Electrochemical Mechanical Internal

Polishing of Stainless Steel Pipes

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE

OF

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
(SPECIALIZATION IN PRODUCTION ENGINEERING)
BY

DIBYAJEET PRADHAN
(ROLL NO. 218ME2218)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ROURKELA-769008, ODISHA
INDIA (2020)

I
Electrochemical Mechanical Internal
Polishing of Stainless Steel Pipes
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE

OF

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
(SPECIALIZATION IN PRODUCTION ENGINEERING)
BY

DIBYAJEET PRADHAN
(ROLL NO. 218ME2218)

Under the Guidance of

Prof. C.K. Biswas

Department of Mechanical Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ROURKELA-769008, ODISHA INDIA
(2020)

II
 Department of Mechanical Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Rourkela

CERTIFICATE

This to certify that the thesis entitled “Electrochemical Mechanical Internal Polishing of
Stainless Steel Pipes” being submitted by Mr. Dibyajeet Pradhan in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the award of Master of Technology in Mechanical Engineering with “Production
Engineering” Specialization during session 2018-2020 in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.

It is an authentic work carried out by him under my supervision and guidance. To the best
of my knowledge, the matter embodied in this thesis has not been submitted to any other
University/Institute for award of any Degree or Diploma.

Date Dr. C. K. Biswas

Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National institute of technology, Rourkela

III
 Declaration of Originality

I, Dibyajeet Pradhan, bearing Roll Number 218ME2218 hereby declare that, this
dissertation entitled “Electrochemical mechanical internal polishing of stainless steel pipes”
presents my original work carried out as a master’s student of NIT Rourkela and, to the best of my
knowledge, contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor any
material presented by me for the award of any degree or diploma of NIT Rourkela or any other
institution. Any contribution made to this research by others, with whom I have worked at NIT
Rourkela or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the dissertation. Works of other authors cited
in this dissertation have been duly acknowledged under the sections “Reference”. I have also
submitted my original research records to the scrutiny committee for evaluation of my dissertation.
I am fully aware that in case of any non-compliance detected in future, the Senate of NIT
Rourkela may withdraw the degree awarded to me on the basis of the present dissertation.

25th May 2020

NIT Rourkela Dibyajeet Pradhan

IV
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to my thesis supervisor Dr. C. K. Biswas,
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering for providing precious guidance, inspiring
discussions and constant supervision throughout the course of this work. His timely help,
constructive criticism, and conscientious efforts made it possible to present the work contained in
this thesis.

I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Amulya Kumar Sahoo and Ms. Manisha Priyadarshini. My
sincere gratitude thanks to Mr. Shyamaghan Reddy, Mr. Somnath Seth and Mr. Arabinda Khuntia
Technical Assistance in Production Engineering lab. I am grateful to Prof. Dayal Ramakrushna
Parhi, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for providing me the necessary facilities
in the department. I express my sincere gratitude thanks all my Family member well-wishers for
their inspiration and help.

I feel pleased and privileged to fulfil my parent’s ambition and I am greatly indebted to them
for bearing the inconvenience during my M Tech. course.

Date Dibyajeet Pradhan

218me2218

V
 Abstract
This study proposes an electrochemical machining process to polish the internal surface of strain
less steel pipes. Earlier the internal surface finishing is being done by grinding process with a
grinding wheel, polishing the surface inside the steel pipe. This process was giving good surface
finish; but leaving behind variable microscopic depth throughout the length of the pipe. To
eliminate this problem, this study proposes a novel method with centreless rotating system for the
rotation of the pipe and a combination of electrochemical process and mechanical process is
utilized to obtain a remarkable surface finish. Though material removal is obtained by both the
processes; but a major amount of material is removed by the electrolysis mechanism and a very
small amount of material is removed due to the abrasion mechanism. Implementation of the
electrochemical machining allows the material to retain its grain structure as there is no surface
stress produced. In this work a stainless steel material of 202 grade is treated as work piece, in
which the internal surface is to be polished using a copper electrode. When the work piece rotates
on the centreless rotation setup and copper electrode is inserted inside of it, at that time the
electrochemical mechanical internal polishing is performed on the inner surface of the SS steel.
To perform this polishing process, sodium nitrate is used as the electrolyte with 18% to 20%
aqueous solution as per the experimental requirement. The machine used to perform this polishing
process is fabricated with a few automations added into it, which makes it simple, noiseless and
easy to operate. Through this project it is also expected to achieve a surface roughness of around
5-20 µm from around 50-500 µm, which is the general surface roughness of a steel directly from
industry.

