]
Granit [3]
Typical dimensions of machined structure are mentioned.
 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
observed but some small (a few milliAmperes) anodic
currents. This anodic current dissolves the tool-electrode by
electrochemical dissolution. In the case of extremely small
sharp AFM tips this effect can result in the total dissolution
of the tool-electrode.
The effect of electrolyte on machining is complex and
cannot be described uniquely in function of concentration
and temperature. As will be discussed in Section 4, the
machining process is partially a chemical one and therefore
the nature of the electrolyte influences strongly the
machining behaviour. NaOH electrolyte seems to have
most interesting properties compared to other electrolytes
(KOH, NaCl, NaNO3, NaF, HCl and H2SO4) [3,24]. Molten
salt electrolytes (eutectic of NaOH and KOH melting at
170 8C) can drastically improve the smoothness of the
machined surface [3]. The surface roughness of the
machined work sample is influenced by the electrolyte
and the applied voltage [33].
The voltage is mostly applied as a D.C. voltage. However
applying high frequency voltage pulses is very interesting as
removal rate increases for pulses in the micro-sec range and
the machined surface quality is significantly improved [3].
Material removal rate is increased as well by introducing an
additional inductance in the voltage generator circuit as was
showed by Basak et al. [10,27,34].
Introducing artificially some bubbles into the process
during machining was investigated by Jain et al. [23]. They
found that the material removal rate decreases slightly as
well as the over-cut. This method could maybe be used to
increase machining precision.
2.2. Drilling holes
Hole drilling was the first application of SACE [2]. The
range of diameter is typically from about 100 mm to a few
millimetres. Mostly some cylindrical tools are used made in
various electrical conducting materials. In principle any
conducting material is suitable. However, materials with
high resistance to electrochemical corrosion are preferred
like stainless steel, tungsten or nickel. The strong correlation
between the tool shape and the machined hole was
demonstrated by Langen et al. [6] who showed that it is
possible to achieve various shapes (square, triangular and
cylindrical shapes) for holes by using wire electro discharge
grinding (WEDG) technology to manufacture the various
tool-electrodes [35]. Another possibility to manufacture the
tools is electrochemical etching [36]. Recently the
possibility to use extremely sharp tips made by electro-
chemical etching implemented on an AFM set-up was
explored [32].
The feeding mechanism of the tool influences the
machining performances too. Most popular actuation
principle for the tool (or workpiece) is gravity feed
[2,3,5,28,33,37] which means that the tool and the machined
substrate are always in contact. A similar possibility
(keeping the force between tool and workpiece constant)
1097
was introduced in [38]. Other possibilities are constant feed
[36,39] or stick-slip actuators [6].
A major problem in hole drilling is the accessibility of
the electrolyte at the working site as the drill depth increases
[38,40]. When the electrolyte can no longer reach the to be
machined surface material removal rate decreases, the local
temperature may increase and some thermal cracks will be
formed in the workpiece. A solution to this problem is to
move up and down the tool-electrode during drilling in
order to allow fresh electrolyte to flush inside the hole
[38,40].
By rotating the tool the machining performances can be
improved as well for material removal rate as for obtaining
better machined surface qualities. This was first demon-
strated by Jain et al. [39] by drilling holes in the range of a
few millimetres in diameter and depth in glass and quartz
using various tool kinematics with NaOH electrolyte and
later confirmed by other research groups [33,40]. The
circularity of the machined holes and the machining
removal rate can be improved by rotating the tool-electrode.
The effect of tool rotational speed can be divided in two
distinct regions. For slow rotation (less than 25 rpm) the
machining efficiency (amount of machined distance for a
given machining time) increases. For higher rotational
speed (higher than 25 rpm) the efficiency decreases and may
even become less efficient than for a non-rotational
tool. Jain et al. [39] attribute this effect to a destabilisation
of the sparking activity with increasing rotation speed. A
similar conclusion was found when using an exocentric
rotational motion for the tool. Optimal performances can be
achieved by using an eccentricity similar to the used tool
radius [39].
Not only glass and quartz may be drilled. As already
showed Cook et al. [3] several non-conducting material can
be machined by this technology (granite, refractory fire-
brick, aluminium oxide, plexiglas and others). In particular
ceramic material can be drilled (Al2O3, Si3N4, MgO, Y2O3)
[28,29,37,36] achieving holes of typically 1 mm diameter
using gravity-feed or constant feed with several electrolytes
(NaF, NaNO3, NaCl and NaOH) and applying relatively
high voltages (around 80 V compared to typically 30 V for
glass and quartz). The material removal rate (MRR) is,
however, about 10 times smaller than for glass and quartz
(about 0.10.4 mg/min) and the surface quality is less good
than for glass [28].
