Wire electrochemical machining with monodirectional traveling wire

摘要

Wire electrochemical machining (WECM) is a promising approach for the fabrication of various metal parts. In WECM, the machining stability and accuracy are significantly affected by the mass transport rate in the machining gap. In this paper, a monodirectional traveling wire is introduced in the WECM process to remove the electrolysis products and renew the electrolyte in the machining gap. A flow field model of the electrolyte in the machining gap is built. A machining system with a monodirectional traveling wire unit has been developed. Both the flow field model and the experimental results illustrate that the monodirectional traveling wire is a notably effective approach for renewing the electrolyte and removing the electrolysis products in a narrow machining gap during the WECM process. Parameters such as the wire traveling velocity, the feeding rate, and the applied voltage are optimized. Finally, structures with uniform slit width on stainless steel 304 with a thickness of 5 mm have been fabricated.