Keywords- electrochemical machining, SS 202, sodium nitrate, centreless rotation setup

VI
 Table of Contents
CERTIFICATE ..................................................................................................IIError! Bookmark not defined.
Declaration of Origginality……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... VI
List of figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………IX
List of tables………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………... X

Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1. Evolution of electro-chemical mechanical (ECM) polishing….….….……………………….1
1.2. Addressing the limitation and its solution…………………….………….………….……….1
1.3. Principle of ECM polishing…………………………………...…………………….….…….2
1.4. Need of the project……………….…………………………...………………………………3
1.5. Application……………………………………………………………………...…………….3
1.6. Advantages………………………………………………………………………...………….4
1.7. Limitations……………………………………………………………………………………4

Chapter 2 Literature review

2.1. literature review……………………………………………...…………………….…………5
2.2. motivation for the present work…………………….……...…………………………………8
2.3. objective of the present work…………………………………………………………………8

Chapter 3 Design and fabrication

3.1. centreless rotation setup…………………………………………………………….……….10
3.1.1. regulating wheel………………………………….…………………………….….…….11
3.1.2. DC motor………………………………….……….…………………...…………….….12
3.1.3. connector and bearing…………………………………………………………….….….13
3.1.4. guiding wheel……………………………………….…………………………….….….14
3.1.5. supporting wheel…………………………………….…………………………….…….15
3.2. feed mechanism for tool electrode……………………………………………………….….17
3.3. power supply arrangement……………………………………………………………….….19
3.4. electrolyte supply system……………………………………………...…………………….19
3.5. selection of materials…………………………………………...…………………….….….20
3.6. experimental procedure……………………………………………………………………...21
VII
Chapter 4 Result and discussion
4.1. design of experiments (DOE)………………………………...………………………......…23
4.2. Taguchi design….….….……………………………………...………………………….….23

Chapter 5 Conclusions
5.1. conclusions regarding the fabrication and the operational work……………………........…25
5.2. scope for future work……………………………………………...…...………….….….….25

References………………………………………....….……...….….….26

VIII
 List of figures

Fig 2.1 ECM polishing of compound cylindrical work piece…………………………….5

Fig 3.1 base structure and other fabricated parts……………..……………………….…10
Fig 3.2 diagram for centreless rotation system……………….……………….…………10
Fig 2.3 regulating wheel……………………………………………...………………….11
Fig 3.4 regulating wheel…………………………………………...…………………….11
Fig 3.5 DC motor……………………………….………….….….…………….….….…12
Fig 3.6 connector for DC motor and regulating wheel……….….…………………...….13
Fig 3.7 6000 open bearing for connector………………………...……………...……….13
Fig 3.8 guiding wheel…………………………………………...……………………….14
Fig 3.9 guiding wheel…………………………………………...……………………….14
Fig 3.10 supporting wheel………………………………………………………….…….15
Fig 3.11 centreless rotation mechanism………………………………………………….16
Fig 3.12 centreless rotation mechanism………………………………………………….16
Fig 3.13 motor for feed motion……………………………………...…………………...17
Fig 3.14 rack and pinion for feed motion……………………….….……………………17
Fig 3.15 feed arrangement………………………………………...……………….….…18
Fig 3.16 feed motion mechanism…………………………...……...…………………….18
Fig 3.17 electrolyte flow inside the SS pipe………………………...…….……….…….19

IX
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 dimension of the work piece…………………………………………………….…….20

Table 3.2 chemical composition of the work piece…………………………………...…………20
Table 3.3 mechanical properties of the work piece………………………………….….……….21
Table 3.4 physical properties of the work piece…………………………………………………21
Table 3.5 variation of process parameters.....................................................................................22
Table 4.1 combinations of process parameters…………………………………………………..24

X
Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1. Evolution of Electro-chemical mechanical (ECM) polishing

