Rapid tooling aided by reverse engineering to manufacture EDM electrodes

The present work deals with the application of indirect rapid tooling (RT) technology to manufacture electrical discharge machining (EDM) copper electrodes from investment casting, with wax prototypes made by ThermoJet 3D printing, a rapid prototyping (RP) technique. The reverse engineering (RE) method is utilised to transform the point cloud data of an object surface, obtained from 3D digitising, in a 3D CAD surface model dataset. The methodology presented is fundamental to verify the prototype’s geometry for tooling so as to assure its metrological accuracy and to optimise foundry process parameters using finite element analysis (FEA). Based on a case study, some functional conclusions are presented for the application of RT in manufacturing EDM electrodes aided by 3D digitising and RE, validating the accomplishment by the integration of these technologies and methodologies in EDM manufacturing processes.     

The Potential of Plating Techniques in the Development of Rapid EDM Tooling

Electrodischarge machining (EDM) is a widely used process in the manufacturing of mould cavities for plastic products. EDM work typically accounts for a large portion of overall production time. A major cost and time element of EDM is electrode production, which can account for more than 50% of the total machining costs. A large complex electrode profile, which is very difficult to produce through machining and is also time consuming, can be easily produced using the rapid prototyping (RP) technique. The direct laser sintering of metal powders is a widely established RP process that can be employed for the rapid production of EDM electrodes. In this study, the above-mentioned technique has been employed. The powder mixture used in this process consists of copper, tin, nickel and phosphorus. An infra-red (IR) 200 W CO2 laser is used to sinter the powdered metals layer-by-layer in order to form solid electrodes. Electroless copper and copper plating are then employed to improve the surface finishing and the conductivity of the sintered electrode as it deposits a uniform thickness of metal onto the substrate by chemical reaction, without building up at the edges and corners, and achieves unique physical characteristics. The performance of the newly developed electrode is very similar to that of conventional copper electrodes. It is found that integration of RP and electroless plating techniques can be a potential means of the rapid production of EDM electrodes at low cost.     

Three-dimensional shaping by dot-matrix electrical discharge machining

This paper deals with a new prototyping method called dot-matrix electrical discharge machining (EDM) with scanning motion. The machining process by the dot-matrix method is similar to printing motion with a dot-impact printer. This method can be applied not only to EDM but also electrochemical machining and forming. A prototype of the machining unit for the dot-matrix method has six feeding devices for thin wire electrodes. The electrodes of 300 μm in diameter are arranged with the pitches of 760 μm. To obtain a smooth surface, a planetary motion in the x-y-plane is added to the feeding of the machining unit in the z-direction, the same area is machined repeatedly, or the machining unit is moved with fine feed. By compensating for the wear of the electrode during the scanning EDM, various shapes with the accuracy of micrometers order can be obtained without a formed tool electrode.     

Development and application of copper–nickel zirconium diboride as EDM electrodes manufactured by selective laser sintering

The production of electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes by conventional machining processes can account for over 50 % of the total EDM process costs. The emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technologies provide the possibility of direct fabrication of EDM electrodes. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an alternative AM technique because it has the possibility to reduce the tool-room lead time and total EDM costs. The main difficulty of manufacturing an EDM electrode using SLS is the selection of an appropriate material. This work investigated the direct production of EDM electrodes by means of the SLS using a newly developed non-conventional metal–matrix composite material composed of a metallic matrix (CuNi) and an advanced ceramic (ZrB₂). The influence of important SLS parameters and material content on the densification behavior and porosity of the electrodes was investigated. EDM experiments were conducted to observe the electrodes behavior and performance. It was found that the ZrB₂-CuNi electrodes could be successfully manufactured by SLS. Interlayer bonding and porosity are directly influenced by the layer thickness. Smaller layer thicknesses improved bonding between layers and decreased the porosity of the parts. The laser scan speed has a significant effect on the densification behavior. The scan line spacing affects the pore structure by means of overlapping. The surface morphology of the samples was not affected by varying the scan line spacing. The ZrB₂-CuNi electrodes presented a much superior performance than SLS copper powder electrodes, but inferior to solid copper electrodes.     

