Theoretical and experimental study on micro ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical drilling with high speed electrode

Metal micro-holes structures have been widely used in aerospace and biomedical fields, such as aero engine, medical vaporizer, and so on. In this paper, a micro rotating ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical drilling (UA-ECD) method was proposed to improve the machining localization, efficiency, and stability. Firstly, a numerical simulation of the flow field in the machining gap is carried out, the simulation results show that the rotating electrode with ultrasonic vibration can renew the electrolyte in the machining gap and homogenize the flow field. Secondly, a mathematical model is established to study the effect of ultrasonic vibration and key machining parameters on machining results, which illustrate that the rotating ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical drilling method can improve the machining quality, machining efficiency, and stability sufficiently. Finally, after optimization of several groups of contrast experiments, a micro holes array with good quality is fabricated successfully on a 510-μm-thick 304 stainless steel workpiece. It is proved that the proposed rotating ultrasonic-assisted micro electrochemical drilling method has considerable potential and broad application prospects.