Foundational Investigation On Reciprocating Traveling-wire Electrochemical Machining

Wire electrochemical machining (WECM) is a metal cutting process in which the workpiece,acting as an anode, is dissolved electrochemically, while the wire acts as a tool. The workpiece couldbe shaped by relative movement between it and the wire. This method not only has the advantages ofelectrochemical machining, but also the advantage of wire cutting. In this paper, a method namedreciprocating traveling-wire electrochemical machining is proposed, and the following works hasbeen done:(1) The model of reciprocating traveling-wire electrochemical machining was present, and thedistribution of the flow field was analyzed.(2) An equipment of traveling-wire ECM has be designed and developed, including wiretraveling system, movement system, detection system, the electrolyte, and power system.(3) A series of experiments were carried out to analyze the influence of process parameters. Theeffects of several factors, such as current density, feed speed, concentration of electrolyte, and speedof the traveling-wire on the width of gap was investigated. The micro groove with170μm width in20mm-thick stainless steel was obtained by using optimization parameters.(4) The cathode was shielded to reduce stray current attack, and the distribution of current withinthe gap was simulated in this condition. The results showed that electric field distribution and theprocessing locality was improved with a shielding cathode.(5) The effects of ultrasonic vibration on the mass-transfer was experimental investigated, andresult showed that the–transfer could be enhanced while the ultrasonic vibration was employed.