Electrolytic concentration effect on the abrasive assisted-electrochemical machining of an aluminum–boron carbide composite

Abstract

ABSTRACTAll engineering materials can be machined by one or combination of processes in such a way that the material’s potential is fully exploited. Electrochemical machining is found to be a most promising process that produces various components from the hard-to-machine materials for the various applications. Electrolyte concentration is playing a positive role by improving the electrolyte conductivity, but negatively forming the passivation layer on the cut surfaces. In order to improve the surface finish and removal of generated residual materials from the cut surfaces, abrasive particles were fed along with electrolyte into the machining zone. This present paper investigates the sodium chloride (NaCl) electrolyte with varied concentration (10–30%) in association with SiC abrasive particles on the material removal rate, surface roughness, and radial overcut while machining of aluminum 6061–boron carbide (5–15 wt%) composites. This study conclusively derived that electrolyte concentration up to 20% exhibited a positive role in the material removal rate for the machining of composites because the rate of dissolution was of higher magnitude. Externally supplied abrasive particles along with electrolyte reduced the surface roughness and radial over cut to an extent. Conversely, at higher electrolyte concentration, the externally supplied abrasive particles have a little effect on the removal of the formed passivation layer as confirmed by SEM analysis.