Theoretical and experimental study on LV-WECM of gear involute artifact with high aspect ratio

Precision involute artifact is an indispensable tool in the detection of high precision gears. In this paper, a new method of low-frequency vibration-aided wire electrochemical machining (LV-WECM) is proposed to fabricate gear involute artifact with high aspect ratio. First, a mathematical model of WECM is established to analyze forming principle of gear involute artifact. Second, the machining process is simulated by electric field simulation. The deviation of WECM is analyzed according to the simulation results. And then, the effects of low-frequency vibration and flushing on machining are analyzed by flow field simulation, which shows that vibration and flushing can effectively promote mass transfer in the gap. Finally, the effects of applied voltage, pulse parameters, and vibration parameters on machining accuracy were discussed experimentally. After several groups of contrast experiments, a gear involute artifact blank with aspect ratio of 40:1 is successfully machined on 8-mm-thick GCr15 workpiece, the max profile deviation is 17.6 µm, and the average surface roughness Sa is about 2.370 µm. It is proved that LV-WECM is a reliable method for machining involute template with high aspect ratio.