Fabrication of micro rotary structures by wire electrochemical grinding

• Published in: Electrochemistry communications Vol. 116; p. 106745
• Main Authors: Luo, Haixuan, Zou, Hang, Liu, Baohui, Yue, Xiaoming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-07-2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Electrochemical machining (ECM); Micro machining; Micro rotary structures; Wire electrochemical grinding (WECG); Micro rotary structures; Electrochemical machining (ECM); Wire electrochemical grinding (WECG); Micro machining
• ISSN: 1388-2481; 1873-1902
• DOI: 10.1016/j.elecom.2020.106745

•The machining of micro rotatory structures by electrochemical grinding is proposed for the first time.•The reason for the trumpet-like shape of the micro groove is clarified.•Disk-like, sawtooth-like, spindle-like, taper-like, and drum-like rotary structures are successfully fabricated by WECG.
Micro rotary structures have attracted increasing attention in many industrial applications. However, the fabrication of complex micro rotary structures with high strength, high hardness, and low rigidity, poses a significant challenge to traditional machining methods. To solve this difficult problem, this study proposes a novel method of fabricating complex micro rotary structures by using wire electrochemical grinding (WECG), which is an anodic dissolution process and has no machining force. WECG, a type of ECM, has some major advantages over wire electrical discharge grinding (WEDG): no electrode wear, absence of residual stress, good surface quality, low machining cost, and high machining efficiency. Firstly, this study investigated the influences of the process parameters on the dimensional accuracy of the micro grooves produced, then optimized these process parameters. A qualitative simulation of WECG was conducted to reveal the reason for the trumpet-like micro grooves fabricated by WECG. Finally, based on the optimal process parameters, several different kinds of rotary structures were successfully produced by WECG. The experimental results demonstrate that WECG is a promising method for fabricating complex rotary structures of difficult-to-cut materials at low cost and with high efficiency.