WIRE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MACHINING

(WIRE EDM)

Wire EDM

Electrical discharge machining wire cutting (EDM-WC) is a thermal mass-reducing process that uses a continuously moving wire to remove material by means of rapid controlled repetitive spark discharges. Process Characteristics
Utilizes a traveling wire that is advance within arcing distance of the workpiece (0.001 in.) Removes material by rapid, controlled, repetitive spark Uses dielectric fluid to flush removed particles, control discharge, and cool wire and workpiece The wire and workpiece must be electrically conductive. Can produce complex two-dimensional shapes

WIRE - EDM

POWER SUPPLY - PULSATING DC.

DIELECTRIC DEIONISED WATER

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF WIRE EDM SAME AS EDM.

COMPARED WITH BAND SAW MRR & QUALITY = (WIRE).

SPARKING BETWEEN WIRE & WORKPIECE ERODES BOTH WIRE & WORKPIECE.

WIRE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MACHINING (WIRE EDM)

WORKPIECE MATERIAL ELECTRICALLY CUNDUCTIVE.

TOOL 0.05 - 0.30 mm DIA. WIRE

DIELECTRIC DEIONSED WATER

MATERIAL REMOVING MELTING / VAPORISATION CONSTANT IEG COMPUTER CONTROLLED POSITIONING SYSTEM

CAN CUT COMPLICATED CONTOURS HIGH DEGREE OF ACCURACY AND GOOD SURFACE FINSH

WIRE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MACHINING (WIRE EDM)

POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM

DIELECTRIC SYSTEM POSITIONONG SYSTEM DRIVE SYSTEN

POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM

PULSE FREQUENCY 1 MHz reduced crater size or better surface finish

SMALL WIRE SIZE CURRENT CARRYING CAPACITY < 20 A .

DIELECTRIC SYSTEM
WATER AS DIELECTRIC (substitute for kerosene)

low viscosity efficient flow

easy availability, desirable thermal properties

pollution-free working no fire hazard high cooling rate very thin recast layer high MRR, better surface finish and high tool wear rate

high TWR does not adversely affect performance as wire is not reused More efficient way of dielectric delivery is to provide a stream of deionized water along the axis of the wire. Cost of the dielectric can be lowered down by reusing it after filtration 5 m size disposable paper filter Additives are mixed to minimize rusting

POSITIONING SYSTEM

CNC 2 AXES TABLE

Operates in adaptive control mode debris bridging gap / wire workpiece too

IN CASE OF SHORT CIRCUITING (

close) MOVES BACK TO RE-ESTABLISH PROPER CUTTING GAP CONDITIONS.

WIRE DRIVE SYSTEM

DELIVERS FRESH WIRE FUNCTIONS keeps wire always under tensionmoves in m/cing zone as straight wire for better quality of the machined surface

For high quality avoid taper, streaks, vibration marks etc. Minimizes wire breakage frequently
SAPPHIRE

o WIRE GUIDED BY WIRE GUIDES

DIAMOND o WIRE MOVEMENT TOWARDS TAKE UP SPOOL SERIES OF TENSIONING ROLLERS

o AUTOMATIC RELOADING OF BROKEN WIRE

TO ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY
TO RUN THE M/C UNATTENDED SMALL DIAM. (< 0.15 mm) MOLYBDENUM STEEL

o WIRE MATERIAL
LARGE DIAM. (0.15 0.3 mm) COPPER OR BRASS
WIRE DISCARDED AFTER USED ONCE After wear at leading surface due to sparking, no longer remains round

Advances in WC- EDM

Automatic wire threading, self restarting and improved tensioning devices.

incorporation of CNC features operator can input for wire compensation at the m/c. Easy to interrupt the process and change the m/cing parameters (V, I) and other settings more easily Program wire to follow a complex path in 2 axes for making dies for stamping fine blanking and extrusion , 2-D through holes Possible to tilt wire in positions other than perpendicular to X and Y axes

Have facility for speedy automatic realignment of wire

Perform 3-D cutting using 2 additional axes (U and V). Drive motors tilt wire towards front or back (V axis) and left or right (U axis). Extent of tilt (say, 10 or so) gives limitation of m/t. In versatile m/t, all 4 axes (X, Y, U, V) can be controlled simultaneously using closed loop control arrangement for work table and wire guide positions to make, a draft or relief in the mould, and constant radius corners along the tapered walls of molds and dies in one stroke.

CNC WIRE EDM / CNC EDM

TAPER CUTTING USING WIRE EDM

POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE 0.1 m FEED

1.0 m TABLE POSITIONING.

REDUCES CORNER ERROR SUPPRESSES WIRE VIBRATION REDUCES CRACKED SURFACE. FINE FINISHING POWER SUPPLY HIGH QUALITY SURFACE FINISH ( 0.1 m )

Mitsubishis approach to taper cutting on a traveling wire EDM involves drive motors that shift the position of the upper wire guide along two axes, called U and V. These shifts must be coordinated with X and Y travel by the CNC for versatile three dimensional machining.

STRATIFIED WIRE
CHARMILLES CORPORATION (SWTZERLAND)

Core made of copper drawn wire.

Outside thin layer of Zn or Zn alloy (low melt) MRR higher (can carry more current ) than when using copper wire Wire not-recycled not very expensive, gets eroded during process

WHY TO USE STRATIFIED WIRE ?

