An efficient approach to the solution of the two-dimensional electrochemical machining problem (Q809586)

The electrochemical machining process is modelled as a one-phase problem with a governing elliptic equation and a Stefan-type boundary condition with nonzero latent heat. Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a technological process in which a workpiece is placed as the anode in an electrolytic cell with a properly shaped cathodic tool so that a desired shape of the anodic workpiece is obtained by the electrochemical process. The passage of current causes metal to be dissolved from the surface of the anode, which is therefore a moving boundary. The two-dimensional annular problem of shaping a cylindrical anode is treated here in a general way. A solution technique is described in which the movement of the anode has been tracked along the fixed radial lines, i.e. \(\theta =text{constant}\) in the cylindrical coordinates system (r,\(\theta\)) by the use of Boadway's transformation. Numerical results for the case of an elliptic anode inside circular cathode comparing the proposed method with those of predessors are given. An extensive discussion reveals the improvements achieved by the proposed ECM problem solution procedure.