In order to get better control over the distance between
the workpiece and the tool, Jain et al. [30] proposed to use
abrasive cutting tools. By comparing material removal rate
for glass and alumina they could show that using this kind
of tools improves the machining efficiency. The authors
explain this effect by noting that on one side the machining
takes advantage of thermal erosion and abrasive machining
and on the other side the gap between the workpiece and
the tool is always a few micrometers which allows
sparking.
1098 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
2.3. 3D micro-structuring
By moving the tool over the work sample some 2D and even
3D structures can be achieved. First 3D micro-structuring
experiments of glass, using different types of actuators, are
reported by Langen et al. [6]. Besides drilling they presented
some linear pattern machining with a tool-speed of 0.5 mm/s.
Some other reports came from Wuthrich et al. [38,41,42]
where they presented some linear structure with typical
dimensions of 100 mm wide and a few millimetres long. The
possibility to measure the machined structure and then to
machine it again in order to correct partially the obtained shape
was demonstrated and discussed [38]. Some very complex 3D
structures can be obtained as demonstrated Lee et al. [40] by
machining some hour glass and even threaded interconnects
which allows to attach reversibly some plastic tubing able to
withstand pressures up to 100 kPa without leakage.
As for hole drilling, the rotation of the machining tool
improves the machined surface quality and geometrical
shape [16] (see Fig. 2). The linear speed of the tool above
the surface should be chosen as high as possible in order to
avoid thermal cracking of the sample. However, high
machining speed results in decrease of the material removal
rate [31,43].
2.4. Travelling wire electrochemical discharge machining
TW-ECDM
An extension to wire machining, called travelling wire
electrochemical discharge machining (TW-ECDM), was
proposed by Tsuchiya et al. [44] and studied further on by
Jain et al. [23,24,45] and Peng et al. [46]. TW-ECDM is
particularly interesting for slicing glass fibber composites
[7,23,47,48], but may be used as well for 2D contours
cutting [44]. In this configuration a wire is used as tool in
analogue way as in wire discharge machining (WEDM).
Typical used wires are 0.9 mm cooper wire [23,46],
0.25 mm stainless steal wire [46], or 0.5 and 0.2 mm brass
wire [24,44]. The wire speed is a compromise between high
speed in order to allow the cooling of the wire (avoiding
overheating and breaking) and low speed for economical
reasons [23]. Typical speeds are a few millimetres per
Fig. 2. Comparison between a groove machined (a) without and (b) with tool rotation. The sharpness of the edges is improved.
minute [23] or a few centimetres per minute [44] depending
on the used set-up. The wire may be guided horizontally
[23] or vertically [24,44,46].
As for hole drilling and 3D structuring several materials
can be machined with TW-ECDM: glass, quartz, alumina
[44,46], PZT ceramics [24] and various composites (glass-
and Kevlar-epoxy) [23]. The preferred electrolyte is in
general NaOH.
The applied voltage may be D.C. voltage [23,24] or
pulsed one [44,46]. Compared to hole drilling or 3D
structuring the voltage is in general higher which is due to
the different geometry of the wire (larger surface) compared
to a cylindrical tool.
Workpiece feeding is done by gravity [23], by constant
speed [24] (at very slow speed in order to be slower than the
mean machining speed) or, as newly introduced, by gap
control [46]. In this last configuration, the gap is controlled
optically by a sensor. The thickness of the workpiece can be
in the range of 1 mm1 cm (for glass) [46].
The stabilization of the temperature during machining by
appropriate flushing of the electrolyte is possible [45,46].
2.5. Combining with other technologies
and practical realisations
It is possible to combine SACE with other micro-
machining technologies. Esashi et al. [49] used SACE in
combination with clean room technologies for micro-
fabricating an absolute pressure sensor. Guerin et al. used
SACE together with excimer laser micro-machining and
clean room technologies to manufacture a miniature one-
shot valve [50]. Daridon et al. [51] drilled holes of a few
100 mm diameter with SACE in combination with HF
etching for micro-analytical applications.
