The foamed metal material is novelty applied to manufacture the tool cathode to realize the electrochemical machining(ECM)of involute internal spline of di cult-to-cut materials. The porosity and electrolyte ow characteristics of the foamed brass cathode are analyzed. The geometric and mathematical model of involute internal spline by ECM is built, and the relevant electric eld simulations with different machining voltages, electrolyte types and cathode feed rates which directly determined the ECM results are conducted by COMSOL Multiphysics software. From the simulation results, the suitable process parameters are obtained and then carried out process experiments. The experiment results show that the foamed metal material can be used to fabricate the tool cathode for ECM. And when the machining voltage is 10 V, the electrolyte is 2% NaCl + 8% NaNO 3 solution, the cathode feed rate is 1.00 mm/min, the involute internal spline formed by axial ECM can get a better pro le which basically meets the nishing requirements. The application of the foamed metal cathode laid a new technical foundation