Wire Electrochemical Machining with Pulsating Radial Electrolyte Supply and Preparation of Its Tube Electrode with Micro-Holes

Wire electrochemical machining (WECM) has great advantages and potential for fabricating parts with ruled surfaces made of difficult-to-machine materials. Characterized by a relatively short flow path, a pulsating radial electrolyte supply in WECM is proposed to improve the machining capability for thick workpieces. The tool is a tube electrode with a line of micro-holes on cylindrical surface. This paper introduces research into the processing of micro-holes in the tube electrode using a rotating helical electrode. The quantitative relationship among the feed rate, the applied voltage, and the diameter of the outlet holes was determined experimentally. A tube electrode with holes of varying diameters was fabricated by adjusting the applied voltage. Using it as a tool electrode, kerfs with a length of 10 mm and an averaged width of 0.903 mm were machined at a feed rate of 6 μm/s in a 30 mm-thick block, and there was no short circuit during processing. It was shown experimentally that using a tube electrode with holes of varying diameters as a tool electrode provides better process capacity for pulsating radial electrolyte supply in WECM.