Magnetohydrodynamics Study on the Mechanism of Improving the Efficiency of Magnetic Field-Assisted Electrochemical Micro-Machining

High-precision surface of 201 stainless steel obtained by electrochemical micro-machining without or with magnetic field-assisted was studied by combining experiments and simulations. The results demonstrated that the surface roughness of the samples was reduced to 0.40 & mu;m after 18 min electrochemical micro-machining. Besides, the introduction of the magnetic field further improved the surface accuracy and reduced it to 0.20 & mu;m. At the same machining time, the magnetic field-assisted electrochemical micro-machining provided lower surface roughness, which indicated that the magnetic field had a favorable impact on the improvement of machining efficiency. Additionally, the distribution characteristics of magnetic induction lines in the machining gap were also discussed. When the magnetic induction lines were approximately parallel to the anode surface and perpendicular to the electric field, the processing efficiency was further improved. The simulation results showed that the current density on the anode surface and the mass transfer rate of the electrolyte were enhanced by the existence of the magnetic field, which accelerated the electrochemical reaction behavior. The external permanent magnet contributed magnetohydrodynamic force during electrochemical micro-machining promoting the occurrence of magnetohydrodynamic convection. Consequently, the charge and the mass transfer in electrolyte was expedited, indicating the improvement of processing efficiency.

Automated summary

In this study, the high-precision surface of 201 stainless steel was investigated using electrochemical micro-machining with and without magnetic field-assisted. The results showed that the surface roughness of the samples was reduced to 0.40μm after 18 min of electrochemical micro-machining, and further improved to 0.20μm with the introduction of the magnetic field. The magnetic field-assisted electrochemical micro-machining provided lower surface roughness, indicating the favorable impact of the magnetic field on machining efficiency. The simulation results demonstrated that the existence of the magnetic field enhanced the current density on the anode surface and the mass transfer rate of the electrolyte, leading to accelerated electrochemical reaction behavior and improved processing efficiency.