Electro-chemical mechanical machining is a hybrid machining process. There are two types of
machining processes such as conventional or traditional machining process and non-conventional or
non-traditional machining process. In conventional machining process there is direct contact between
the tool and work piece (turning, drilling, milling etc.) and machining is due to the mechanical abrasion
and wear; whereas in non-conventional machining process there is no direct contact between them
(laser beam machining, electro-chemical machining, electro-discharge machining etc.) and the
machining is achieved due to thermal energy, chemical energy and many more. A hybrid machining
process is a combination of both conventional and non-conventional machining process and it is
utilised to add efficiency in the machining process such as fast productivity, process economy, surface
finish and many more.
Electro-chemical mechanical polishing is a hybrid machining process, in which both
mechanical abrasion mechanism and electrolysis mechanism are utilised to accomplish material
removal from the surface of the material. Due the implementation of electrolysis mechanism, there is
an increase in the surface texture of the material and the use of electro chemical machining facilitates
the machined surface with zero heat affected zone (HAZ). The mechanical abrasion can be achieved
by many conventional machining processes like, grinding, milling, drilling etc. This paper focuses its
attention on ECM polishing of internal surface of steel pipes. Previously the polishing of internal
surface of SS pipes are being done by traditional grinding process with a disc type grinding wheel. So
the mechanical abrasion process that is studied in this project is achieved by grinding process.

1.2. Addressing the limitation and its solution

The study on electrochemical mechanical polishing is started since a few decades and several
papers are also completed in this area of research. In many research papers for the polishing of the
internal surface of the metal pipes a vertical setup is used for the rotation of the work piece or the tool.

1
This makes the machine bulky and complicated. Because of the bigger size, heavy parts are also
arranged with the machine. Consequently, the whole machine requires more power to operate. To
overcome this problem, in this paper a centreless rotation system is used, upon which the stainless steel
pipe is rotated. Due to centreless setup the SS pipe is oriented in horizontal position and this gives
more stability to the rotation.
Also in many papers the tool is a duplicate structure of the surface to be machined. Due to this,
during the flow of the electrolyte throughout the work piece, the amount of the machined particles at
the end section gets denser as compared at the front section and this affects in the current density during
the electro chemical machining. So in this paper, when the work piece rotates on the centreless setup
a small circular disc type tool is provided, which moves from one end to another end of the SS pipe
and as a result of this, proper current density is maintained throughout the process.

1.3. Principle of ECM internal polishing

Electrochemical mechanical (ECM) internal polishing is a hybrid machining process in which

the internal surface of the SS pipe is machined to achieve a desired surface finish. The SS pipe is held
on the centreless rotation setup with the help of a regulating wheel, a guide wheel and a support wheel.
Upon driving the regulating wheel, the pipe is rotated around its own axis in between them. A
cylindrical hollow PVC plastic tube is held in horizontal position at one end of the pipe, so that it can
be inserted inside the SS pipe. A copper foil of small width is wrapped around the surface of the PVC
plastic tube at one end which is treated as the tool cathode and small holes are provided on the foil.
The tool is designed in such a manner that a very small space is maintained between the SS pipe and
the copper electrode.
Electrolyte solution of proper concentration is prepared in an electrolyte storage tank and with
the help of a pump the electrolyte solution is passed through the PVC plastic tube and comes out
through the holes provided on the copper foil. During machining a constant low voltage is maintained
between the copper electrode and SS tube’s internal surface. A constant electrolyte solution flow is
maintained inside the space between the work piece and the tool in order to ensure proper anodic
dissolution of internal surface of SS pipe. The tool electrode which is a small width of copper foil is
then provided a slow feed motion, so that the copper electrode can move from one end to another end
inside the SS pipe.

2
 The metal removal takes place on the internal surface of the SS pipe due to the electrolysis
mechanism. The rotation of the SS pipe enhances the metal removal in mechanical way and also
ensures the negligible accumulation of derbies formed during ECM process and fresh electrolyte
solution flow is maintained between the SS pipe and the copper electrode. Due to the feed motion, the
copper tool electrode moves throughout the SS pipe. Number of passes are provided in order to achieve
desired surface roughness.

1.4. Need of the project

Generally, in tubes which are conducting fluids, the velocity and flow rate are much affected
by the drag coefficient of the pipe. In order to reduce the drag coefficient, the friction for the fluid
motion inside the tube, which is in the form of surface roughness must be made as minimum as
possible. Also we have to choose a process which will give us better outcome and at the same time it
must be feasible for the process economy and time. In industrial application, internal grinding method
is used for polishing of the internal surface of the steel pipes, which entraps surface stresses and the
quality of surface finish is not up to the mark as the process leaves behind variation in surface
roughness along the length of the pipe. In order to counteract this problem ‘electrochemical mechanical
polishing’ is utilized, which is a combination of both electrochemical and mechanical process. The
proposed non-traditional method will give better result with an advanced process and it will enhance
productivity. It reduces the post-processing time to a high extent in industrial work because there is no
need of post machining after electrochemical mechanical polishing as a fine surface is already achieved
with this process. Thus, the internal surface of SS pipe will improve and the friction (surface
roughness) will be reduced, resulting into a decrease in the drag coefficient.

