Author(s)

H. Hardisty, A.R. Mileham & H. Shirvani

Abstract

A model of the electrochemical machining process H. Hardisty, A.R. Mileham, H. Shirvani School of Mechanical Engineering, Univeristy of ABSTRACT A computer package has been developed, based on the finite element method (FEM), which simulates the electrochemical machining (ECM) process. A finite element (FE) package has been used to determine the two-dimensional potential distribution in the electrolyte that fills the space between the advancing tool and the eroding workpiece. This yields the flux or current density distribution which, together with Faraday's Law of electrolysis allows the erosion of the workpiece to be predicted for a small time step. A series of algorithms have been developed to effect the automatic remeshing of the FE grid which is necessary, at the end of each time step, to simulate the movement of the tool/electrolyte and electrolyte/tool boundaries. Thus the computer package provides a continuous, realistic, two-dimensional model of the ECM process wi

Keywords