Electrochemical Drilling of Deep Small Holes in Titanium Alloys with Pulsating Electrolyte Flow

Inherent characteristics of electrochemical drilling (ECD) mean that it is a major solution to the machining of deep small holes in difficult-to-cut materials. The removal of insoluble by-products from the machining gap determines the accuracy of control and limits process capacity. Pulsating electrolyte flow is introduced to enhance the removal rate of insoluble products by reducing the hold-down pressure caused by the electrolyte. Experiments are conducted to optimize a stimulus signal for the pulsation and to investigate the electrolyte pulsation frequency, pulsation amplitude, applied voltage, and electrode feed rate in the machining of deep small holes. The results indicate that optimized pulsating flow is effective in accelerating by-product removal and enhancing machining accuracy and maximum machining depth. With the optimized parameters of 5 Hz in frequency, 0.2 MPa in amplitude, and 0.5 MPa in average pressure, a deep hole was machined in titanium alloys of 20 mm depth and 1.97 mm averaged diameter.