An other interesting combination, which allows to obtain
various shapes for the tool-electrodes, is to manufacture
them by WEDG [35] as it is first proposed by Langen et al.
[8,41,5255] and further developed by Yang et al. [33].
If moreover the tool fabrication facility is located on the
same machine doing the SACE process, alignment problem
can be avoided [53]. An other possibility to machine the tool
on the same machine doing the SACE processing is
 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 3. A typical table top machine for SACE machining. A three axe manipulator moves the tool-electrode at the desired place for machining. In this case a tool
holder with additional functionalities, like the possibility to machine at constant force or to use the tool as a profilometer, is mounted.
proposed by Lim et al. [36] who manufacture the tool-
electrodes by electrochemical etching as used for STM or
AFM applications.
The developed desktop machinery combining SACE
and other technologies may have some interesting
applications in micro-factories [53]. A typical table top
machine as used in our laboratory is shown in Fig. 3 [56].
It consists mainly on a three axe manipulator. In the
example shown in the figure, a tool holder which can be
used as profilometer in the same time is mounted (analogue
to the one presented in [38]).
3. The SACE fundaments
SACE makes use of electrochemical discharge (ECD)
phenomena. These effects are known (often under other
names like electrode effects, anode or cathode effects) since
the work of Fizeau and Foucault [57,58] in 1844. Later, in
1851, Bunsen [59] showed that ECD does not only happen
in aqueous electrolytes but in molten salt as well. Today
they are intensively studied in the context of industrial
aluminum production (where it is known under the keyword
anode effect) [60,61] and for contact glow discharge
electrolysis (CGDE) which is mainly used for material
deposition (see [13] for a review on this subject). ECD
appears when electrode effects happen in the system.
Electrode effects are defined according to Vogt [60] as
the phenomenon of an immediate breakdown of
1099
the electrolysis without any interference from outside.
This breakdown is due to the formation of a gas film around
the electrode of smaller surface (the tool-electrode in the
case of SACE). Even if SACE is based on ECD it is only
very recently that this machining process was investigated
in the light of electrochemistry and in particular in light of
ECD [15,16,42].
3.1. Phenomenology
The electrochemical discharge phenomenon is clearly
demonstrated by the following simple experience inspired
from the historically first report from Foucault and Fizeau
[57,58] (see Fig. 4). Two electrodes are dipped inside an
aqueous electrolyte. The cathode is chosen with a much
smaller surface (about 1 mm2) than the anode (about 100
times). When the applied D.C. voltage is low (lower than a
critical value called critical voltage, which is typically
between 20 and 30 V) electrolysis happens. Hydrogen gas
bubbles are formed at the tool-electrode (cathode) and
oxygen bubbles at the counter electrode (anode). When the
voltage is increased, the current density increases too and
more and more bubbles grow forming a bubble layer around
the electrodes. The density (number per electrode area) of
bubbles and their mean radius increase [16]. When the
voltage is increased above the critical voltage, bubbles
coalesce into a gas film around the tool-electrode. Light
emission is observed in the film where electrical discharges
1100 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 4. Illustration of the electrochemical discharge phenomena. Two electrodes are dipped into an electrolyte. The voltage is progressively increased from 0 to
40 V. At around 25 V the cathode effect starts and at around 30 V the discharges are clearly visible. (a) 0 V (b) 7.5 V (c) 15 V (d) 30 V.
happen between the tool-electrode and the surrounding
electrolyte [2,3,11,13,16,37,42,6265].
Similar behaviour can be obtained by inverting the
polarity of the electrodes and by changing the electrolytes
[66].
The main open question is the mechanism of the
transition between the traditional electrolysis regime and
the electrochemical discharge regime. Among the many
different explanations proposed in literature, there seems
not yet to be a generally admitted explanation. The
main mechanisms proposed can be schematised as follows
[16,60,67]:
(i) Change in wettability of the electrode [68]. The
electrode effects are interpreted as the consequence of
insufficient wetting of the electrode. The ability of the
bubbles to adhere to the electrode surface is increased
and they grow larger. The bubbles can coalesce and
form a continuous gas film.
(ii) Hydrodynamic instabilities (i.e. Helmholtz instability)
are responsible for the onset of anode effect [69].
(iii) Local Joule heating [13,34,7073]. The gas film is
formed by local evaporation of the electrolyte by
Joule heating (due to the increase of local current
density because the bubbles electrochemically formed
are shadowing the electrode).
