Advanced Electro Polishing Technologies – AdEPT

AdEPT project will focus on the investigation and evaluation of advanced electropolishing technologies and strategies

AdEPT project will focus on the investigation and evaluation of advanced electropolishing technologies and strategies to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of recent applications, such as high frequency, optical and other high-end applications, in terms of surface quality, accuracy and process control.

Electropolishing is an established and robust technology consisting in the controlled dissolution of the irregularities of a surface by the application of an electric current in a liquid bath. But in recent years, more and more applications are pushing towards improved surface quality and dimensional accuracy. In most cases, conventional electropolishing facilities cannot meet those specifications because of a limited control on the process accuracy.

AdEPT project aims at developing in-depth understanding of electropolishing mechanisms in order to achieve very high control of the polishing process in terms of material removal rate and localisation. As a first step, recent technology improvements regarding bath chemistry, electrical parameters and cell configuration will be assessed on reference cases with simple geometry. As a second step, validation will be performed on real parts requiring high-accuracy. Within this framework, demonstrator applications for both 2D and 3D components shall be evaluated, selected based on the industrial needs.