4Cr5MoVSi电火花加工试验特征规律研究

采用紫铜工具电极,在峰值电流为4-24A、脉冲宽度为25-200μs、加工电压为80-200V的电参数范围内,综合应用因子试验和正交试验方法,对难加工材料4Cr5MoVSi进行了电火花加工试验。在进行电加工基础特征规律分析的基础上,考查了电参数对加工速度、双边侧面放电间隙、电极损耗的影响,并对电火花加工机理进行了分析。研究结果表明:采用紫铜电极电火花加工4Cr5MoVSi,在本试验范围内,峰值电流Ip与脉冲宽度ti、加工电压U、脉冲间隔t0存在一定的交互作用;与其它三个因素相比,峰值电流对加工速度、电极损耗、双边侧面放电间隙的影响更显著;随脉冲宽度和加工电压的增大,电极损耗逐渐减小。     

Study of the EDM performance to produce a stable process and surface modification

In this work, the effect of pulse current and pulse duration in die-sinking electrical discharge machining (EDM) on the machining characteristics of Ti-6Al-4V alloy is studied. The EDM characteristics, including the electrode wear ratio (EWR), the material removal rate (MRR), and the surface roughness (SR), are used to measure the effect of machining. An increase in the intensity of the pulse current from 2.5 to 5 A produces a slow increase in EWR, MRR, and SR. An increase in the intensity of the pulse current from 5 to 7 A produces a rapid increase in EWR, MRR, and SR. Control charts are basic and powerful tools for controlling statistical processes and are widely used to monitor manufacturing processes and ensure good EDM quality. EWR, MRR, and SR are normal distributions, and the regression curves for the data are straight lines. All of the data points vary randomly around the centerline, which follows the Shewhart criteria and shows that the EDM process and product performance are under control and stable over time. After EDM, the surface exhibits an irregular fused structure, with pinholes, micro voids, globule debris, and many damaged surfaces. Oxygen plasma etching and surface modification after EDM reduce these surface defects, so finer and flatter surfaces can be achieved. Moreover, fatigue life can be enhanced.     

Multi-objective optimization of electric-discharge machining process using controlled elitist NSGA-II

Parametric optimization of electric discharge machining (EDM) process is a multi-objective optimization task. In general, no single combination of input parameters can provide the best cutting speed and the best surface finish simultaneously. Genetic algorithm has been proven as one of the most popular multi-objective optimization techniques for the parametric optimization of EDM process. In this work, controlled elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm has been used to optimize the process. Experiments have been carried out on die-sinking EDM by taking Inconel 718 as work piece and copper as tool electrode. Artificial neural network (ANN) with back propagation algorithm has been used to model EDM process. ANN has been trained with the experimental data set. Controlled elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm has been employed in the trained network and a set of pareto-optimal solutions is obtained.

     

Energy distribution in cool electrode of electrical discharge machining based on wave-particle dualism

This paper studies the energy distribution in cool electrode of electrical discharge machining (EDM) on the basis of the wave-particle duality of matter. First, the movement of electrons and ions in the discharge channel was investigated in this article through the wavelength calculation of particles in a discharge channel. The main characteristic of electrons is wave and the moving form is prioritized for diffraction. Ions are mainly characterized by particles. These ions continuously vibrate in the mean free path. Second, a numerical calculation model is proposed on the basis of particle movement. The temperature field in the discharge channel of the cool electrode in the EDM to the titanium alloy is examined using the ANSYS software and simulation result is validated experimentally. Experimental results show that the diameter of the electric corrosion pit on the cool electrode surface is 355?μm, which is less than the electric corrosion pit diameter of 470?μm on a conventional electrode surface. Eventually, the EDM experiment was carried out under the same processing conditions with the cool electrode and the conventional electrode, respectively. The result shows that using cool electrodes in EDM can reduce electrode wear and increase machining efficiency.     

Analysis of energy distribution during electric discharge machining of tungsten carbide

Abstract

During electrical discharge machining (EDM) process, electrical energy is used for the machining of the components. Energy distribution in electrical discharge machining process is the distribution of input energy supplied during machining to various components. In order to improve the technological performance during EDM process, it is essential to understand the distribution of input energy in the entire system. An experimental study on the effect of EDM energy distribution parameter for tungsten carbide is presented. The copper tungsten electrode has been used for the study. Experiments have been performed in specially designed dielectric insulated tank. To minimise the energy wastage, workpiece as well as the electrode was covered with Teflon. Current and pulse duration have been selected as variable parameters. The objective of this study is to analyse the amount of electrical energy used for machining effectively. The detail of this study has been presented in this paper.     

Study of EDM cutting of single crystal silicon carbide

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is developing as a new alternative method for slicing single crystal silicon carbide (SiC) ingots into thin wafers. Aiming to improve the performance of EDM slicing of SiC wafers, the fundamental characteristics of EDM of SiC single crystal were experimentally investigated in this paper and compared to those of steel. Furthermore, EDM cutting of SiC ingot by utilizing copper foil electrodes was proposed and its performance was investigated. It is found that the EDM characteristics of SiC are very different from those of steel. The EDM machining rate of SiC is higher and the tool wear ratio is lower compared to those of steel, despite SiC having a higher thermal conductivity and melting point. Thermal cracks caused by the thermal shock of electrical discharges and the Joule heating effect due to the higher electrical resistivity are considered to be the main reasons for the higher material removal rate of SiC. It is concluded that the new EDM cutting method utilizing a foil electrode instead of a wire electrode has potential for slicing SiC wafers in the future.     

