Design and Analysis of Flow Field in Electrochemical Machining of Micro Grooves on Gear Tooth Surface

Abstract

The gear with solid lubricating material embedded in micro grooves on gear tooth surface can better adapt to severe lubrication conditions. Electrochemical machining with the mask has shown good feasibility in machining micro grooves for filling solid self-lubricating materials on the tooth surface of gear. The electrolyte flow field is a vital contributor to the accuracy of electrochemical machining, therefore, it is important to design a suitable electrolyte flow mode. In this paper, based on the distribution characteristics of micro grooves on gear tooth surface, two kinds of shaped cathodes are designed, one with electrolyte flow slot and the other without. Each cathode can form two electrolyte flow modes respectively. The effects of four electrolyte flow modes on the stability of the machining gap flow field are analyzed by using computational fluid dynamics. The simulated results show that the cathode without electrolyte flow slot is beneficial to electrolyte flow during electrochemical machining with the mask, notably when the electrolyte flows into the machining gap from the face of the gear.