Workpiece vibration in feed direction assisted electrochemical cutting using tube electrode with inclined holes

Abstract

Electrochemical cutting using tube electrode with inclined holes is a machining method that directly and obliquely injects electrolyte into the machining gap through inclined jet-ow holes on the sidewall of a tube electrode, allowing the electrochemical cutting of a workpiece. To improve the machining e ciency and accuracy of this cutting technique, a method of workpiece vibration in feed direction assisted electrochemical cutting is proposed in which workpiece vibration along the feed direction rapidly and periodically changes the machining gap. The near-instantaneous increases in the machining gap promotes the waste electrolyte containing electrolytic products to ow down the machining gap. At the same time, the electrochemical reaction time under the non-uniform ow eld caused by the inclined downward injection of electrolyte is reduced. The ow eld simulation of electrolyte in machining gap indicates that the near-instantaneous increases in the machining gap can improve the ow velocity of electrolyte. Experiment demonstrates that the average feed rate can be increased by 50% and the machining e ciency is superior to that of electrochemical cutting assisted by workpiece non-vibration in feed direction. The difference between the upper and lower slit widths is reduced and the machining accuracy is improved. The effect of the vibrational amplitude and frequency on the machining result is also investigated. Finally, an array slice structure is fabricated on a stainless steel block with a crosssection of 10 mm × 10 mm at average feed rate of 6 mm/s using a vibrational amplitude and frequency of 0.1 mm and 1.5 Hz, respectively.

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“…Liu et al [13] have used novel silver coated glass tubes electrode to control the stray current effect in EMM process. Yang et al [14] conducted the EMM experiments with hollow electrodes with vibrating workpiece at 1.5 Hz frequency to ensure the continuous removal of machined products. The uniform current flow and distribution, in machining zone due to the vibration of workpiece contributes for high precision micro hole.…”