Experimental Investigation on Electrochemical Finishing Machining of Stainless Steel in Passive Electrolyte Solution

The mechanism of electrochemical finishing machining (ECFM) process was investigated. Some vital procedure parameters involving in ECFM process, such as operating voltage, electrolyte component and concentration，machining temperature, electrode gap and current density were also evaluated and optimized, and then these optimized machining process parameters were applied in ECFM experiments for promoting surface quality. In this study, two typical types of workpieces, stainless steel rod and aero-engine blade, were selected to evaluate the validity of ECFM. Furthermore, the important surface roughness characteristics before and after ECFM process such as height and spacing characteristics of surface roughness, surface waviness characteristics, surface microscopic appearance and light reflection characteristics were compared. The experiment and measurement results indicate that ECFM process can distinctly improve surface quality, eliminate the surface scratch marks and defects and reduce surface roughness.