Surface quality enhancement in ultrasonic vibration-assisted electrochemical machining

Abstract

The aviation industry's evolution has introduced electrochemical machining (ECM) as a promising non-traditional technology for aero-engine blades. However, the surface quality of challenging-to-cut materials is compromised due to insoluble electrolytic products on the machined surface. To enhance ECM's surface quality, ultrasonic-assisted ECM (UA-ECM) was introduced for effective electrolytic product removal. This study conducted numerical simulations involving coupled flow field and cavitation models. It also performed observation experiments and a series of UA-ECM trials with varying inlet pressures (0.1 MPa, 0.2 MPa, 0.3 MPa, 0.4 MPa, and 0.5 MPa), vibration amplitudes (21 µm, 17 µm, 13 µm, 8 µm, 4 µm, and 0 µm), and current densities (31.9 A/cm2, 42.1 A/cm2, 61.1 A/cm2, 76 A/cm2, and 100.9 A/cm2). These aimed to elucidate the mechanism of tool ultrasonic vibration's influence on surface quality and corroborate the simulation findings. Notably, under conditions of low inlet pressure (0.1 MPa), high vibration amplitude (21 µm), and high current density (100.9 A/cm2), complete removal of electrolytic products, inhibition of pitting defects, and attainment of a mirror surface with a surface roughness of Ra = 0.14 µm were achieved, with no change in hardness. This clearly demonstrates that the surface quality of ECM on complex surfaces can be significantly enhanced by ultrasonic assistance.