Investigation on the Influence of Electrolytic Milling Machining Parameters on the Machining Accuracy of Thin-walled Parts

Abstract In order to reduce the weight of aircraft parts, they are often designed as thin-walled structures and the thin-walled structure will deform when the cutting force is generated and applied to the thin-walled parts for its poor rigidity. So the machining accuracy of thin-walled parts will be reduced for the deformation in milling process. Then, the electrolytic milling method composed of milling and electrochemical machining is proposed to reduce workpiece deformation and improve machining accuracy of thin-walled parts. The machining parameters of milling method and electrochemical machining method, which connected with the material removal thickness and machining accuracy, are analysed. The machining parameters, which contain spindle speed, feed rate, voltage, electrolyte concentration, are selected and the machining accuracy measuring experiments are implemented. And the machining accuracy predicting model of thin-walled parts is established on the basis of electrolytic milling experimental results. The effects of milling parameters and electrochemical machining parameters on material removal thickness are studied separately. In addition, the accuracy predicting model is also validated by electrolytic milling experiments. The results show that the machining accuracy of electrochemical milling is superior to that of milling. It is a composite machining method that combines the advantages of electrochemical machining and milling.