Wire can carry heavier load if it can absorb more amount of heat without breaking Heavier load high energy / spark high MRR (higher cutting speed) wire breakage To avoid wire breakage use stratified wire Melting point of Zn << M. P. OF COPPER

Zn LAYER WILL MELT CORE TEMPERATURE < M. P. OF Zn

Zinc melts and even evaporates at a temperature lower than the melting temperature of copper. Core of the stratified wire gets no hotter than the temperature at which the outer layer of the zinc will vaporize. Hence, more powerful sparks discharged. MRR related to current density (depends on surface area of the wire engaged in the cut)

BOWING OF WIRE
Distance between wire and workpiece 25 m in kerf.

W/p eroded by violent, extremely localized and momentary action of the spark
Gas bubbles rush to escape pressure on the wire wire bends (bowing of wire) tends to drag on bends and sharp corners as it advances leads to inaccuracy (due to different IEG) Remedy wire guiding and feeding mechanism should be designed to withstand higher tension WIRE EDM m/c CNC WIRE EDM m/c

PROCESS VARIABLES
LINEAR CUTTING RATE THICKNESS OF WORKPIECE BUT NOT THE COMPLEXITY OF CUT.
HIGHEST WIRE SPEED 40 mm/s.

PROCESS CHARACTERISTIC
MATTE FINISH SURFACE. CRATERS HELP IN RETAINING LUBRICATING OIL INCREASED DIE LIFE. SURFACE IN FINISH PASS 0.1 m TOLERANCE 7 m

APPLICATIONS
Making dies Fabrication of press tools Electrodes for use in other areas of EDM

WIRE - EDM

Stator core stamping die machined by wire - EDM

WIRE EDM + TAPER CUTTING MECHANISM

Example of the complex shapes that can be cut with wire EDM and a taper cutting mechanism

ELECTRIC DISCHARGE GRINDING (EDG)

Grinding conventional and hybrid grinding. Hybrid grinding mechanical grinding assisted by one or more (advanced) machining techniques. Example: electrochemical grinding (ECG), ultrasonic grinding (USG), electric discharge grinding (EDG), electric discharge diamond grinding (EDDG), etc. EDG is a mass-reducing process that uses a rotating conductive wheel to remove electrically conductive material by means of controlled, repetitive spark discharges. A dielectric fluid is used to flush away the chips, regulate the discharge, and cool the wheel and the workpiece.

Process Characteristics A rotating wheel (electrically conductive material, usually graphite inexpensive and easy to machine) used as a tool. Wheel is kept within sparking (arcing) distance of the w/p Part of grinding wheel and w/p immersed in dielectric, connected to pulsed DC supply Rotating motion of wheel ensures effective flushing of dielectric in IEG Mechanism of material removal same as in EDM except that rotary motion of the tool (i.e. wheel) helps in effective ejection of the molten material. No direct physical contact between the tool and w/p unlike conventional grinding fragile and thin sectioned specimens can be easily machined without distortion Economical compared to the conventional diamond grinding Material removal takes place due to melting and/or vaporization not by shearing. EDG used for dressing metal bonded diamond grit grinding wheels removes bond material by melting rather than mechanical shear as in conventional dressing Can process very hard or difficult to machine metals

Rotating disk electrode for EDG

 Current in EDG m/t 0.5-200A, voltage 40-80V, pulse frequency 50-250 kHz., Maximum wheel surface speed 180 m/min. EDG servo-system maintains a constant IEG by feeding workpiece into the wheel. If debris somehow blocks the gap, the work-piece is retracted back to allow the debris to be flushed out of the gap. EDG capable to machine extremely hard materials, say, carbides at 2 to 3 times faster than conventional diamond grinding.

Good surface finish (0.2 to 0.3 m) and high accuracy ( 2.5 m) is achieved

ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DIAMOND GRINDING (EDDG) Hybrid process involves machining of hard materials using advantages of EDM as
well as conventional grinding. Water or water-based cutting fluid is used as dielectric. Metal bonded diamond grit wheel is used in place of a simple electrically conductive

wheel (graphite) used in EDG.

Sparking takes place between metallic bonding material and W/P. Heat generated during sparking softens the work material and hence machining by diamond abrasive particles becomes easier. Sparking in IEG during EDDG, results in continuous dressing of the grinding wheel and hence the wheel does not clog. As a result, cutting properties of the grinding wheel are stabilized.

EDDG setup

Trueing/dressing operation Used for precise trueing/dressing and profile generation of metal bonded grinding wheels employing NC EDDG also named as electro-contact abrasion finishing (ECAF) employed for cutting blanks of various materials, profiles and dimensions.

Schematic diagram for onmachine electric discharge trueing/dressing operation

Capabilities and Applications Used for machining of cermates, super alloys, other metal matrix composites.

MRRV : 270 mm3/min, wheel life: more than 120 min, and good surface finish (Ra value as 10.32 to 0.15 m) without cracking.
Dressing/trueing of metal bonded diamond (or other abrasive) wheels. wheel life in terms of the period between two dressings is increased by a factor ranging from 5-10 in case of EDDG dressing, than after traditional abrasive dressing. Accuracy achieved during electrical discharge diamond grinding is better than that in conventional diamond grinding.