New insights on manipulating the material removal characteristics of Jet-Electrochemical machining through nozzle design

Jet-Electrochemical machining (Jet-ECM) is a novel variation of traditional electrochemical machining in which electrically conductive material is removed through anodic dissolution by means of a fine jet of electrolyte. In this study, the effect of nozzle geometry on material removal characteristics are investigated through physical experiments performed on a Jet-ECM system under development at the university of Manchester. A total of 8 nozzles with holes encompassing converging, diverging and rounded features are studied at flow rates between 0.125 and 0.225 l/min. The results show that the nozzle hole geometry has a significant effect on the machined profile produced due to variations in flow velocity, pressure, and electric current distribution with converging hole nozzles providing an increased depth of cut than the symmetrical cylindrical channel by up to 9.7%. A 2D Star CCM+ simulation is also proposed, and numerical results developed and compared with experimental ones to investigate the feasibility of using simulation to develop future nozzle designs. The simulated results show good profile comparison to the experimental results, however, the model needs developing to improve the process repeatability for future use in nozzle design.