Electrochemical Deburring

Electrochemical deburring is a method that finishes the workpiece surfaces by

means of anodic metal dissolution. The deburring tool is the cathode (-) that acts
under DC current and in the presence of an electrolyte fluid to create the anodic
reaction that removes workpiece (+) surface material in a precise manner.

Working principle:

 The electrolyte solution transfers charge in the gap between the cathode
and workpiece, which causes electron transfer from the workpiece to
remove surface material.
 The separation distance between the cathode and the workpiece is key to
regulating the material removal process.
 The shape of the cathode determines the final shape of the workpiece or
the impression (imaging) placed upon the workpiece.
 The speed of material removal is dictated by the DC current applied.
 The amount of material removed is defined by Faraday’s Laws.
 The material removed during the deburring process must be filtered out
of the electrolyte stream in order to maintain constant electrolyte quality
in the gap between the cathode and the workpiece.
 The workpiece material must be corrosion resistant.
The fixture including the tool (cathode) is a critical element of the ECM process
because its properties and shape determine where and how much material is
removed from the workpiece. The cathode is designed to maintain a gap
between itself and the workpiece surface. The electrolyte flowing between the
cathode and the workpiece (the anode) ensures the removal of the material when
flushing the gap. Because the cathode never comes into contact with the
workpiece, the tooling has no process-related wear.

On the workpieces burrs are present and according to the shape of the burr a
tool is used. The tool removes the burrs and as previously stated according to
the shape of the burr a tool is used. The tool has two parts: Upper part and lower
part.

The upper part of tool is open that means it is not insulated. While the bottom
part of the tool is insulated to avoid the contact of tool with the workpiece.
Basically, the tool is kept in the container containing electrolyte and the
workpiece. The tool is placed in between the two work pieces. The tool is given
a negative charge while the work piece is given as a positive charge. The
negatively charged tool act as a cathode while the positively charged work
pieces act as anodes. Then, the electrolyte is passed through this container.

As the electrolyte is passed through the container, the positively charged anode
attracts the negatively charged cathode. This means that the burr that is present
on the upper side of the workpiece is attracted by the upper side of the tool. As
electrolyte is present in the container the burr gets detached from the workpiece
and this burr get dissolved in the electrolyte in the container. The dissolved burr
in the electrolyte is called as the sludge. In this way, we get the required shape
of the workpiece. An electrolyte plays an important role in this deburring
process.

The ideal electrolyte is 0.7 Kg of sodium nitrate per 3 liters of water.

The temperature of the electrolyte must be around 21 º.

The distance between the electrolyte and the workpiece must be in the range
of 0.02 to 0.04 inches or 0.5 to 1 mm.

Here, in the above process one thing to be note down is that there is a use of
Direct Current (DC) and not an Alternating Current (AC). The speed of the
electrochemical deburring is totally depend on the direct current. Here, the extra
material is removed from the workpiece and this material removal process is
governed by the Faraday’s Law.

Advantages

 This is one of the most efficient deburring processes which results in the
roughing as well as finishing of the workpieces.
 It is a process that takes place in just a few minutes.
 It is an accurate process.
 The most important benefit of this process is that it is stable and gives the
result that we want.
 The burrs are removed from the workpiece in 5 to 10 seconds.
 This process helps us to reduce labour costs.