Micro shaft turning by electrochemical discharge machining using a sandwich cathode

Abstract

Traditional micro shaft turning faces challenges such as short tool life, mechanical stress, deformation, and difficulty in machining complex shapes. This study presents electrochemical discharge turning (ECDT) of the micro copper rod with the diameter of 3 mm. A sandwich laminated electrode is used as the cathode. The high-speed rotating copper rod, mounted on a CNC platform, enables scanning motion. We investigated the effects of electrical parameters and spindle speed on machining performance. Experimental and simulation results show that the sandwich electrode improves shaft shoulder machining precision. Machining speed and surface quality depend on the relative durations of anode electrochemical dissolution (AED) and anode electro-discharge erosion (AEE) phases.