(iv) Combination of wettablity and hydrodynamic effects.
Vogt [60,67] proposes that anode effect occurs
whenever the distance between neighbouring bubbles
contacting the electrode has been diminished to such
an extent that the bubbles are enable to coalesce. He
calculates an expression for the critical current density
in function of the electrolyte flow around the electrode
and the contact angle of the adhering bubbles. His
model shows that the critical current density depends
on several parameters. The mains are:
a. wettability of the electrolyte
b. electrode geometry (area and typical length)
c. thermodynamic state (temperature and pressure)
d. bubble geometry
e. bubble removal rate
(v) Bubble coalescence as a percolation problem. A
completely new approach was introduced by
Wuthrich [16,6264]. He proposes to consider the
problem of bubble growth as a stochastic process and
predicts the onset of the effect using percolation
theory. The main idea is that bubbles can detach from
the electrode surface as long as they are small. If a
bubble formed by coalescence become as large as to
be able to go round the electrode, it will no longer
detach but grip even more to the electrode surface,
because capillarity forces tend to minimize the surface
of interfaces. This model is able to predict the
complete IU characteristics as well as the critical
point (critical voltage, current density and resistance).
The process initiating the electrochemical discharges is
complex. It has to be mentioned that these different
proposed mechanisms are not necessary exclusive but may
contribute more or less together to this transition.
3.2. The mean currentvoltage characteristics
The electrochemical discharge process can be described
quantitatively by the mean stationary currentvoltage
 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 5. The stationary mean currentvoltage characteristics for an
electrochemical cell as illustrated in the right-top corner.
characteristics in which can be distinguished five regions
[2,10,11,15,26,42,6265,7072,74] (see Fig. 5):
(i) Thermodynamic and overpotential region. For vol-
tages smaller than Udy2 V (the water stability region)
no current can flow.
(ii) Ohmic region. In region AB the characteristics is nearly
linear (typical voltage range: 210 V).
(iii) Limiting current region. In region BC the mean current
reaches a maximal limiting value depending on the
tool-electrode geometry and the electrolyte.
(iv) Instability region. In region CD the mean current
decreases rapidly and a gas film is formed around the
tool-electrode. This region is called instability region
because the system may be in either a state similar to
the limiting current region or the arc region.
(v) Arc region. The region DE is characterized by the
existence of a gas film around the tool-electrode. Light
emission can be observed. Machining is done in this
region.
Fig. 6. Dependence of the critical voltage of the a) electrolyte weight concentration and (b) the tool diameter. Measurements done for NaOH electrolyte.
1101
The transition from the limiting current region to the
instability region is characterized by the critical voltage Ucrit
and critical current Icrit, linked by:
U crit K Ud Z Rcrit I crit (1)
crit
with R the critical resistance. These three values (critical
voltage, current and resistance) characterize the critical
point at which the transition takes place. This transition is
not restricted to the sudden decrease of the current I but
makes a clear separation in the current transport mechanism.
For voltages lower than Ucrit the current transport happens
directly to the liquid electrolyte by electrochemical reac-
tions. For voltages higher than Ucrit the current transport
happens mainly through the gas film around the tool
electrode by electrical discharges. Therefore the critical
voltage makes the separation between two physically
completely different situations and can be considered as a
generalized phase transition [16].
The experimental value of the critical voltage is
well studied quantitatively and is found to be function
of the electrolyte concentration and electrodes geometry
[16,26,34,62]. Its value decreases with increasing electro-
lyte concentration (Fig. 6a) and increases with the tool
diameter (Fig. 6b). With increasing mean temperature of the
electrolyte the critical voltage decreases [15].
3.3. The normalized JU characteristics
It is possible to describe the currentvoltage characteristics
of SACE in a form independent of the electrode geometry and
the electrolyte properties as was first pointed out by Wuthrich
[11,16,64]. Therefore the normalized current density J and
the normalized voltage U are introduced:
j
JZ (2)
jcrit
U K Ud
UZ (3)
U crit K Ud
1102 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 7. Normalized mean stationary currentvoltage characteristics for
NaOH electrolyte.
Fig. 7 shows the JU characteristics where experimental
measurements were done with various tools and different
NaOH weight concentrations. It is seen that for voltages below
the critical one, almost all measurements follows a same
universal characteristics. For voltages higher than the critical
one this behaviour seems still to be fulfilled even with less
clarity.