1.5. Application

This paper is studied for the purpose of polishing internal surface of the steel pipes so that
there would be negligible surface friction for the fluid motion. So this machining is most applicable
for polishing of the pipes which are used to transport fluid for a long distance and to transport fluid
with high and precise velocity.

3
Some of the examples of such applications are,

i Casing and tubing of oil wells

ii Pipe lines connecting very long distance
iii Boiler tubes in industries
iv Flue pipes in households, factories, industries

1.6. Advantages

The advantages we obtain with electro chemical mechanical polishing are as follows,

i Less friction and surface drag

ii Grain structure remains unchanged
iii Improved surface quality
iv Reduced surface defects such as fouling, scaling etc.
v Glossy surface with increased surface texture
vi Enhanced mechanical properties

1.7. Limitations

The limitations accounted with this electrochemical mechanical polishing are as follows,

i Work piece pipe must be electrically conductive in nature

ii The pipe must be of uniform diameter throughout the entire length
iii Tapered or compound pipes cannot be machined

4
Chapter 2 Literature review

2.1. Literature review

Hongping Luo et al. [1] has done a ECM polishing machining of a compound cylindrical SUS
304 stainless steel with a copper tool electrode using NaNO3 electrolyte and carried out the process
with 20V dc power supply. He achieved a surface roughness around 1.8µm at the corner area of the
SUS 304 material.

Fig 2.1 ECM polishing of compound cylindrical work piece

Also he concluded that low current density at inner corner area was causing the poor surface
quality and due to accumulation of the gas bubbles in the downstream area current density becomes
lower as compared to upstream area.

Zhao-zhi Wu et al. [2] conducted micro- ECM process assisted with vibration to machine 3D
micro-cavities. He machined SS 304 (2mm thick) with 100µm thick copper foils. He kept the vibration
frequency at 30Hz and amplitude 10µm. He provided the rectangular micro holes for electrolytic
product renewal. He concluded that with increasing machining depth surface roughness increases
resulting in poor surface quality.

A.A. Gomez-Gallegos et al. [3] conducted a simple electrochemical machining of SS 316 pipe
and used the same material tool electrode with varying IEG, voltage, electrolyte concentration and

5
electrolyte temp. and observed different outcomes and he ended up getting different types of surface
quality such as passivating type, reflective type and their combinations depending upon the
combination of different process parameters.

Liu Guodong et al. [4] has studied the effect of different types of electrolytes on the surface
quality of the work piece when used in specific working conditions. At last he concluded that by using
complexing agents in the electrolytes the undissolved electrolytic products get dissolved and NaNO3
is used for best machining accuracy, efficiency and process stability.

Jaqing Cai et al. [5] proposed a novel method for micro-gap control in electro-generated
chemical polishing by using an etchant which is generated throughout the process. He used electrolyte
as aqueous solution of H2SO4. He achieved a surface finish about 5nm.

Yongcheng Ge et al. [6] carried out electrochemical deep grinding process using a tool with
embedded diamond grits to facilitate grinding operation and wit voltage of 20V and 200RPM he
conducted the process, then he compared between the ECM, deep grinding and ECDG process and he
got a remarkable MRR of around 2mg/min.

Abd El Khalid Mohammad et al. [7] has done synergistic design of ECM polishing end effector
for robotic polishing application. He installed a self-adjusting robotic end effector to self-maneuver
the angle and process parameter for the proper machining in complex corner areas. He found out that
robotic was more economical as compared to CNC in cost, flexibility and size itself.

Jin Wang et al. [8] conducted electrochemical discharge assisted diamond wire sawing for the
surface integrity of alumina. He used steel wire with embedded diamond grits of size 30-40µm to
machine alumina of 5mm thickness. Upon park generation the strength of alumina gets decreased and
it is machined easily.

