Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) Sodick Wire Edm Filters
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a well-known machining technique since more than sixty years. Nowadays it is the most widely-used non-traditional machining process, mainly to produce injection molds and dies, for mass production of very common objects. It can also produce finished parts, such as cutting tools and items with complex shapes.
EDM is used in a large number of industrial areas: automotive industry, electronics, domestic appliances, machines, packaging, telecommunications, watches, aeronautic, toys,surgical instruments..
Figure 1.1: Examples of parts machined with EDM: high speed turbine and mold for the screw thread of PET bottles, produced by die-sinking; die for manufacturing plastic cladding and micro-parts, produced by wire-cutting (images °c Agie-Charmilles [1, 2]).
The advantages of EDM over traditional methods such as milling or grinding are multiple.Any material that conducts electricity can be machined, whatever its hardness(hardened steel, tungsten carbide, special alloys for aerospace applications, for example).Furthermore, complex cutting geometry, sharp angles and internal corners can be produced.Final surface state with low rugosity (< 100 nm) and precise machining (» 1 ¹m) are other important advantages. Moreover, there is no mechanical stress on the machined piece, no rotation of workpiece or tool is necessary, and the machines have a high autonomy. On the other hand, the disadvantages are the relatively low material removal rate (order of 100 mm3/minute), surface modification of the machined workpiece (“white layer” and heat affected zone, typical depth » 50 ¹m), and limited size of workpiece and tool, for example. Sodick Wire Edm Filters
