Electrochemical Micro-Machining appears to be very promising as a future micro and nano machining technique since in many areas of applications it offers several advantages. In this paper, a review is presented on current research, development and industrial practice of micro-ECM for micro and nano fabrication. New developments in the area of electrochemical micro-machining e.g. micro-electrochemical milling, wire-ECM, solid electrochemical machining, surface structuring and OFLL etc. have also been reported. Future trend of research in the area of utilization of anodic dissolution method for manufacturing of nano range products are also highlighted. The Electrochemical micro machining can effectively be used for high precision machining operations. Further research activities of ECM will open up many challenging opportunities for effective utilization of ECM in the micro machining and nano fabrication domain.


Electrochemical machining (ECM) has seen a resurgence of industrial interest within the last couple of decades due to its many advantages such as no tool wear, stress free and smooth surfaces of machined product and ability to machine complex shape in electrically conductive materials, regardless of their hardness. When this ECM process is applied to the micromachining range for manufacturing ultra-precision shape, it is called electrochemical micro-machining (EMM). Micromachining may literally mean the machining of the dimension between 1 and 999 mm. However, as a technical term, it also means the smaller amount of machining that cannot be achieved directly by a conventional technique. Advanced micro machining may consist various ultra precision activities to be performed on very small and thin work pieces in large numbers. Sometimes, when these things are performed with conventional machining techniques, the problem one usually encounters is high tool wear, rigidity and heat-affected zone [1]. In nonconventional machining most of the machining processes are thermal oriented, e.g. Electro Discharge machining (EDM), Laser beam machining (LBM), Electron beam machining (EBM) etc [2,3]. Chemical machining and Electrochemical machining are thermal free processes, but chemical machining cannot be controlled properly in the micro-machining domain. ECM process is applied to the micro machining range of applications for manufacturing ultra precision shapes; it is called Electrochemical micro machining (EMM). EMM appears to be a very promising micro machining technology due to its advantages that include high MRR, better precision and control, rapid machining time, reliable and environmentally acceptable. In recent years, ECM has received much attention in the fabrication of micro parts [4-8]. Fig.1 shows the schematic view of EMM system set up, which consists of pulsed DC power supply, machine controller, micro tool drive unit, mechanical machining unit and electrolyte flow system etc. Recent research establishes the fact that electrochemical process of metal removal can also be effectively utilized for nano machiningResearch attempts have been made by the electromechanical consumer product industries as well as T.J.Watson research center of IBM apart from other research institutions [7,10]. To exploit full potential of EMM, research is still needed to improve accuracy and compactness. In this paper, a review is presented on current research, development and industrial practice in micro-ECM. An attempt has also been made to report the latest development of ECM in the field of nanofabrication.