What Is Electrolysis? | TAGUTI edm wire cut parts
For the practical application of EDM, electrolysis is the production of chemical changes by the passage of an electrical current through an electrolyte, that is, a nonmetallic electrical conductor through which current is carried by the movement of agitated ions.
In wire EDMing, stray energy in the dielectric fluid, produced by the cutting process itself, interacts with contaminants in the flushing fluid to disrupt the surface of the workpiece.
The chief result of this process in all materials is an increased heat-affected zone, or white layer, on the surface. Depending upon the workpiece material being cut, the visible results of this action will vary, as described above.
The current-carrying EDM wire commonly discharges particles as well as produces the cutting action on the workpiece. The stray current, once thought inevitable, causes detrimental surface effects such as:
- bluing of titanium,
- cobalt binder depletion of carbide,
- anodic oxidation of aluminum,
- rusting of ferrous materials, and
- eventual micro-cracking of all materials.
This last effect had prohibited increased use of wire EDMing in medical, aerospace, aircraft and ordnance applications because that condition would render parts either unsafe or inoperable to the specifications required.