Performance of magnetic field-assisted citric acid electrolyte on electrochemical micro-machining of SS 316L

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper throws light on machining stainless steel 316L (SS 316L) with the assistance of electrochemical micro-machining (ECMM) using an eco-friendly citric acid electrolyte. Investigation to produce micro hole on SS 316L is initially carried out by a bar magnet, which is placed in the citric acid electrolyte and the parameters like material removal rate (MRR), overcut are studied and the results are compared with the citric acid (C6H8O7) mixed with sodium chloride (NaCl) as a mixed electrolyte of various concentrations. Of the two machining conditions, mixed electrolyte performs 1.82 times faster in MRR for the parametric combination of 11 V,85% duty cycle and 20 g/l of electrolyte concentration. The overcut for the magnetic field-assisted citric electrolyte is found to be lower for the concentration in the range of 12 g/lit to 20 g/lit. The magnetic field-assisted citric acid electrolyte produces a 4.87% decrease in overcut for the parametric combination of 7 V, 85% duty cycle and 20 g/l of electrolyte concentration. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis has been performed in this study to illustrate the surface texture of the machined surface. Surface texture is found to be good in magnetic field-assisted citric acid electrolyte over mixed electrolyte.