Simulation of a heated tool system for jet electrochemical machining

Jet Electrochemical Machining (Jet-ECM) is an unconventional procedure using localized anodic dissolution for micromachining [1, 2, 3, 4]. An increasing of the electrolyte temperature e. g. from 20°C to 35°C will lead to an increase of the electrical conductivity of the electrolyte by about 30% and to a reduction of the dynamic viscosity of the electrolyte by about 25%. Both will improve the process. Therefore a Jet-ECM tool system with integrated heating cartridge was developed at Chemnitz UT and COMSOL Multiphysics was used to simulate the temperature distribution in the tool system for different heating powers. The model was created by help of importing the CAD data of the tool system into COMSOL and consists a coupling of fluid flow and convection and conduction. The results of the simulation will perspectively help to design the experimental investigations in high temperature Jet Electrochemical Machining.