Simulation and experimental investigation on a dynamic lateral flow mode in trepanning electrochemical machining

An appropriate flow mode of electrolyte has a positive effect on process efficiency, surface roughness, and machining accuracy in the electrochemical machining (ECM) process. In this study, a new dynamic lateral flow mode, in which the electrolyte flows from the leading edge to the trailing edge, was proposed in trepanning ECM of a diffuser. Then a numerical model of the channel was set up and simulated by using computational fluid dynamics software. The result showed that the distribution of the flow field was comparatively uniform in the inter-electrode gap. Furthermore, a fixture was designed to realize this new flow mode and then corresponding experiments were carried out. The experimental results illustrated that the feeding rate of the cathode reached 2 mm/min, the best taper angle was about 0.4°, and the best surface roughness was up to Ra = 0.115 μm. It reflects that this flow mode is suitable and effective, and can also be applied to machining other complex structures in trepanning ECM.