Prediction of crater shape with different heat flux and parametric simulation in electro-chemical discharge machining

Prediction of crater shapes with high accuracy in electrochemical discharge machining plays a significant role in the formation of micro-array on non-conductive materials. In this work, a finite-element method-based thermal model is developed by applying three different heat fluxes such as Gaussian, Constant, and Parabolic to predict the crater shapes on the soda-lime glass substrate. The comparative study of crater shapes reveals that a hemispherical crater is formed with Gaussian and Parabolic heat flux, while the cylindrical crater is formed for Constant heat flux due to the differences in the nature of heat distribution within the glass substrate. Further, material removal rate (MRR) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) are also estimated for Gaussian heat flux as it gives the most suitable crater shape. Parametric simulation is done by considering the supply voltage as a variable parameter and finding that MRR is significantly higher at 60 V compared to 45 V, whereas the increase in HAZ is very small.