Generating complicated surface with electrolyte jet machining

In the electrolyte jet machining (EJM), the electrolytic current is supplied between the anodic workpiece and the cathodic nozzle via the electrolyte which is ejected from the minute nozzle. Only the workpiece material exposed to the jet is removed due to the anodic dissolution, because the electrolytic current is restricted to the limited area by the jet. In this study, an electrolyte jet machining system which can be used to process the complicated three-dimensional surface was constructed. This system is composed of an XY stage, a rotating axis and a high-speed bipolar power supply, all of which are cooperatively controlled by a personal computer. An algorithm was developed to obtain the scanning path and speed of the nozzle to process complicated shape by superimposing simple patterns. The optimized path and speed were thus obtained so that the summation of the squared difference between the superimposed and the required patterns at every checking point becomes minimal. In order to verify the effectiveness of the developed algorithm, simulation and experiment were carried out and the machining accuracy was analyzed. The good agreement between the simulated and produced shapes with the required one proves that the algorithm meets the purpose properly. Besides, the effect of machining conditions, especially the current density on surface roughness of produced patterns was examined. It was clarified that a high current density is not only necessary to reduce machining time but also to improve the surface roughness.