Electron Beam Machining (EBM)

Electron Beam Machining (EBM):-

It uses a focused beam of high-velocity electrons to remove material. In this process, a stream of electrons strikes an object and causes rapid melting and vaporization of the material. For drilling applications, a backing material is used on the rear side of the workpiece. When the beam penetrates through the workpiece and contacts the backing material, the high vapor pressure produced by the vaporized backing material expels the molten workpiece material, leaving a hole in the workpiece. The EBM process can be used to machine a variety of materials, and material properties such as hardness, ductility, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and melting points are usually not limiting factors. The greatest industrial use of EBM is the precision drilling of small holes (0.1 to 1.0 mm, or 0.004 to 0.04 in.) in metals. Although some work has been done to apply the EBM process to nonmetallic and curvilinear cutting applications, this industrial application is very limited. Therefore, unless otherwise noted, the descriptions in this article apply only to metallic hole-drilling applications.