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This paper describes mathematical modeling of material removal rate
(MRR) and surface roughness of the bevel gears finished by the
electro-chemical honing (ECH) process. Since, ECH hybridizes
electrochemical dissolution (ECD) and mechanical honing therefore,
contribution of ECD in MRR and surface roughness has been modeled using
Faraday's law of electrolysis while contribution of mechanical honing has
been modeled considering material removal as a phenomenon of uniform wear
and using Archard's wear model. Formulations are also proposed for
computing the surface area, required by these two models, along the
inter-electrode gap (IEG) based on the geometry of the straight bevel gear
tooth surfaces. The developed models were experimentally validated using an
indigenously developed experimental setup for finishing of bevel gears by
ECH based on an envisaged novel concept of twin complementary cathode
gears. An aqueous solution containing 25% NaCl+75% NaNO"3 was used as the
electrolyte. The predicted values of MRR and surface roughness have shown
close agreement with the experimental values. The experimental results, SEM
images and bearing area curve have shown appreciable improvement in the
surface roughness and surface integrity ensuring better operating
performance of the gears finished by ECH within an optimized finishing time
of 2min.
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