Electrical-assisted embossing process for fabrication of micro-channels on 316L stainless steel plate

The electroplastic effect of metallic materials induced by high density current can dramatically reduce the flow stress, which is beneficial to the forming process of less formable metal. In this study, the electrical-assisted embossing process was proposed to fabricate micro channels on metal workpieces. Experiments and numerical simulations were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed process. An experimental process system was established and the electrical-assisted embossing process experiments for micro channels were performed. Consequently, the numerical model of the embossing process was verified by the results of the process experiments. The influence of process parameters on the embossing process was studied. Both the experiments and the numerical simulations showed that the stress in the workpiece was reduced and the depth of the fabricated channel feature was increased in the embossing process assisted by high-density electric current.