Experimental Investigation of Vibration-assisted Pulsed Electrochemical Machining

The nontraditional electrochemical machining offers no tool wear, no burr, and no residual stress on a machined surface. Utilization of this process, however, is limited to special applications due to its low material removal rate. This paper describes how hybrid techniques can be applied to enhance the process. Teflon coated stainless steel tubes are used as electrodes to produce holes on 1018 steel and high-strength-low-alloy Domex 550MC steel. The study investigates material removal rate when coupling mechanical vibration below 50 Hz and 25 μm amplitude with pulse current up to 100 Hz. Comparable material removal rates were obtained for both steels. The hybrid process using insulated electrode reduced stray current, increased current density, produced sharper hole profile while requiring about 50% less energy for the same material removal rate.