Abstract: Micro electrochemical milling is proposed as a new method of micro fabrication. In this article, layer manufacturing technique is applied to the process of electrochemical micromachining to improve machining stability. A mathematical model of micro electrochemical milling by layer is established to ensure high machining accuracy. Because there is no tool wear in electrochemical micromachining, it can be applied easily to the fabrication of micro structures by moving the tool electrode along a programmed path. Micrometer scale cylindrical electrode are fabricated by electrochemical etching. With a tungsten electrode of 10 μm in diameter, sets of experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of some predominant process parameters on machining accuracy, such as the electrode diameter, machining voltage, concentration of electrolyte, cut thickness, etc. After the preliminary experiments, a deep triangular micro structure and a square micro cavity with schnabelia structure are fabricated successfully.

Key words: micro electrochemical milling, electrochemical etching, cylindrical electrode, three-dimensional micro structure, milling by layer