Optimal design of cathode based on iterative solution of multi-physical model in pulse electrochemical machining (PECM)

In pulse electrochemical machining (PECM), the control of pulse parameters would result in designing the cathode shape according to a given anode shape more complexly than in direct current electrochemical machining (DC-ECM). To solve the problem, a numerical approach is proposed to achieve optimal design of cathode. A gap model is proposed to describe the influence of pulse parameters on gap size and a multi-physical model is introduced to describe the influence of pulse parameters on the distribution of electrolyte conductivity which can reflect the distribution of gap. An optimization method based on iterative solution of multi-physical model is presented to improve design accuracy of cathode shape. The experiments are conducted to illustrate the method of cathode design in PECM process. The results show that the proposed method can effectively improve processing accuracy.