Electro Chemical Honing (ECH) of External Cylindrical Surfaces of Titanium Alloys

Abstract Surface roughness has become the most significant functional requirement and it is an index of the product quality. In order to increase the efficiency of hard to machine alloys like titanium and nickel alloys, an Electro Chemical Honing (ECH) process has been employed to achieve highest material removal rate with the best surface qualities. This extended abstract describes the design and fabrication of an indigenously developed tooling setup for ECH of external cylindrical surfaces of Titanium alloys (TI 6AL 4 V) and also highlights the key process parameters and their affect on ECH process. The influence of the machining parameters on the surface finish has been investigated and optimized the process parameters for improving the surface roughness is also evaluated. Percentage improvements in surface roughness values Ra and other parameters like electrolyte temperature, composition and concentration were studied while changing the processing time (PT). And also the study of surface characteristics of micro and macro level and micro hardness too examined.