Experimental study on the influence of tool electrode tip shape on electrochemical micromachining of 304 stainless steel

Miniaturization in all emerging areas is rapidly increasing. To meet this need, micromachining is considered as one of the key technologies for the production of miniaturized parts and components. Among the various capable processes, electrochemical micromachining is considered for its advantages of accuracy, no electrode wear, and various ranges of materials that can be machined. An experimental set-up for Electrochemical Micromachining (EMM) is developed with constant gap control system. Experimental studies on the influence of shape of tool electrode tip on machining rate and overcut for 304 Stainless Steel has been presented. The tool electrode tips of different shapes like flat, conical with rounded and truncated cone were used for this study. The experimental results show that the truncated cone tip improves the machining rate by 4.4 times and conical with rounded tip reduces the overcut by 1.7 times when compared with the flat electrode tip at a machining voltage of 10V, pulse on time of 15ms, 50Hz frequency, and 0.29mole/l electrolyte concentration.