Application
Electrochemical machining is a metal machining technology based on electrolysis by which the product is processed without contact or any thermal influence. The metal work piece is dissolved (Machining) locally through electricity (Electro) and chemistry (Chemical) until it reaches the required complex 3D end shape.
Unlike the previous generation of ECM machines, the current ECM technique benefits from pulsating power supply and a vibrating axis. This concept enables processing products with a minimum process-gap of just a few micrometers. The shape accuracy of the end product depends on the size of the gap.
Visualisation of the ECM technique
The illustrations below represent a picture of the current ECM technique. These illustrations show the process stages in chronological order.
Above you will see a schematic representation of the electrode with vibrating axis and the work piece with the copied shape of the electrode. The process fluid (electrolyte) is used as a conductive medium and transfer medium of reaction products. These reaction products consist of metal ions, metal hydroxides, metal oxides, gas and heat. The electrode vibrates with an adjustable frequency of 20-50 Hz.
This schematic shows a sinus-like vibration and the electric pulses which dissolves the material. The mechanical vibration with a stroke of 400 micrometers provides a rinse cycle and a process cycle whereby it is possible to adjust the pulse from 0,5 ms to 5 ms. By disconnecting the vibrator it is also possible to conduct investigation and/or production using the older DC method. For some applications this can be beneficial, for example applications where speed is more important than accuracy.