A COMBINED ELECTRICAL MACHINING PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A FLEXURE HINGE

A flexural hinge is required for various types of precision instrument s and in precision location applications. The accuracy of the flexure hinge is a problem in mechanical machining processes and the ratio of satisfactory to defective end products is low. This paper proposes a c ombined electrical machining process of electrical discharge machining (EDM) and pulse electrochemical machining (PECM) for the production o f a flexure hinge without deformation and residual stress. The applica tion of the process has achieved notable results. (C) 1997 Published b y Elsevier Science S.A.