Experimental study on ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical polishing of NiTi alloy

Abstract

NiTi alloy has a wide range of applications due to its unique superelasticity and shape memory, so it is very important to study NiTi alloy polishing. In this paper, a new method of ultrasonic-assisted electrochemical polishing of NiTi alloy is innovatively proposed, and an ultrasonic electrochemical polishing device is built independently. The effects of ultrasonic amplitude, voltage and temperature on roughness are explored by Box-Behnken experimental design method. The results show that after ultrasonic electrochemical polishing, the surface quality of NiTi alloy is improved. As the temperature increases, the solution viscosity decreases, the ion exchange rate accelerates, and the roughness shows a weak trend of first decreasing and then increasing. With the increase of the interaction between voltage and temperature, the roughness shows a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. This study improves traditional electrochemical polishing methods and introduces ultrasonic energy fields to expand the application of electrochemical polishing, further providing a new approach and laying a foundation for the polishing of NiTi alloys with complex structures in additive manufacturing.