Electron beam machining uses concentrated heat to melt metal in a vacuum, producing smoother surfaces and precise results. It is mainly used in the electronics industry due to equipment costs and limitations. It can cut various metals and alloys and is used for welding and annealing. Non-vacuum EBM reduces power and thickness of metals machined.
Electron beam machining (EBM) is a metallurgical term that describes a process in which the concentrated heat of an electron beam is used to melt metal. The process usually takes place within a vacuum, thus protecting the metal from the outside atmosphere as a flux does in traditional welding processes. The process is used in a variety of applications including welding, annealing and metal removal.
Due to the complexity and cost of the equipment, compared with laser beam processing equipment, this type of processing has not become a keystone of industry and production. While electron beam processes produce a smoother surface finish and more precise results than other machining processes, the need for specially trained operators and inherent equipment limitations make electron beam machining unsuitable for most applications. industries. This equipment is mainly used in the electronics industry, which uses microprocessor drive circuit etching technology and other miniaturized technology.
EBM can cut many different types of metal and metal alloys. The electron beam is highly focused and therefore produces a finer cut or area of cut than many other thermal methods. The process also produces a smoother surface on cut faces that requires little or no surface finish for the final product.
Typically, the welding application of this process produces highly concentrated heat within a vacuum chamber. This vacuum acts as a flux to protect the joint as the heat from the beam machining process melts the two pieces of metal and any filler metal, allowing these pieces to be joined together. The welding process of electron beam machining in this way is limited by the size of the vacuum chamber. To overcome this limitation, this type of machining is sometimes used in an open pit form, referred to as non-vacuum EBM, but this greatly reduces the power of the process and the thickness of the metals that can actually be machined.
A third application of electron beam machining is the annealing of metals and metal alloys by the use of heat. The metal parts to be machined are placed inside the vacuum chamber and then bombarded with high-velocity electrons. When these electrons reach the metal, the part is heated to its melting point and then allowed to cool. This heating and cooling process softens the metal to prepare it for further metalworking.
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