Experimental investigations into electrochemical machining of high carbon high chromium die steel

Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a non-traditional process used mainly to cut hard or difficult to cut metals, where the application of a more traditional process is not convenient. Those difficult to cut materials like high carbon high chromium die steels with high hardness demand high energy to form chips, which can result in thermal effects due to the high temperatures inherent to the process in the chip–tool interface. In traditional processes, the heat generated during cutting is dissipated to the tool, chip, workpiece and environment, affecting the surface integrity of the workpiece, mainly for those hard materials. In this work, experimental investigations have been made on the various influencing parameters involved in the material removal rate and surface roughness using ECM on High carbon high chromium die steel with the hardness of 63 HRC. The major intervening parameters are studied and the relationship between the parameters has been determined for achieving maximum material removal rate and minimum surface roughness by using NaCl aqua solution.