Fabrication of Micro-Dimple Arrays Using Modified Through-Mask Electrochemical Micromachining

It has been found that well-defined surface textures (such as micro-dimple arrays, micro groove arrays) can reduce friction, wear and improve heat transfer, fluid motion state effectively. To produce micro-dimple arrays on the metal surface with a high efficiency and low cost, this paper proposed a modified through-mask electrochemical micromachining method with flexible porous material filled in the interelectrode gap. The feasibility of the process and the most important process factor which affects the depth of the micro-dimple were investigated by orthogonal experiments. The results showed that micro-dimple arrays can be obtained efficiently using both direct current (DC) and pulsed current and the qualities of the micro-dimples generated by pulsed power were much better than those formed by DC. Electrolyte concentration was the most important factor that affected the depth of the micro-dimple in the selected process parameters.