Electrochemical wire cutting process for removal of metal using a wire tool as cathode and workpiece as anode. The workpiece can be shaped by relative movement between it and the wire. The process is similar to wire discharge machining. This process is found to be best suited for cutting in one or two directions and fine drilling. Rectangular wire appears to be better choice over circular section wire.
This process has a limited feed rate compared with conventional ECM. The feed rate is dependent on the width of wire and the diameter of workpiece.
It is best suited for super finishing process with high surface finish of upto 0.15 pm. The process is very suitable with small workpiece dimensions. Surface finish is better for flat surface than cylindrical.
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The power consumption is low and tooling system is cheap. The material removal rate can be controlled precisely. The surface finish is affected by parameters like feed rate, workpiece rotation speed, and electrolyte flow rate.