Counter-rotating electrochemical machining of intensive cylindrical pillar array using an additive manufactured cathode tool

•Counter-rotating electrochemical machining using a small cathode tool with multiple non-circular hollow windows is proposed to machine intensive cylindrical pillar array on revolving surface.•A novel hybrid additive manufacturing process combining both 3D printing and electrodeposition techniques is proposed to fabricate the specific-designed cathode tool.•An intensive (60 × 7) cylindrical pillar array with favorable uniformity is successfully fabricated using the additive manufactured cathode tool.