S. C. Tam et al. [9] conducted an ECM abrasive polishing and used response surface
methodology to obtain a suitable combination of process parameters. He machined SS 41 mild steel
using a brass tool with aqueous NaNO3 and he used SiC of size 37-44µm as abrasives which was

6
bonded with the brass material by P35 resin. He achieved a surface finish up to 0.64µm and he studied
the best combination as 5.64V, 7% electrolyte concentration and 0.61bar tool-holding pressure.

Shuo-Jen Lee et al. [10] studied about the polishing mechanism of the electrochemical
mechanical polishing technology. He maintained a proper balance between the electrochemical
reaction and mechanical grinding to obtain optimal result of process parameters. He machined SKD
11 tooling steel with copper tool with sodium nitrate electrolyte and he varied the electrolyte
concentration. He concluded from SEM and EDS analysis that for better surface finish it is operated
at trans-passive state.

Igor Danilov et al. [11] conducted plasma electrolytic polishing through multiphysics
simulation and inline metrology. He observed a plasma gas layer is formed around the work piece
which is immersed inside the electrolyte when power is supplied at varying dc voltages of 250, 300
and 350 V. He concluded higher current density leads to a faster metal removal and a lower current
density is observed in plasma electrolytic polishing as compared to electrochemical machining. Due
to plasma gas layer passivation and oxygen formation are different from electrochemical process.

Pingmei Ming et al. [12] studied on kerosene submerged jet electrolytic micro-machining in
expectation with machining localization. He machined SUS 304 with same material tool using aqueous
sodium nitrate as electrolyte and the whole set-up was immersed inside the kerosene. Due to the
hydrostatic pressure of the kerosene the electrolyte flow became mote localized and narrow pointed
resulting an increase in MRR. Here surface finish of around 24-34nm can be achieved.

Chaojiang Li et al. [13] studied on self-adjusting EDM/ECM high speed drilling of film cooling
holes. In this study he analysed about the effect of drilling to the hole periphery with increase in depth
and its solution using proper electrolyte supply. He drilled Inconel 738 using brass hollow electrode
and electrolyte was supplied from both outside of the tool and through inside of the hollow tool.
External flushing ensures no spark during penetration and internal flushing to ensure the rigidity of the
tool. Low discharge energy is useful for recast layer removal.

7
2.2. Motivation for the present work

In many surveys as stated above, vertical rotation system is used, which results into a
bulkier machine setup, thus the machine requires more power to operate. Also in vertical rotation
setup of the work piece or the tool electrode, the rotation mechanism is having less stability and to
attain stability different extra parts are required.

Apart from this, due to vertical set up when electrolyte flows from top to bottom inside the
gap between the work piece and tool, it carries the machined particles. So at the upper section there
is less amount of machined particle; but at the lower region of the flow the concentration becomes
denser. That also affects in current density between the tool and work piece.

Hence in order to overcome these two problems, in this work electrochemical mechanical
polishing is carried out with a centreless setup, which provides more stability and control to the
rotation system and also solves the problem regarding the current density.

2.3. Objective of the present work

As per the problems stated in the above section, more attention is focused on the fabrication
of the machine, which can be easy to operate with less space occupation as well as there should be
more stability in the mechanical running parts during the machining process.

For this purpose, different parts have to be fabricated separately with a proper design data
and all have to be assembled to a single machine to perform the electrochemical mechanical
internal polishing.

The rotation of the work piece on the centreless rotation setup and the insertion of the tool
electrode inside of the work piece should be performed in such a manner that, there should not be
much variation in the current density between the SS work piece and the tool electrode during the
electrolysis mechanism, so that a good surface finish can be attained.

8
Chapter 3 Design and fabrication

For the present work i.e. to polish the internal surface of the stainless steel we need to
design the whole machine, so that we can perform the electrochemical mechanical polishing process.
Thus different parts have to be fabricated with a proper design of the respective structures. After the
fabrication of different parts all are to be assembled to make the whole machine. The major parts in
the machine are

 Centreless rotation system

 Feed mechanism for tool electrode
 Power supply arrangement and
 Electrolyte supply system.

Above all are to be fabricated with a proper design.

For this purpose, first we have to make the structure upon which all the necessary working
structures and systems can be arranged with minimum space consumption. Thus the set up can be a
compact one as compared to the other electrochemical mechanical polishing machines.

To fabricate the base structure, rectangular hollow channels of mild steel with dimension
25mm*50mm with 4mm thickness are used, so that we can get better rigidity in our setup. Due to the
greater section modulus of the rectangular channels, the structure can withstand more load upon it.
Desired lengths of channels are cut and welded at suitable positions.