The normalized characteristics are not only interesting
from a theoretical point of view, but also from a practical
one. The measurement of the critical voltage together with
the critical current density is enough to know the complete
characteristics of the system without accurate knowledge of
the electrolyte properties, which are in general difficult to
determine (especially the electrolyte conductivity which
depends highly of the electrolyte temperature and purity:
two parameters that change during machining).
3.4. The gas film
The gas film built around the tool electrode plays a key
role in SACE machining. Several parameters characterise it:
geometrical, physical and dynamical. Geometrical par-
ameters are its size (fraction of the tool surface covered by
the case film) and thickness. Physical parameters are its
temperature and composition and dynamical parameters are
values like the gas film mean live time. All these parameters
influences the machining process.
3.4.1. Geometrical parameters
Some information on the size and thickness of the gas
film can be obtained by visual observations with high speed
cameras and traditional photography in aqueous electrolytes
[11,15,33,42,70,71,74,75] and molten salt electrolytes
(see [69] for a more complete list of references). The
observation is quiet difficult as on one side the phenomenon
is a small turbulent scene and on the other side the gas film
can often not directly be observed as it is hidden inside
turbulent electrolyte flow.
The thickness of the gas film for a cylindrical electrode
with a typical diameter of about 1 mm in an aqueous
electrolyte is around 50100 mm [71,75] or may even be
larger (a few millimetres [70]). The mean temperature of the
electrolyte seems to have strong effects on its size [70]. The
higher the temperature is the thinner is the film. How other
parameters, like electrolyte concentration, capillarity or
wettability of the electrode, influence the gas film thickness
is not reported until today.
The size was until today never evaluated experimentally
but some theoretical investigations where done [16,6264]
which indicates that the gas film grows quickly with
increasing voltage above the critical one.
3.4.2. Physical parameters
The composition of the gas film is studied by spectro-
graphic analysis. The main results for aqueous electrolytes
are summarized as follows [37,71,76]:
1. Always can be observed the spectral ray Ha and Hb from
the hydrogen. The emission rays from the metal of the
electrode (like Pt, Rh, Al, Cu, Au, Fe, Zn, Ag, Ni, W) can
be observed for high enough voltages too.
2. The emission band of OH can be observed.
3. Several other emission rays are observed depending on
the used electrolyte. For example in the case of a NaOH
solution the emission ray of 4668 A of the sodium is
observed.
The observation of these various spectral lines does not
only show the chemical composition of the gas film but
proves that all these elements (or even molecules) are
ionised. The temperature of the discharges are in the range
of 80020,000 K according several different measurements
[13,74,77].
3.4.3. Dynamical parameters
Dynamical parameters of the gas film are from particular
interest for SACE machining. A first important value is the
mean time needed to build up the gas film. Fig. 8 shows a
typical answer to a voltage step input. The gas film is
completely built up after a mean time t, which is typically
around 20 ms [15,16,71] for cylindrical tools. After this
time, the first electrical discharges appear. The mean life
time of the gas film is much less studied and today only
qualitative reports are available [78]. It seems that the
electrolyte mean temperature influences the mean life time
[70]. Other influences are not reported.
Another interesting aspect related to the dynamics of the
gas film are the produced hydro dynamical fluxes
(see Fig. 4d). Until now no systematic studies are reported.
Only some visual observations are qualitatively discussed
[15,79]. These fluxes are relatively stable and are described
as a strong jet oriented in the tool-electrode direction.
 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
Fig. 8. Answer of a voltage step input (30 V). After a time t the gas film is
completely built up and first electrical discharges take place.
Some finite element (FEM) calculations are reported in
similar conditions [80]. A new approach, which aims to
combine continuous and stochastic modelling is introduced
by Mandin and Wuthrich [81].
3.5. Mathematical models
For the machining applications mainly two elements are
of particular interest. On one side the critical point (critical
voltage Ucrit and current Icrit) is important to be known as
machining becomes possible only for voltages beyond this
point. To know which parameters influences in which
manner Ucrit is from practical interest as it may be expected
that machining with low voltages is more stable than for
high voltages. On the other side the mechanism of the gas
film formation and particularly the evolution of the gas film
for voltages beyond the critical one is from interest.
Understanding this mechanism may bring some tools to
influence the stability of the gas film and therefore the
reproducibility of machining.
