Eco-friendly tool-based electrochemical polishing of additively manufactured metallic components

Abstract

The elevated surface roughness of metal additive manufacturing (MAM) parts detrimentally affects wear resistance, diminishes fatigue strength, and hampers cooling efficiency, which mandates post-processing. Electrochemical polishing is a non-contact and non-thermal post-processing technique but uses non-ecofriendly acidic baths and is ineffective in removing unmolten or partially molten metal particles. To address these challenges, we propose a novel approach using a flat nano-polished cylindrical tool as the cathode and an eco-friendly electrolyte for finishing a MAM component fabricated via atomic diffusion additive manufacturing (ADAM). Our study evaluates the effectiveness of this approach through numerical simulation and optimises the process through experimental analysis. The numerical simulation developed in COMSOL incorporates the surface roughness data of the ADAM part as the anode surface profile in the 2D simulation domain. The current density distribution, viscous layer formation, reduction in surface roughness and mass material removal rate (MRRg) are analysed from the simulation results. The experimental optimisation of parameters, including polishing time, inter-electrode gap (IEG), electrolyte flow, and electrolyte composition, resulted in a substantial decrease in the average surface roughness (Ra) value of the ADAM component by 95.91 %. The polished surface is more levelled, exhibiting a glossy finish with no waviness and fewer surface cracks. The EDS and XRD analysis portrayed the presence of passive films, indicating improved corrosion resistance. Repeating the experiment for rolled and milled surfaces with the same process parameters resulted in a similar reduction in the Ra value by 97.59 % and 94.73 %, respectively. The comparative analysis, of ECP on MAM, rolled, and milled surfaces, indicates the potential to achieve a similar notable improvement in surface finish, irrespective of the process history of the manufactured part for the same ECP parameters. Comparing the anode surface profiles, Ra values, and mass of material dissolved showed a close fit between experimental and simulation results. Our study highlights the feasibility of ECP with the flat tool electrode and eco-friendly electrolytes to reduce the surface roughness of an MAM component significantly.