Improvement of leading-edge accuracy by optimizing the cathode design plane in electrochemical machining of a twisted blade

Cathode design plays an important role in the electrochemical machining of aero engine blades and is a core issue influencing machining accuracy. Precision electrochemical machining of the leading edge of a twisted blade is particularly difficult. To improve the electrochemical machining accuracy of the leading edge, this article deals with cathode design by optimizing the design plane based on the three-dimensional potential distribution in the inter-electrode gap. A mathematical model is established according to the electrochemical machining shaping law, and the formation of the blade leading edge is simulated using ANSYS. The simulation results show that the blade leading-edge profile obtained with the optimized planar cathode is more consistent with the blade model profile. The optimized planar cathode and a non-optimized planar cathode are designed and a series of corresponding electrochemical machining experiments is carried out. The experiments show that the electrochemical machining process is stable and that the surface quality near the leading edge of the samples is slightly better than that of the body surface. Compared with the non-optimized planar cathode, the allowance difference at the leading-edge vertex is decreased by 0.062 mm. Using the optimized planar cathode allows fabrication of a workpiece whose shape is similar to that of the designed twisted blade.