A first model predicting the critical point was given by
Basak et al. [26,34,74]. A quantitative prediction of the
critical voltage Ucrit and the critical current density jcrit is
possible. The main idea is to consider that at the critical
point the bubble production rate is given by the sum of the
electrolysis gas production and the vapour production by
local Joule heating. Supposing that the gas production rate at
the critical point is a constant independent of the current
density and that the critical resistance is known, the authors
could express the critical voltage and current density in
function of the electrolyte mass concentration. Their model
has however three major leaks:
(i) The critical resistance is not predicted by the model
and has to be used as external input.
(ii) The model is not able to explain the dependence of the
critical voltage from the electrode geometry.
1103
(iii) The model tells nothing about what is happening
before and after the critical point.
The newer model from Wuthrich et al. [16,6264], which
considers the formation of the gas film responsible for the
onset of electrochemical discharge phenomena as a
stochastic process, fills partially these leaks. Using percola-
tion theory, the critical voltage, current density and
resistance are predicted. The model subdivides the lateral
surface of the tool-electrode in a lattice. An occupied site
models a growing gas bubble on the lateral tool surface and
is occupied with a mean probability p. In general p depends
on the voltage and current density. These adhering bubbles
shadow the electrode and therefore increase the inter-
electrode resistance Ro. Neglecting the contribution of the
bubble layer around the tool, the apparent resistance is
modelled as:
Ro
RZ (4)
1 Kp
The bubble coalescence effect is considered in this model
with the concept of clusters. A cluster is defined as a group
of neighbouring occupied sites. Each cluster is interpreted
as one bubble. The size s of the bubble is given by the size
(number of sites belonging to the cluster) of the cluster.
From percolation theory it is known that if the mean
occupation probability is greater than the percolation
threshold pc, a cluster of infinite size appears [82]. This is
interpreted as the appearance of the gas film around the
tool-electrode. Therefore, the critical resistance is given by:
Ro
Rcrit Z (5)
1 K pc
From numerical simulations [82], it is known that for a
square lattice, the percolation threshold is pcy0.59. It
follows:
Rcrit Z 2:5Ro (6)
This relation is confirmed by Fascio [15] experimentally
in the case of a NaOH electrolyte and an electrode of about
1 mm diameter. The model from Wuthrich et al. [16,6264]
is able to explain the dependence of the critical voltage from
the external parameters like tool radius or electrolyte
concentration. As the most interesting consequence the
gas film covering the tool-electrode is considered as a
dynamical structure, explained in term of the infinite cluster
in percolation theory. This means that even for voltages
higher than the critical one the tool is not totally covered by
the gas film but almost all new nucleating bubbles belong to
this gas film [64]. This dynamical process allows the gas
film to remain stable in the sense that he does not leave
abruptly the tool electrode surface.
An improved version of this model does no longer need
relation (4). The idea is that in steady state condition, the
amount of gas produced electrochemically on the free
1104 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
electrode surface is equal to the amount of gas released from
the electrode [83,84]:
smax
X
k1 1 K p Z k2 sns (7)
sZ0
where p is the density of active bubble nucleation sites. The
constant k1 is given by the amount of produced gas
electrochemically (by the ButtlerVolmer equation) and k2
is related to the mean high of a bubble (therefore related to
the wettability of the electrode). The right side of Eq. (7)
evaluates the total volume of gas released from the
electrode. It runs over all bubble from size sZ0 up to the
maximal size smax at which the bubble can still leave
the electrode surface (this value is therefore function of
wettability, ability of bubbles to coalesce and capillarity
forces). In the case where every bubble, expect the gas film,
can leave the electrode surface, the current is given by:
X Machining is possible above the critical voltage.
I Z k2 sns Z k2 p K Pp (8)
s
with P(p) the size of the gas film (the probability that an
active nucleation site belongs to the gas film, which is
identical to the infinite cluster in percolation theory). If the
so called phase equation pZp(U), giving the density of
active nucleation sites in function of the applied voltage, is
known, relation (8) can be used to predict the complete IU
characteristics of the process. In principle this relation
results from (7) if the constants k1 and k2 can be expressed
explicitly in function of the control parameters. However,
until today there is no such relation reported. Only some
phenomenological models where proposed [16,6264,84].
