EMAG Introduces ECM and PECM Machines to North American Market

A leading supplier of electrochemical technologies introduces new systems for processing workpieces with complex contours in aero, auto, medical and nano applications.

EMAG LLC (Farmington Hill, MI) recently announced the introduction of its ECM and PECM machines to the North American market. As a longtime European leader in these technologies, the company will sell and support these machines with application engineering, field commissioning and technical service from its Detroit-area location.

Workpieces with complex contours often feature sections that are not easy to machine because they are difficult to access. Usually, undercuts, pockets and internals, as well as overlapping bores, present no major challenges to mechanical machining operations; but this often changes when such sections need to be deburred – and even those sections of a workpiece that are difficult to access call for burrs to be removed cleanly and without negative impact on the material.

With the mechanical, thermal, electrical discharge and water jet-based technologies used currently, intended output rates, economic viability and repeatability can often not be guaranteed. Medium size and large batch production in particular attach great importance to the best possible component quality and internal burrs and lugs can badly affect component function.

In practice, conventional machining presents another problem: the secondary burr, i.e., when burrs are removed using standard machining processes, a secondary or “turned down” burr can form and require further, undefined finish-machining work to be done. These are some of the reasons why EMAG has focused its development efforts into the electrochemical deburring process.

Electro Chemical Machining is – unlike electrical discharge machining – a gentle, electro-chemical metal removal process that does not involve spark formations or a recast layer. An electrode is connected to a DC or pulse source to act as a cathode (tool), while the workpiece represents the other electrode and is poled as an anode.

The charge in the electrode gap between cathode and anode flows in a watery electrolyte solution – usually sodium nitrate or sodium chlorite – and dissolves metal ions on the workpiece surface. The material removed can later be filtered out from the electrolyte solution as metal hydroxide. The contour of the cathode (tool) is made to fit the machining requirement.

This ensures that deburring – without causing mechanical or thermal stresses – takes place only at the point of the workpiece, where necessary to remove material. This is the main advantage of the process. A pinpoint machining process allows for the most delicate components to be deburred with great accuracy and repeatability.

Electrochemical machining takes many forms, but all involve the electrolytic dissolving of metal substrates. This technique is often utilized in applications involving hard-to-machine materials such as Inconel, high-nickel alloys, titanium etc.

Because ECM is a non-contact machining process with no heat input involved, the process is not subject to the variances inherent in conventional machining, such as tool wear, mechanical stress, microcracking caused by heat transfer, plus surface oxidation and the recast layer present with EDM, for example.

By contrast, the ECM process is characterized by stress-free stock removal, smooth and precise transitions in machining contours with burr-free surfaces. End products from turbine blisks to dental implants and many automotive industry products are ideal uses for this technology, according to Tobias Trautmann, product manager for ECM/PECM Products at EMAG ECM.

The many advantages of the EMAG ECM and PECM technologies for the end user include: low tool wear on the cathode, ideal for batch production; surface finishes to Ra 0.05, depending on the material, suitable for high precision production in nearly all machining areas; reproducible cutting depth to <20μm; extremely high-precision machining; no negative thermal or mechanical effects on the material, so no changes in microstructures; basic material properties are unaffected; hardness, magnetic and other performance properties are unchanged.

Also, nano and extremely thin-walled section contours are possible, critical in aero and medical applications, for example; high repeatability, owing to the consistency of the mechanical components and predictability of the machining conditions; minimal secondary operations; roughing, finishing and polishing in one machine. The process allows users to employ multiple fixtures and run the process simultaneously. Per part cycle times are radically reduced, as a result.

Standard features offered on the EMAG ECM Basic Series machines are a Siemens S7 controller with full graphics display, current relay and voltage monitor, pH control and conductance monitor, temperature control module, machining area of 1150 mm x 950 mm (45.27 in x 37.40 in) and two-handed operator safety controls. EMAG also provides ancillary equipment interfacing for work cell set-ups, including pre- and post-op cleaning stations and multiple machining units, as well as robotic workpiece handling.

Precise Electrochemical Machining (PECM) machines operate on the same basic principle of electrolytic dissolution, but include a mechanical oscillation mechanism for more intricate 2D and 3D microstructures. All standard machines include EMAG scalable generator technology up to 30,000 Amps, pulse frequencies to 100 kHz and a machine base of MINERALIT or granite. The high precision of these machines derives directly from the efficient pulsed current source and the machine’s rigidity.

The Premium Series further offers precision imaging, surface finishes up to Ra 0.05 (relative to the material) and a high degree of precision in lower speed ranges, essential for micromachining. Complementing this new machine series is the EMAG test laboratory. Users can examine a variety of test cut scenarios to determine the optimum conditions for machining, fixturing, process performance and materials specification, matching the requirements to the most productive machines and systems available.

EMAG Holding GmbH, Austrasse 24 73084 Salach, Germany, +49-7162-17-0, communications@emag.com, www.emag.com