Utilization of flow field simulations for cathode design in electrochemical machining of aerospace engine blisk channels

Electrochemical machining (ECM) cathode flow field design is crucial to machining aerospace engine blisk channels. In order to reduce the cathode design cycle and cost in machining, 3D cathodes and flow field simulation model were developed to facilitate analysis the flow fields in reversed flow patterns. The electrolyte flow line was determined by the distributions of electrolyte pressure, the diameter of the back orifice, and the areas of the back orifices in locations A, B, and C. The simulation results were utilized to analyze the influence of the electrolyte flow line. To verify the accuracy of the simulation, the experiments were carried out. The simulation results were consistent with the experiment data. It indicates that electrolyte flow field simulation is an effective method to optimize cathode design. Utilizing this methodology can improve the ECM cathode design efficiency and reduce cathode revision time.