Effect of tube-electrode inner diameter on electrochemical discharge machining of nickel-based superalloy

Nickel-based superalloys are widely employed in modern aircraft engines because of their excellent material characteristics, particularly in the fabrication of film cooling holes. How-ever, the high machining requirement of a large number of film cooling holes can be extremely chal-lenging. The hybrid machining technique of tube electrode high-speed electrochemical discharge drilling (TEHECDD) has been considered as a promising method for the production of film cooling holes. Compared with any single machining process, this hybrid technique requires the removal of more complex machining by-products, including debris produced in the electrical discharge machin-ing process and hydroxide and bubbles generated in the electrochemical machining process. These by-products significantly affect the machining efficiency and surface quality of the machined prod-ucts. In this study, tube electrodes in different inner diameters are designed and fabricated, and the effects of inner diameter on the machining efficiency and surface quality of TEHECDD are inves-tigated. The results show that larger inner diameters could effectively improve the flushing condi-tion and facilitate the removal of machining by-products. Therefore, higher material removal efficiency, surface quality, and electrode wear rate could be achieved by increasing the inner diam-eter of the tube electrode.