9
 Fig 3.4 base structure and other fabricated parts
Fig 3.1 shows the base structure along with different fabricated parts which are needed to be
assembled in the machine for various purposes.

3.1. Centreless rotation system;

A proper design diagram is drawn with appropriate dimensions for the fabrication of centreless
rotation setup.

Fig 3.2 diagram for centreless rotation system

10
 A centreless rotation system consists of different parts; that are regulating wheel, motor to drive
the regulating wheel, guiding wheel and a supporting wheel.

3.1.1. Regulating wheel

Fig 3.3 regulating wheel

Fig 3.4 regulating wheel

11
 Regulating wheel is the essential driving wheel of a centreless rotation system, which rotates
the work piece around its own axis. In this paper as per the requirement, the regulating wheel used is
of outer diameter 100mm and inner diameter 11mm and its width is of 26mm. It is made of PVC plastic
and the outer radius material is made up of silicon rubber material which gives sufficient friction to
the stainless steel material with 0.6 coefficient of friction. The wheel is kept in contact with the stainless
steel pipe material with a proper rigid and flexible contact so as to avoid any slipping tendency.

3.1.2. DC motor

Fig 3.5 DC motor

An Orange DC motor is used to drive the regulating wheel, whose power requirements are 9-
18V and 2Amp. The motor is paired with a gear reduction mechanism, which reduces its speed from
18000 RPM to 100 RPM at 12V power supply which is referred as the optimum power input for the

12
motor. The shaft is of 6mm diameter, 60mm length and the keyhole is made at 12mm from the end of
the shaft.

3.1.3. Connector and bearing

Fig 3.6 connector for DC motor and regulating wheel

A connector is machined to attach the regulating wheel and the DC motor as they have varying
internal diameter hole and shaft dimension. The dimension of the connector is of internal diameter
6mm and outer diameter 11mm. The internal diameter is drilled up to a length of 45mm and the other
length is turned up to 10mm to fit into a bearing.

Fig 3.7 6000 open bearing for connector

13
 A 6000 open ball bearing, which is a deep groove ball bearing of dimension 10*26*8 is used
to hold the connector for the smooth rotation of the regulating wheel. One side of the connector is
attached with the DC motor and other side is held inside the bearing which is fixed with a frame. This
reduces the load on the motor as it carries as well as rotates the regulating wheel.

3.1.4. Guiding wheel

Fig 5.8 guiding wheel

Fig 3.9 guiding wheel

14
 The guiding wheel in a centreless rotation system is meant to provide or restrict the unwanted
axial movement if the need occurs.
The guiding wheel shown in the figures 3.8 and 3.9 is made of PVC plastic material and the
outer radius part is made up of silicon rubber material. The outer dimeter is of 70mm and the inner
diameter is of 6mm with a width of 11mm.

3.1.5. Supporting wheel

Fig 3.10 supporting wheel

It is the wheel upon which the stainless steel pipes rotate. These are made up of nylon material.
These wheels are of 32mm diameter and 38mm height with 50kg load carrying capacity. Two of such
supporting wheels are used to hold the SS pipe and at the middle of these two wheels regulating wheel
and guiding wheel are arranged in such a manner that both the wheels are in line with each other and
with the assemble of these parts the centreless rotation mechanism is achieved.
In fig 3.11 and 3.12 there is a spring system attached with the guiding wheel mechanism, which
provides flexibility and continuous contact during the rotation of the SS pipe.

15
 Fig 3.11 centreless rotation mechanism

Fig 3.12 centreless rotation mechanism

The figures 3.11 and 3.12 show the centreless rotation system used for the rotation of the
stainless steel pipes. In this mechanism, there is a lever attached with the regulating wheel mechanism,
which controls the axial motion of the stainless steel pipe during the rotation. For convenience and
simplicity of the centreless rotation mechanism, the control lever is provided to the regulating wheel
instead of guiding wheel.

16
3.2. Feed mechanism for tool electrode

The tool electrode is attached at the end of a PVC pipe and the other end is fixed to a feed
motion mechanism. To provide the proper feed motion a low RPM motor is used and the motor is
given translational motion using rack and pinion system.