The understanding of the microscopic processes respon-
sible of activation of bubble nucleation sites would be of
great practical help. If there is a way to reduce the mean
distance between these sites it would become possible to
reduce the size of the gas film, which is typically of the size of
this mean distance if the gas bubbles are nearly spherical. The
interest of reduction of the gas film size is clear. This would
increase the local electrical field around the tool electrode
and therefore increase the discharge activity and material
removal rate. This will probably as well give the possibility to
machine smaller structures. And finally, even if this small gas
film will change dynamically its size, this will not affect too
much the machining. For example a gas film of a thickness of
about 1 mm, can change its size only in this range and
therefore influence machining only in the micrometer range.
Therefore, more reproducible machining can be expected.
First steps in the attempt to understand how to reduce the gas
film thickness were presented recently in [8587].
4. The machining mechanism
Machining with electrochemical discharge phenomena is
possible only above the critical voltage, i.e. in the arc
region. In this situation several processes may contribute to
the machining mechanism [5,23]:
(i) melting and vaporisation due to electrochemical
discharges
(ii) high temperature dissolution
(iii) differential expansion of constituents and weathering
(iv) random thermal stresses and micro-cracking and
spalling
(v) mechanical shock due to expanding gases and
electrolyte movement
Besides all these potential mechanism until today only
thermal effects and chemical etching were investigated.
4.1. The arc region
The current behaves totally different compared to the
voltages below the critical value. In mean the current is very
small (only a few milliAmpere). But the instant current
I(t) signal is a succession of very short current pulses
(typically a few 100 ms) which can be as high as a few
Amperes [11,15,16,42,46,71,74,88] (see Fig. 9). The signal
has no measurable frequency and the number of pulses per
fixed time interval follows a Poisson process [11,16]. Each
pulse is a short electrical discharge [16,88]. The current
signal is well modelled by a shot noise signal, from which it
follows that the mean current I is given by [16]:
Sa
I Z ld (9)
t
with S the tool-electrode surface, ld the probability of
discharge (number of discharges per time), a the mean
amplitude of a discharge and t the mean time of a discharge.
It is interesting to note that the mean current gives
essentially the behaviour of the discharge probability. This
quantity is important to investigate the nature of the
electrical discharges as the physic of an electrical discharge
is essentially contained in the electron yield (or discharge
probability). Experimental measurements of ld [11,16]
shows that this value follows a field emission law which
is typical for non-self sustained thermo emitted arc
discharges. Other experimental evidences confirm this
hypothesis: Guilpin [71] showed that the cathode spot has
Fig. 9. Typical example of discharges at 30 V.
 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
all characteristics (temperature, size and mean
current density) of typical arc discharges and several
works [15,26,70,71] showed that the temperature of the
tool-electrode as at least 100 8C, a necessary condition for
arc discharges that are thermo initiated. Finally it has to be
noted that arcs, contrary to Townsed discharges, happen at
low voltages (typically from 10 V up).
4.2. Thermal machining
The most admitted hypothesis about the machining
mechanism is that the machining is a thermal one. It is
assumed that the workpiece surface is intensively heated
leading to melting and maybe even vaporisation of the work
material. Several analytical [27] and FEM [11,15,89]
calculations support this mechanism. The difficulty is to
estimate correctly the amount of energy per discharge.
Basak et al. [27] proposed, based on some analogies with
electro discharge machining (EDM) and telecommunication
switches, to consider that each discharge carries in mean an
energy of 2000 J/cm2 and has a duration of 0.1 ms. Jain et al.
[89] estimated the mean heat q* released by the discharges
by following relation:
q Z UI K RI 2 (10)
with U the applied voltage, I the mean current and R the
resistance of the electrolyte. In words: the mean energy per
spark is the mean energy given to the system minus the
energy loosed by Joule heating. Fascio [11,15] improved
this idea by estimating the mean energy and mean duration
of a spark from statistical analysis of the current signal in the
arc region. All the proposed models reproduce fairly well
the experimental observations of the material removal rate,
except for the lowest voltages (below 30 V). In this case, the
machining rate is much smaller. This suggests that the
machining is mainly chemical.
Nevertheless several experimental evidences confirm the
thermal mechanism in machining. It is known that the tool-
electrode may reach temperatures up to 500 8C [26,34,70].
