The electrochemical spark micromachining (ECSMM) process is investigated for micromachining of metals and non-metals. The novelty of the present paper is three-fold. Firstly, the wide choice of materials (copper, tantalum and quartz, soda lime glass) and secondly, the shape of the microchannels carved. Direct comparison of surface topography in case of metals and non-metals is achieved. Microholes are drilled in copper and tantalum using platinum tool. In case of quartz and soda lime glass, the microchannels are carved using copper tool of 200 μm diameter wire. The difference between the surface topography in the metal and non-metal is attributed to their thermal properties and crystallographic nature. The developed ECSMM process is competitive and it takes around 2 min for machining microholes and around 8 min for microchannels of the size and shape reported in this paper.
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Kulkarni et al. (2011) studied this question.
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