processingdetails

Chemical Milling

Chemical milling also can be called as chemical grinding, which is a process of reducing chemicals in solid form to small granules or powders. Chemical mills or grinders use blades, rollers, and pressure to create a crush and churn motion inside of the tank.

Chemical milling originated as a way to rework a spacecraft part by lightening the component in an etching bath. Since those days, the process has evolved to be the tool it is today: a highly controlled, cost- effective method of manufacturing aerospace and aircraft parts. Chemical milling can be found in every airplane in the commercial and military markets, both in the airframes and engines.

The best applications for chemical milling involve reduction of weight in contoured parts. Even convoluted or complex shapes, such as formed extrusions, can be uniformly etched on all or selected surfaces. Whereas conventional machining is used to create planes having relationship to the x, y, and z axes of the machine, chemical milling removes material with relationship to the surface of the workpiece before etching. Therefore, chemical milling can maintain wall thicknesses to exacting tolerances.