Multiphysics simulation of the material removal process in pulse electrochemical machining (PECM)

For the time scale of the applied pulses is orders of magnitude smaller than the time scale on which the workpiece is machined, simulation of the temperature evolution and the changes of the workpiece shape in pulse electrochemical machining (PECM) process would be a computationally very expensive procedure. A multi-physics model and the quasi steady state shortcut (QSSSC) approach are presented for modeling the temperature evolution in PECM process. By defining a critical upper limit, a simplified algorithm is introduced to simulate the changes of workpiece shape in PECM process. The assumption is made that geometry structure is fixed before the system reaches the quasi steady state (QSS) and the material removal is calculated by current density when the QSS is reached. Simulation results indicate that the simplified algorithm is convenient for the calculation of the shape change of the electrodes. The validity of the simplified algorithm is verified by the comparison of workpiece profiles obtained by simulation prediction and experiments.