Gear Finishing and Modification Compound Process by Pulse Electrochemical Finishing with a Moving Cathode

Gears' surface quality and modification characteristic have an important influence on its working performance. Pulse Electrochemical Finishing (PECF) could get excellent surface topography. In this project, PECF with a scanning cathode is used to finishing the cylinder gear. Tooth profile modification is realized by PECF with an uneven interelectrode gap distribution along the tooth profile and tooth lead modification is realized by PECF with a variable moving velocity of the cathode. The experimental results show that the tooth surface roughness could be decreased from Ra 3.9 mu m to Ra 0.35 mu m, which means that the PECF process possesses the finishing ability for the raw surface tooth, and the difference of material removal of PECF with an uneven interelectrode gap distribution could be 46 mu m and the material removal could be controlled by regulating the moving velocity of the cathode, which means tooth profile and lead modification could be realized by PECF.