Calculation of temperature transients in pulse electrochemical machining (PECM)

Pulse Electrochemical Machining (PECM) is a manufacturing process which provides an economical and effective method for machining hard materials into complex shapes. One important drawback of ECM is the lack of quantitative simulation software to predict the tool shape and machining parameters necessary to produce a given work-piece profile. Calculating temperature distributions in the system allows more accurate simulations, as well as the determination of the thermal limits of the system. In this paper temperature transients over multiple pulses are calculated. It is found that the way the system is modeled has a great impact on the temperature evolution in the thermal boundary layer. The presence of massive electrodes introduces extra time scales which may not be negligible. It is advantageous to identify the thermal time scales in the system, to see whether the heat produced during separate pulses will accumulate or not during the process. The occurring thermal time scales in the system are discussed in detail.