Analysis of Electrolytic Flow Effects in Micro-Electrochemical Grinding

Electrochemical grinding (ECG) at macrolevel and microlevel finds increasing use in medical device manufacturing industry. To enhance application of micro-ECG, a comprehensive study of the role electrolyte flow in the formation of hydroxide layer on a workpiece due to electrochemical dissolution, and its removal due to abrasion by a grinding wheel, and erosion by an electrolyte flow has been conducted. Specifically, this paper presents modeling and experimental analysis of turbulent flow in the interelectrode gap (IEG) in the micro-ECG to predict shear stresses at the workpiece boundary. It was found that the shearing forces on the hydroxide layer increase with an increase in electrolyte flow velocity but are halved when the IEG is doubled. Besides elucidating the process mechanism, the theoretical values of forces and metal removal rate (MRR) have been validated experimentally.