Fig 3.13 motor for feed motion

Fig 3.14 rack and pinion for feed motion

Figure 13 shows a 12V, 2Amp and 3RPM DC motor with 6mm shaft diameter, which is used
for the arrangement of the feed motion of the tool electrode and figure 3.14 shows the rack and pinion
used to provide the feed motion. The rack and pinion both are of nylon plastic material having module
1 and the pinion has 23 teeth with 8mm internal diameter.

17
 Fig 3.15 feed arrangement

Fig 3.16 feed motion mechanism

In the figure 3.16 it is shown, how the feed mechanism moves the PVC pipe inside of the
stainless steel pipe giving the feed motion to the electrode.

18
3.3. Power supply arrangement

For the power requirement of the regulating motor and the feed motor two DC voltage adaptors
of 12V and 2Amp are used. Also to control the speed of the motors two separate regulators are used
and to change direction of the rotation of the motors two separate polarity alternators are also used.
For the electrolyte flow through the PVC pipe a submersible pump is used which is operated
by AC power supply of 220V.
For the electrolysis process on the internal surface of the stainless steel 20V and 50 Amp power
supply is used.
For the convenience all the switches and regulators are fixed on a switch board and the switch
board is placed at a suitable place on the structure, where there is no movement of any of the machine
part is expected.

3.4. Electrolyte supply system

At the end of the PVC plastic pipe a small width of copper foil is attached which is treated as
the tool electrode. Small rectangular holes are made on the electrodes to allow the electrolyte to flow
through the small space between the electrode and the stainless steel material.

Fig 3.17 electrolyte flow inside the SS pipe

19
 A submersible pump is kept inside the electrolyte storage tank. Upon power supply the pump
flows the water through the PVC pipe which comes out of the pipe through the holes provided on the
tool electrode. Then the electrolyte comes out from the SS pipe from both sides as the pipe is rotated
in horizontal position. The electrolyte solution coming out of the stainless steel pipe which also
contains the machined particles is collected with two small plastic containers and then it is again
brought back to the electrolyte storage tank. Before the electrolyte enters into the electrolyte storage
tank, it is filtered so that no machined waste particle could enter into the storage tank.

3.5. Selection of materials

In this paper the work piece material used for experiment is stainless steel pipe of SS 202 grade
material.
The dimension of the work piece used is as follows,
Table 3.1 dimension of the work piece
Outer diameter 38mm
Inner diameter 34mm
thickness 2mm
length 300mm

The composition of different materials in this SS 202 grade are as follows,

Table 3.2 chemical composition of the work piece
Elements Percentage %
Iron 68
chromium 17-19
manganese 7.5-10
nickel 4-6
silicon <=1
nitrogen <=0.25
Carbon <=0.15
phosphorous <=0.06
Sulphur <=0.03

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 The mechanical properties of the SS 202 are as follows,

Table 3.3 mechanical properties of the work piece

Tensile strength 515 MPa
Shear strength 275 MPa
Elastic modulus 207 GPa
Poisson’s ratio 0.27-0.30
Elongation at break 40 %

The physical properties of the SS 202 are as follows,

Table 3.4 physical properties of the work piece

Density 7.8 gm/cm3
Thermal expansion 17*10-6/K
Thermal conductivity 15 W/m*K

The tool material used is a copper foil of 15mm width wrapped on the circumference and at the
end of the PVC plastic pipe.
The electrolyte used for the experiment is sodium nitrate (NaNO3). Different aqueous solutions
of this electrolyte such as 10%, 15% and 20% are used to observe and analyse different kind of
experiments and their results.

3.6. Experimental procedure

On the centreless rotation set up the SS202 pipe is held and rotated at around 150-200RPM
with the application of 12V DC power supply. The axial motion of the SS pipe is controlled by the
lever equipped on the regulating wheel mechanism. The speed and rotating direction of the regulating
wheel are controlled by the regulator and the polarity alternator respectively.
The feed motion allows the copper electrode on the PVC pipe to enter into the SS202 pipe with
a slow feed motion. The inter electrode gap between the SS internal surface and the copper electrode
is maintained at about 1.5mm. the feed motion starts from one end of the SS202 pipe and upon reaching

