Electroforming Tool Electrode Used In Electrical Discharge Machining Of Engine Blisk

The Integral Impeller is one of the critical components for high performance aero-engine, it is a huge challenge for the modern manufacture.Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a technology to machine materials by thermal produced instantaneously, and it has many advantages, such as high precision, high surface quality, and without cutting force etc. It is one of the main processing methods for blisk. The fabrication of tool electrodes is the very key in EDM the Integral Impeller.Electroforming has excellent reproductive and repetitive precision in which the metal ion is deposited on cathodic mandrel. This paper focused on the tool electrodes used in EDM fabricated by electroforming and the following work has been done:1. The Integral Impeller with its complicated blades, the electrode used in EDM blisk and the cathodic mandrel were designed by UG software.2. The electric field between the conformal anode and the cathode was analyzed with ANSYS software. The methods, both adding auxiliary anodes and shielding the profiles, were provided to improve the electric field distortion.3. The experimental system was designed. Some new processes, such as leaning the cathode with an angle, washing the bottom, shielding the profiles and continuous stepped electroforming, had been employed to solve the problems appeared in practice. Finally, the tool electrode was fabricated successfully.