High-precision electrochemical cutting of thick stainless steel using internal electrolyte jetting

Electrochemical cutting with internal electrolyte jetting is a high-efficiency and high-precision machining technology suitable for cutting workpieces with a thickness exceeding 1 mm. In this process, a metal tube with an array of jetting micro-holes on the side wall is used as the tool electrode, and electrolyte is jetted directly from the micro-holes into the machining gap. This design enables the rapid removed of electrolytic products and the timely replenishment of fresh electrolyte, effectively solving the problem of mass transfer difficulty during the machining of thick workpieces. A dedicated experimental system was established, with 304 stainless steel selected as the machining object. A single-factor experimental method was adopted to investigate the effect of voltage amplitude, duty cycle, pulse frequency, and feed rate on slit width and slit width standard deviation. The experimental results show that appropriately reducing the voltage amplitude and duty cycle, while increasing the pulse frequency and feed rate, can reduce the slit width and improve the machining precision. Using the optimal parameters of a voltage of 16 V, a duty cycle of 40%, a frequency of 50 kHz, and a feed rate of 6.0 μm/s, a radially slotted cylindrical structure with six axially oriented slots was successfully machined on a cylindrical stainless steel bar with a diameter of 10 mm, which verifies the feasibility and reliability of the proposed machining method.