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the other end of the pipe the rotation of the feed motor is altered by the polarity alternator provided for
the feed motor.
Electrolyte is supplied through the pipe with the help of a submersible pump, kept inside the
electrolyte storage tank. The pump flows the electrolyte at a pressure of 16-18KPa. The electrolyte
solution comes out of the PVC plastic pipe through small rectangular holes made on the electrode. The
electrolyte with machined particles comes out of the SS pipe from both the sides, as the pipe is kept
horizontal. The electrolyte coming out of the SS pipe with machined waste particles is filtered and
again recycled for longer use.
The inter electrode voltage is maintained within the range of 18-22V and current is maintained
at 45-50Amp. The current density is maintained at 4.5Amp/cm2.
Taguchi method is used to analyse the experiments with different process parameters. The
process parameters varied are as follow,

Table 3.5 variation of process parameters

Electrolyte concentration (%) 10 15 20
Inter electrode voltage (V) 18 20 22
Regulating wheel speed (RPM) 100 150 200

Upon completion of the experiment the surface finish of the internal surface of the SS 202 pipe
is evaluated using a profilometer.

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Chapter 4 Result and discussion

4.1. Design of experiments (DOE)

Minitab is software, used for both statistics and dynamic response experiment. The goal
of robust experimentation is for finding an optimal combination of control factor settings, Minitab
is used. Minitab is relatively easy to use by knowing a few fundamentals. Minitab consists of
various method such as factorial, response surface method, mixture, Taguchi method
There are three types of factor which causes the variation in process response. That are controllable
factor (can be modified during experimentation), Signal factors (influence the average values of
the response but not its variability) and Noise factors (influence on the response but which
cannot be controlled).
DOE is an experimental strategy, in which the effects of multiple factors are studied by
running tests at various levels of the factors. How many experiments should we run, what levels
should we take and how to combine them, are subjects of discussions in DOE.

4.2. Taguchi design

Taguchi design is a statistical method, was discovered by Dr. Genichi Taguchi of japan.it is
a robust parameter design, used for designing experiments to calculate how different parameters
affect the mean and variance of a process performance characteristic. It is mainly focusing on
minimizing variation and sensitivity to noise. It provides an efficient method for designing
products and process that operates smoothly, consistently and optimally over a variety of
conditions. These methods consist of two, three, four, five, and mixed-level fractional factorial
designs. To determine which factors most affect product quality, it allows only the collection of
the necessary data thus saving time and resources. Taguchi gives orthogonal array design which
reduces the experiment run.
The experimental data are analysed in the Taguchi method and finding the best response
under optimum condition. It is used for estimating the individual factor contribution and also their
interaction in the process response. It generates and analysis the main effect plot and interaction
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plot for signal to noise ratio, means, and standard deviations. It also produces residual plot on
histogram, normal plot, and residual versus fits, residual versus order.

By applying the Taguchi Parameter Design techniques, the performances of product

and process designs are improved in the following ways:
• Improve consistency of performance and save cost
• Build insensitivity (Robustness) towards the uncontrollable factors
In this experiment, a two factor and three levels setup (Table 4.3) is chosen with a total of
nine numbers of experiments to be conducted and hence L9 Orthogonal Array (OA) was chosen.
The different combinations of process parameters that can be analysed in this project are as
follows,

Table 4.1 combinations of process parameters

No. of experiments Electrolyte Inter electrode voltage Regulating wheel

concentration (%) (V) speed (RPM)

1 10 18 100

2 10 20 150

3 10 22 200

4 15 18 150

5 15 20 200

6 15 22 100

7 20 18 200

8 20 20 100

9 20 22 150

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Chapter 5 Conclusions

5.1. Conclusions regarding the fabrication and the operational work

i The electrochemical mechanical polishing machine fabricated in the department laboratory

operated successfully

ii Proper utilization of resources led to an easy and simple operating machine

iii Provision of centerless rotation setup added stability and control in the rotation of work piece

regardless of a little automation in the machine

iv After the machining is done, the pipes are ready for the test of surface roughness

v By varying the process parameters different kind of surface textures can be obtained

vi The process was carried out in a very smooth manner and a surface roughness of around 5 to 20

µm is expected in this project.

5.2. scope for future work

i Work piece of different dimensions can be machined with further modification in the design

ii Compound and tapered work piece can be machined with some modification in the present

machine

iii More automation can be added in the machine

iv Other different process parameters can be checked to achieve different surface qualities

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[12] Pingmei Ming, Xinchao Li, Xinmin Zhang, Xudong Song, Jintao Cai, Ge Qin, Liang Yan,
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.nptel.iitm.ac.in

2. www.wikipedia.org

3. http://www.jainexsteel.com/202-stainless-steel-sheet.html

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