Micro-electrical discharge machining of 3D micro-molds from Pd40Cu30P20Ni10 metallic glass by using laminated 3D micro-electrodes

For obtaining 3D micro-molds with better surface quality (slight ridges) and mechanical properties, in this paper 3D micro-electrodes were fabricated and applied to micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) to process Pd4oCu301320Niio metallic glass. First, 100 on-thick Cu foil was cut to obtain multilayer 2D micro-structures and these were connected to fit 3D micro-electrodes (with feature sizes of less than 1mm) Second, under the voltage of 80V, pulse frequency of 0.2MHZ, pulse width of 800 ns and pulse interval of 4200 ns, the 3D micro -electrodes were applied to micro-EDM for processing Pd40Cu30P20Ni10 metallic glass. The 3D micro -molds with feature within 1 nun were obtained. Third, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction analysis were carried out on the processed results. The analysis results indicate that with an increase in the depth of micro-EDM, carbon on the processed surface gradually increased from 0.5% to 5.8%, and the processed surface contained new phases (Ni12Cu3P).