Investigation of magnetic field superimposed pulsed electrochemical machining

Abstract The further development and optimization of products include miniaturizing components and increasing functional integration to reduce resource and energy consumption. One manufacturing method for processing metals is pulsed electrochemical machining (PECM). In this process, the workpiece material is removed through anodic metal dissolution at the interface with an electrolyte. During the machining process, electrolyte is pushed through the working gap, the region between the tool electrode and the workpiece. Superimposing this working gap with an external magnetic field can cause interactions between the magnetic and electric fields within the electrolyte. In this paper, a simulation-based analysis of electromagnetic fields within the working gap for magnetic field assisted pulsed electrochemical machining (MPECM) is first presented. In the second step, a cathode system that includes a permanent magnet is used to analyze the influence of the magnetic field on the process characteristics of machining AISI 440 and AISI 304, applying PECM and MPECM. The results show that an additional external magnetic field can increase the frontal working gap distance leading to a more efficient process.