Digital twin for the determination of process input variables for electrochemical precision machining according to DIN SPEC 91399

Abstract

Abstract. The ablation results with electrochemical precision machining (PECM) are essentially influenced by the material to be processed and by the current density distribution in the working gap. Therefore, ablation experiments according to DIN SPEC 91399 are essential to determine the material-specific removal characteristics and to derive process input variables for the process design. A main limitation of these experiments is the lack of accessibility at crucial surfaces on the workpiece and on the device, which means that relevant information such as the local current density distribution or the local temperature field cannot be measured. To face the mentioned limitation, the aim of this work was to develop a digital twin for an experiment for PECM according to DIN SPEC 91399. The digital twin is based on a commercial multiphysics simulation software with the main property that the calculation time of the model is less than the real time for the experiment to allow a simultaneous processing of experiment and simulation. Via suitable interfaces, experiment and simulation can be interconnected in future. Based on this, the digital twin can be applied to evaluate parameters, monitor the process in real time and adapt it accordingly. The design and the properties of the digital twin will be shown exemplary for an experiment with the workpiece material steel 1.4301.