An analysis of the tool electrode working mechanism of grinding-aided electrochemical discharge machining of MMCs

The working mechanism of the tool electrode in grinding-aided electrochemical discharge machining (G-ECDM) of metal matrix composites process has been studied in this paper. A series of experiments have been conducted to study tool electrode clogging and damage under different processing conditions. Moreover, the grit volume fractions and average grit height of the G-ECDM tool electrode have been studied to discover the working mechanism of the tool. The experimental results have shown that in the G-ECDM situation, though it is possible for the grinding effect to cause tool clogging, the clogged materials may be removed by the polarity spark effect and thus a stable processing condition can be obtained. Moreover, the tool life of G-ECDM is much longer than that of ECDM. The reason for this phenomenon could be that the binding materials between the diamond grits of the tool surface are potentially protected by the clogged materials during the process.