Study on influences of axial flow of electrolyte on ECM in stationary electrolyte using stamp flushing method

Abstract

Precision ECM in stationary electrolyte using stamp flushing method has been proposed in our previous study to avoid the electrolyte flow resulting in ununiformly distributed temperature and volume fraction of bubbles during ECM. However, the sludge and bubbles squeezed out from the gap between the tool electrode and the workpiece by stamp flushing cannot be flushed out quickly enough in stationary electrolyte, thus they may flow back into the gap after the stamping motion. Here, the electrolyte flowing along the axial direction is used to quickly flush out the bubbles and sludge squeezed out from the gap by stamp flushing. Since the electrolyte in the gap is not affected by the axial flow of electrolyte, ECM still occurs in stationary electrolyte. The influence of electrolyte flowing along the axial direction on the machining speed and accuracy were investigated.