The Influence of Electrochemical Assistance on the Cutting Forces in Microturning Process

In case of microcutting, the main problem occurring during machining is related to the size effect. This means that with a decrease of the depth-of-cut a nonlinear relation between the uncut chip thickness and the cutting forces is observed. The implication of such an effect is an increase in the specific cutting energy (the energy necessary to remove a unit of material volume). One of the solutions to overcome this problem and to achieve high performance of the microcutting process is to develop a hybrid machining process by introducing an additional energy source in the machining area. The role of the additional energy source is to change the machined material's properties (improve material machinability) or to change the material removal mechanism. In the paper, the concept of an electrochemically assisted microturning process will be presented. This is a hybrid machining process in which microcutting directly removes the material while electrochemical assistance changes the conditions of the cutting by changing the mechanical properties of the machined material. The experimental part includes a discussion of the research methodology and a comparison of the straight turning results in the case of machining 304 stainless steel without and with electrochemical assistance. The change of the main cutting force resulting from electrochemical assistance was selected as the main investigated technological factor.