Chemical Etching
Chemical Etching
Chemical Etching
ancedPr
ocessi
ngEqui
pment
Chemi
cal
Etchi
ngMachi
ne
I
ntr
oduct
ion:
-
Etchi ng i
stradi
tionallyt hepr ocessofusi ngst rong aci
d or
mor dant
tocut
i
ntot heunpr ot
ectedpar t
sofa met al
surf acetocr eateadesi gn
[
14]
i
n int agl
io (
inci
sed)i nt hemet al. Inmoder nmanuf actur
ing,other
chemi cal
smaybeusedonot hert ypesofmat erial.Asamet hod
of printmaking,itis,alongwi th engr avi
ng, t
hemosti mportanttechnique
for oldmast erprints,andr emai nsi nwi deuset oday .I
nanumberof
moder nv ar
iantssuchas microf abr i
cationet chi ng and
phot ochemical
milling i
tisacr ucialtechni quei nmuchmoder nt echnology ,
i
ncl uding ci
rcuitboar ds.
Pr
inci
ple:
-
Chemi calet
ching isahighpr eci
sionsubtractiv
emanuf acturi
ngpr ocess
thatusesbat hsoft emperatureregulat
ed etchi
ngchemi calstoselecti
v el
y
removemat eri
altoproducehi ghprecisi
onmet alpar t
sinany desir
ed
shape. Compar edtoothermi cromanuf acturi
ngt echniques, such
as St
ampi ng,
EDM, CNC,
LaserCut t
ing,and Wat er
Jetti
ng, Chemi cal
Etchi
ngi smor ecosteffici
entwi t
hshor t
erleadt ime, mor edesignf l
exibil
i
ty,
andnoneedf or deburri
ng.Itisanopt i
mal choicef orpr eci
sionmet alpart
manuf actur
ing,regardl
essofpr ototypi
ngori ndustrial
production.
2 Adv
ancedPr
ocessi
ngEqui
pment
Adv
ant
ages:
-
Theadv antagesofwetet chingpr ocessesar ethesi
mpl eequi pment ,hi
gh
etchingr ate,andhighsel ect
ivit
y.Howev er ,
therearemanydi sadv ant
ages.
Wetet chingisgenerall
yi sot
ropic, whichr esult
sintheet chantchemi cals
remov ingsubst ratemat eri
alundert hemaski ngmat eri
al.Wetet chingalso
requireslargeamount sofet chantchemi calsbecauset hesubst rate
mat erialhast obecov eredwi t
ht heet chantchemi cal.Furthermor e,t
he
etchantchemi calshavet obeconsi st
entlyr epl
acedinor dertokeept he
samei nit
ialetchingrate.
Di
sadv
ant
ages:
-
I
tCanbeonl
yusedwi
thconduct
ivemat
eri
al.