Investigating dry electro-chemical polishing of titanium structures

With the introduction of novel automated polishing methods, more attention has recently been paid to postprocessing methods of metallic implants. One such method is the polishing process known as DryLyte®. The most significant difference to previous electropolishing methods is the use of solid organic polymer particles activated with sulfonic acid acting as the electrolyte. The solid particle electrolyte raises new question in terms of polishing results for small features as well as overall polishing quality of metallic surfaces. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of the polishing process for titanium rods with different initial surface roughness and with tapped holes in three different orientations (0°, 45°, 90°) by subjecting them to the DryLyte® polishing process for 30 min. In addition, the influence of the process parameters voltage and the anodic time T2 during the treatment on the resulting surface quality and the polishing efficiency was determined. In conclusion, the dry electrochemical finishing process has shown great smoothing capabilities for titanium even with small, tapped holes. The Ra values were lowered significantly throughout all titanium samples after 30 min polishing time.

Performance of pulsed-electrochemical honing and pulsed-electrochemical finishing in improving quality of bevel gears

This article presents a comparative study concerning performance of pulsed-electrochemical honing (PECH) and pulsed-electrochemical finishing (PECF) in straight bevel gear finishing. Performance of these processes were compared in terms of average percentage difference in the considered parameters of surface features of bevel gear namely average percentage differences in average surface roughness ‘PDRa’, maximum surface roughness ‘PDRmax’ and depth of surface roughness ‘PDRz’, micro-geometry (i.e. average percentage differences in single pitch error ‘PDfp’, adjacent pitch error ‘PDfu’, cumulative pitch error ‘PDFp’, and percentage difference in runout ‘PDFr’) and finishing productivity (i.e. material removal rate ‘MRR’). Microstructure and microhardness were also considered as measure for performance assessment. Observed results show PECH is proficient in simultaneously improving all the considered responses of bevel gears by more than 50% as compared to PECF. The PECH-finished gear additionally displayed unrivalled microstructure and better microhardness when contrasted with PECF-finished gear. These changes will upgrade the working-life and operating performance of the finished gear.

Experiment Study of Pulse Electrochemical Finishing of GCr15 Bearing Steel

The pulse electrochemical finishing (PECF) of GCr15 bearing steel was studied. The effect of the main processing parameters, such as electrolyte concentration, inter-electrode gap, current density, pulse parameters, and processing temperature, on the processed surface quality was discussed. The results indicate that PECF has a good effect on GCr15 bearing steel and has a good application prospect on the finishing of bearing raceways.

A Magnetic-Assistance System as a Super Finishing Following Turning Machining

A design system using a magnetic force with high efficiency to assist discharging dregs out of the electrode gap during the electrochemical finishing on the surface finish process that follows turning machining process is investigated in the current study. Through the equipment attachment, magnetic-assistance during electrochemical finishing can follow the turning process on the same machine. This process can be used for various turning operations. Among the factors affecting electrochemical finishing, the magnetic-assistance is primarily discussed. The experimental parameters are magnetic strength, distance between the two magnets, current rating, on/off period of pulsed current, feed rate of workpiece, and rotational speed of workpiece. A higher current rating with magnetic-assistance reduces the finishing time and avoids the difficulty of dreg discharge. Providing a large magnetic field intensity or using a small distance between the two magnets produces a larger magnetic force and discharge ability and better finishing. A large rotational speed of the workpiece and electrode produces better finishing. Pulsed direct current can slightly promote the effect of electrochemical finishing, but the current rating needs to be increased. The magnetic-assistance during the electrochemical finishing process makes a great contribution in a short time by making the surface of the workpiece smooth and bright.

Analysis of Electric Field of Pulse Electrochemical Finishing of Shaped Cathode on Gears

Gear’s pulse electrochemical finishing (PECF) technology by shaped electrodes based on the numeral control technology, which controls gear dividing device and feed movement, is put forwards. Based on numerical simulation, electrochemical reaction region is dispersed. According to gear tooth profile and negative electrode surface equations, boundary conditions are inferred. The numerical simulation of the electric potential distribution in the calculation region has been shown. Under the optimized parameters, a mirror-like surface of gear teeth could be gained by PECF. The results show PECF can fulfill the advantages in the finishing some special gears with hard teeth.