Effect of Particle Morphology on Removal Rate and Surface Topography in Elastic Emission Machining

Elastic emission machining is a surface preparation technique utilizing chemical reactions between the work piece surface and the powder particle surfaces. In this process, an atomically flat surface with an extremely high figure accuracy in the nanometer range is realized. However, the surface removal rate is extremely low. To enhance removal rate, the silica powder particles having a larger surface area than the ordinarily used particles are applied to smoothen a Si(001) surface. Experimental results indicate that removal rate improved significantly by about two orders of magnitude higher than the conventional removal rate due to the increase in the contact areas between the surfaces of the particles and the work piece. Moreover, the topography of the processed surfaces was found to improve in comparison with the initial surface from power spectral density analysis.