Electrochemical Micro Drilling of Stainless Steel with Tool Electrode Jump Motion

ECM micro drilling with tool electrode jump motion in cycles is introduced in this work. A linear motor is employed to carry tool to jump with high acceleration in cycles. Due to the high accelerating motion of tool electrode, the electrolyte within machining gap is able to be refreshed. The Z-axis feeding motor, linear motor and DC supplier are coupled in the experimental setup and a series of micro-holes are drilled on stainless steel (1Cr18Ni9Ti) plate with thickness of 0.5mm to investigate the presented process. Experimental results shows, cycle jump motion of tool electrode, higher jump acceleration, longer jump height and shorter cycle machining time lead to better machining accuracy.