Concept for the experimental and numerical study of fluid-structure interaction and gas transport in Precise Electrochemical Machining

Abstract

The biggest challenge in precise electrochemical machining (pECM) remains the highly time and cost consuming tool and process design. The development of deterministic and automated design methods requires a physics-based understanding of the individual phenomena influencing the removal rate and structural vibration of the workpiece during the machining process and the exact geometry of the final product. A concept study for the quantitative prediction of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) between the multiphase electrolyte flow and the workpiece electrode is presented. This includes a novel experimental setup for the pECM process, in which the machining gap is upscaled using the principles of dynamic similarity. This enables the application of 3D particle image velocimetry for detailed measurements including a tracking of the workpiece deflections. The experimental results are used for the validation of a computational fluid dynamics method especially developed for the multiphase electrolyte flow. First results of numerical simulations focusing on the gas transport in the turbulent multiphase electrolyte flow are discussed.