Chemical Etching Formula
Al3105 with FeCl₃+HCl

Formula Summary

The table below summarizes every parameter that defines this etching formula. Values listed as ranges scale with sheet thickness across the supported band.

Why FeCl₃+HCl for Al3105?

On Al3105, the ferric chloride system attacks the alloy's oxide layer continuously while ferric ions drive dissolution. It is regenerable, compatible with standard photolithography, and produces clean burr-free edges — which is why nearly every Al3105 etch line runs a variant of this formula.

Process Window & Bath Control

Hold the bath at 40°C with concentration 32 °Bé (specific gravity 1.270). Across the 0.05-0.5 mm thickness range, conveyor speed runs from 0.12-2.9 m/min — thinner sheets move faster, thicker sheets slower, in roughly inverse proportion to thickness. A typical mid-range setpoint is 0.42 m/min for 0.20 mm stock. Use redundant PID temperature control to hold the bath within ±1.5°C, and titrate at least once per shift.

Design Rules & Tolerances

Design rules for this recipe: hole diameter 60-600 μm, line width 100-500 μm, single-side undercut 10-97 μm — all as a function of thickness across 0.05-0.5 mm. The higher the etch factor (this formula holds about 2.57), the tighter the achievable tolerance. Below the minimum feature sizes, yield falls off steeply, so treat those numbers as hard floors rather than targets.

Yield & Production Economics

This formula delivers a typical yield of 97.5% (range 96.8-97.9%). At that rate, per-part economics are driven mostly by fixed photomask and setup cost for small batches and by sheet utilisation for large runs. The chemistry itself does not change with quantity, so the same recipe serves prototype and production volumes.

Typical Applications

Typical applications for Al3105 processed with FeCl₃+HCl include lightweight RF shields, heat-spreader masks, nameplates, decorative trim, and lightweight structural lattices. The formula's tolerance band and yield make it well suited to medium-to-high-volume precision flat parts.

Process Equipment & Material Reference

This Al3105 formula is part of the standard process library running on our wet chemical etching machine. The same chemistry can be ported to any horizontal spray-etching line of comparable nozzle layout and bath-titration discipline.

For a broader treatment of the material itself — alloy variants, surface preparation, and process limits across thickness ranges — see our Aluminum chemical etching guide. That overview complements the formula-specific bath and conveyor data on this page.

Production Use Cases for This Formula

Parts produced with this Al3105 + FeCl₃+HCl formula end up in a wide range of finished products. Representative production runs we have completed using this exact recipe family include stainless steel mesh for aroma diffusers, soy-milk-maker filtration mesh, and tea-infuser custom filter etching. Each case shares the same root sensitivity: clean photoresist edges, a tightly held bath SG of 1.270, and a conveyor speed inside the 0.12-2.9 m/min envelope.

Adjacent applications usually transfer onto this same formula with no chemistry change, sometimes only a conveyor speed tweak. Drop a drawing and a target volume and we will return a process card built off the parameters on this page.

Other Metals Etched with FeCl₃+HCl

The FeCl₃+HCl chemistry is also documented for these alloys.

More Aluminum Alloys Formulas

Other formulas in the same material family.

Frequently Asked Questions