Jet electrochemical machining simulation of intersecting line removals with adjustable nozzle diameter by a finite area element grid

Abstract

Jet electrochemical machining (Jet-ECM) is a machining process which makes flexible surface structuring of metallic materials with nearly no tool wear possible. Through a nozzle cathode with an inner diameter of e.g. 100 µm a continuous electrolyte jet is applied to the workpiece surface. When an external voltage is applied, an electric charge is transported between the nozzle cathode and the anodically polarized workpiece, which causes a material removal on the workpiece based on anodic metal dissolution. By moving the nozzle cathode in x and y directions, material is removed along the contour movement of the nozzle. In the previous studies multiphysical models based on the Finite-Element-Method (FEM) or Finite-Volume-Method (FVM) were presented to simulate this removal processes. It can be derived, that the simulation of the resulting material removal for intersecting line removals is resource intensive and complex in commercially available software. Furthermore, a simulation of intersecting line removals with adjustable nozzle diameters with FVM or FEM is challenging. As a new approach a model based on a finite area element grid was built up in Python. The model applies square sections to represent resulting depth profiles of a machined workpiece. The paper explains the physical design of the model for a simulation of intersecting line removals with adjustable nozzle diameter. Such removals are shown by the help of transient calculations. The resulting depth profiles for different nozzle adjustments are discussed.