Cathode design and experimental study on the rotate-print electrochemical machining of revolving parts

A new electrochemical machining (ECM) process named rotate-print ECM (RPECM) is proposed to meet the requirement of machining revolving parts with complex convexity structures. During the RPECM process, a revolving cathode tool was employed to replace a set of complicated block tools used in conventional sinking ECM process. In this paper, the design method of the revolving cathode tool based on the analysis of an equivalent model for the RPECM process was emphasized. The radius and window edge contour of the cathode tool were designed by optimizing the motion trails of the window edge points and their deviations from the required sidewall profile of the target convexity. A cylindrical test piece was machined experimentally to verify the designed tool. The results showed that the machined cylinder surface is smooth without any flow tracks and residual ribs. A convexity with complex top face contour was fabricated successfully. It can be seen that the sidewall profile is tapered and the edge is nearly trenchant. The processing error of the sidewall profile can be effectively controlled by optimizing the radius and window size of the cathode tool.