Research Initiation Award: Reaction, Transport, and Geometry in Electrochemical Micromachining: A Moving- Boundary Analysis Via the Finite Element Method

微细电解加工（Electrochemical Micromachining，EMM）技术正日益成为 在高精度金属零件的加工中非常重要 以及微电子工业中的器件制造。 然而，运输现象的复杂相互作用， 电流分布、工具和工件 几何学使工程学的发展变得困难。 通常情况下， 操作参数的选择是根据经验进行的， 主要是试验和错误的实验方法。 电化学的基础理论研究 提出了微匹配工艺。 分析将采用 同时计算质量的有限元法 运输，流体流动，潜力和几何变化作为一个 自洽的数学移动边界问题。 过去 类似电化学系统的建模方法 通常只考虑流体流动的情况， 不重要或忽略了变化的相互作用 系统中质量传输的几何学。 这项工作的潜在影响是巨大的。 现有 计算可以作为一个具有成本效益的测试平台， 工艺变化和确定最佳工艺参数， 例如电流密度、电解液流速和工具 形状 这项工作将推进基本的理解 并将使微加工的快速发展 许多应用的技术。

Electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is becoming increasingly important in the processing of high-precision metallic parts and in device fabrication in the microelectronics industry. However, the complicated interactions of transport phenomena, electric current distribution, and tool and work piece geometry have made engineering advances difficult. Usually, the choice of operating parameters is made empirically, based primarily on trial and error experimental approaches. A fundamental theoretical study of the electrochemical micomatchining process is proposed. The analysis will employ the finite element method to simultaneously calculate mass transport, fluid flow, potential, and geometrical changes as a self-consistent, mathematical moving boundary problem. Past modeling approaches of similar electrochemical systems have generally considered only those cases where fluid flow is unimportant or have ignored the interaction of changing geometry on mass transport in the system. The potential impact of this work is great. A prior calculations can be used as a cost-effective test bed to asses process changes and to determine optimal process parameters, such as current density, electrolyte flow rate, and tool shape. This work will advance the fundamental understanding of EMM and will enable rapid advances of micromachining techniques for many applications.