Allesu et al. [5] showed by a simple experiment that the heat
produced during electrochemical discharge phenomenon is
able to melt glass. Therefore, they used an electrolysis cell
separated into two compartments by a glass wall. In this
glass wall is located a small hole of 1.5 mm diameter. When
a voltage of 60 V is applied to the cell, the hole inside the
glass wall rapidly files with a gas bubble formed because of
local Joule heating of the electrolyte. Electrical discharges
are observed inside the gas and the diameter of the hole
increases from 1.5 to 2.5 mm within a few minutes.
Kulkarni et al. [9] showed by various measurements that
after each current peak, i.e. each discharge, the temperature
of the workpiece increases above the melting temperature
and sometime even above the vaporisation temperature of
the machined material. They estimated that about 7796%
of the energy supplied to the process is used to heat
1105
the electrolyte and only 26% is used for heating up the
workpiece.
Another experimental evidence for thermal mechanism
in machining are the various observations of thermal cracks
insides the machined materials [23,24,28,38,39,90] which
are seen mainly at high voltage machining.
In summary the thermal model for SACE machining is
straight forward. Each discharge supplies energy to the
workpiece, which is able to melt or even evaporate it. As the
number of discharges per time follows a field emission law,
the material removal rate follows a similar law in function
of the applied voltage between the electrodes. This is
confirmed experimentally where several measurements
shows that the material removal rate increases nearly
exponentially with the applied voltage [3,7,23,37].
4.3. Chemical machining
Several observations indicate that not only thermal
machining has some importance but some chemical etching
too [14,15,24,33,37]. Chemical etching effects could for
example explain why the quality of machined surface may
depend strongly on the used electrolyte [3,33] or why the
NaOH electrolyte leads to higher machining removal rate of
glass than other ones [33]. It is well known that NaOH
etches glass by complexation of silicate [5,11,14,15,33,40]:
2NaOH C SiO2 / Na2 SiO3 s C H2 O (11)
This chemical reaction is strongly enhanced by increas-
ing the temperature [15,33]. Similar results are reported for
ceramic materials [37].
The chemical contribution to machining is a combination
of etching and leaching phenomena. Yang et al. defined the
process as a high temperature etching [33] and conducted
several experiments in order to elucidate the chemical
etching effects in SACE. By comparing visually the surface
quality obtained at high temperature etching of glass with
NaOH, traditional electro discharge machining of Indium
Tin Oxide (ITO, an electrically conduction glass) and SACE
processing of glass they concluded that SACE is mostly like
to be a combination of thermal melting and chemical
etching.
EDX surfaces analysis of the machined structures for
sodalime glass confirmed that [Na C] concentration
decreases while [HC] concentration increases in the
machining area [14] and suggests that leaching occurs
during the SACE process.
Beyond these observations, it is still difficult to quantify
the effect of chemistry on machining. Previous investi-
gations were achieved by Fascio [15], who showed that the
maximal chemical contribution would be in the order
of several microns. This result highlights the effect of
chemistry which could be seen as a local modification of
the roughness.
1106 R. Wuthrich, V. Fascio / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 45 (2005) 10951108
5. Conclusion
Electrochemical discharges can be used to machine
several electrically non-conductive materials. The machin-
ing mechanism is a combination of thermal and chemical
machining, where the thermal effect clearly dominates.
Even known since almost 40 years, this machining process
remains an academic application and was until now never
applied in industrial production. The research done until
today mainly focused on experimenting the machining of
various materials and investigating the effect of different
parameters on the material removal rate. It was shown that a
large class of materials (glass, quartz, various ceramics and
others) can be machined. Not only simple structures as holes
but as well as very complex structures like threads can be
machined. Combination with conventional clean room
technologies is possible too. Material removal rates depend
on a large number of parameters like material to be
machined, used electrolyte, applied voltage and
temperature.
It is, however, only recently that machining by electro-
chemical discharges was investigated from the electroche-
mical point of view. This aspect may bring some new
findings on one side the fundamental understanding of the
process and on other side on the practical implementation of
the process. If this non-conventional machining process
wants to become interesting for industrial applications it is
absolutely essential that reproducible machining is
obtained. For micro-machining application the reproduci-
bility should be at least a few microns. One main challenge
in reaching this goal is certainly the control of the gas film
built around the tool-electrode in which happen the
discharges. Not only that this gas film is necessary for
machining to occurs, but the stability and dynamics of this
film conditions the machining, in particular its resolution
and its reproducibility. The electrochemical point of view
may certainly bring some interesting inputs for this
problematic.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Swiss National
Foundation for Research.
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