Ultrasonic-assisted chemical machining of magnesium alloy

Chemical machining is one of the basic non-traditional machining methods, material removal is based on controlled corrosion. The selected chemical solution which is called etchant is employed to attack material in a corrosive environment. Ultrasonic-assisted chemical machining is a kind of hybrid machining method to increase the performance of the basic method. In this study, AZ31B magnesium alloy is machined by this method and the effects of selected chemical machining parameters (temperature and etchant type) on the surface roughness and depth of etch are investigated. Two different etchants (hydrochloric acid-HCl and nitric acid-HNO3) are used at two different chemical machining temperatures (25°c and 50°C). It was observed that ultrasonic-assisted chemical machining performed faster machining comparing to chemical machining. Moreover, HCl etchant accomplished better machining performance than HNO3 etchant as well as high process temperature (50°C) against low one (25°C). Surface finish results were better comparing to chemical machining process to ultrasonic-assisted chemical machining.