Study and effect of process parameters on external cylindrical surfaces of titanium alloys by electro chemical honing (ECH) process

Abstract

Electro Chemical Honing is a precision machining process for machining difficult-To-cut materials and to shape free-form surfaces by ECM process with combined Mechanical Honing operation. In ECH, most of the material is removed by electrochemical dissolution process. As work piece hardness is not a limiting factor for ECH process, the work piece is machined without inducing any residual stresses and without any tool wear to achieve a nano level finish and hence, it can be used widely in automobile, avionics, petrochemical and power generation industries. This has made ECH an ideal choice for improving the surface quality of critical components like Inconel, Incolay, Titanium & Nickel alloys etc. Titanium alloy is used for carrying out the experimentation to describe the material removal & surface roughness characteristics and also highlights the four key process parameters & their effect on ECH process. The key feature of the newly developed experimental setup is also discussed.