Analysis of the flow field in counter-rotating electrochemical machining

Abstract

In electrochemical machining (ECM), the electrolyte flow field has marked influence on the processing stability, efficiency and surface quality. This paper presented a new electrolyte flow mode to improve the flow field distribution in counter-rotating electrochemical machining (CRECM), in which the electrolyte flows into the processing zone from both sides and top of the fixture, and flows out from the bottom of the fixture. The flow field distributions were analyzed and simulated via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The simulation results showed that the low-velocity area in CRECM was eliminated and the velocity distribution was more uniform by using the optimized flow mode. Experiments were also conducted using a specific fixture. The experimental results indicated that a stable machining process with a small inter-electrode gap could be achieved, and the ECM accuracy was remarkably improved. The sidewall taper angles and rounded corners of the machined convex structure were reduced to be only about -0.8° and 0.6 mm.