Electrochemical machining using the circulation of electrolyte in an electrode

Abstract

This study describes an electrochemical machining (ECM) approach that uses a vacuum, freezer, or other means to seal the electrolyte in an electrode. ECM can be performed on any workpiece regardless of its hardness. However, the machining direction is confined to the gravitational direction because ECM uses electrolyte. This study uses an ECM method that circulates the electrolyte in an electrode to enable horizontal and vertical machining. The electrodes used in this method comprise inner and outer cylinders, and the electrolyte supplied between these cylinders is sucked from the inside of the inner cylinder. As this machining technique circulates the electrolyte in an electrode, the electrolyte should be sealed. Therefore, we devise two sealing methods. In the first method, the electrolyte is sealed via vacuum adsorption. In this method, space is created in an electrode to form a vacuum, and the workpiece and electrode are adsorbed by the ambient pressure difference between the outside and inside of an electrode to seal the electrolyte. In the second method, the electrolyte is frozen using a Peltier device. This method uses the principle of the Peltier device to freeze the electrolyte and seal it in an electrode. In this study, the effects of these electrolyte-sealing methods are confirmed via experiments.