基于快速原型的精密模具的电铸工艺研究

采用激光快速成型机生产电铸母模来进行快速精密模具的开发与制造。对于快速原型件，采用新工艺，首先使其导电化；再采用脉冲电铸的方法制造模具。同时，还将此脉冲电铸新工艺与传统的化学镀工艺及传统的直流电铸方法进行了比较研究。在电铸成型机上，通过对此电铸工艺的研究与实现，发现可以大大缩短普通模具，甚至复杂模具的制造时间，同时也提高了模具的复制精度，使之能够应用于精密模具的开发中。为开发出更适合于精密电铸的电铸成型机提供了技术基础。     

电火花加工用工具电极材料的研究进展

工具电极是电火花加工中非常重要的因素,电极材料的性能对电火花加工性能具有很大影响。介绍了电火花加工用工具电极材料在普通电火花加工、电火花表面改性和微细电火花加工三个方面的最新研究进展。     

Investigation of complex rapid EDM electrodes for rapid tooling applications

This paper describes a collaborative research programme aimed at investigating the use of quick EDM electrodes obtained via appropriate rapid prototyping techniques in finishing laser-sintered tools. Two methods were employed in obtaining the EDM electrodes: copper coating of stereolithography models and copper coating of direct metal laser sintered (bronze) models.The amount of copper deposited on both electrode models proved problematic as the electroplating process was unable to deposit enough copper in the inner cavities of the electrodes, with very gradual reduction in copper layer thickness from the outer faces/surface to virtually no deposition in the inner walls and bottom face. Consequently, the electrodes were not suitable for the envisaged EDM process.     

电火花加工复杂电极的快速制造

将选择性激光烧结(SLS)技术与电铸技术相结合,探索了电火花加工复杂电极的快速制造方法,为电火花加工复杂电极的快速经济制造提供了新的有效途径.     

半导体硅电极多通道放电机理研究

为了实现电火花加工同一时刻形成多个放电通道蚀除工件,克服现有放电加工理论中同一时刻仅有一个放电通道蚀除工件的限制,提出了采用半导体材料作为电极进行放电加工的新方法。首先,通过试验证明以半导体硅为电极加工金属可以形成多通道放电;其次,建立了半导体电极单通道放电等效电路模型,发现半导体电极在放电加工时不是一个等势体,并进行了电势差分布试验,验证了多通道放电形成的原因是远离放电点处的电势较高,可以同时形成击穿产生放电;最后,进行了半导体硅电极单脉冲放电试验及成型加工试验。试验结果显示,半导体硅电极通过1次脉冲放电同时形成多个放电通道,有效地分散放电能量,相较于金属电极,每个放电坑的直径和深度都显著减小。在相同放电参数下,对比钢电极,用硅电极进行电火花加工的表面粗糙度值下降71.7%。     

Development and application of new composite materials as EDM electrodes manufactured via selective laser sintering

The cost of a part manufactured by electrical dischargeEDM machining (EDM) is mainly determined by electrode cost. The production of electrodes by conventional machining processes is complex, time consuming, and can account for over 50 % of the total EDM process costs. The emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technologies provide the possibility of direct fabrication of EDM electrodes. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an alternative AM technique because it has the possibility to directly produce functional components, reducing the tool-room lead time and total EDM costs. The main difficulty of manufacturing an EDM electrode using SLS is the selection of an appropriate material, once both processes require different material properties. The current work focused on the investigation of appropriate materials that fulfill EDM and SLS process demands. Three new metal-matrix materials composed of Mo–CuNi, TiB₂–CuNi, and ZrB₂–CuNi were developed and characterized. Electrodes under adequate SLS conditions were manufactured through a systematic methodology. EDM experiments using different discharge energies were carried out, and the performance evaluated in terms of material removal rate and volumetric relative wear. The results showed that the powder systems composed of Mo–CuNi, TiB₂–CuNi, and ZrB₂–CuNi revealed to be successfully processed by SLS, and the EDM experiments demonstrated that the new composite electrodes are promising materials. The work also suggests important topics for future research work on this field.     

基于分层制造原理的微细电火花加工技术研究

结合快速原型制造中的分层制造概念及电火花加工中的电极等损耗概念，提出了利用简单形状电极的基于分层制造原理的微细电火花加工技术。系统地研究了该方法的基本原理与实现方案，就加工中的电极损耗及其补偿策略、电极运动轨迹的规划等关键技术进行了深入的研究，并用该方法制作出了具有４０管脚的集成电路芯片插座模具及三维曲面。试验表明：该方法具有加工范围广、加工精度高和加工成本低等特点，具有良好的应用潜力。     

Employing severe plastic deformation to the processing of electrical discharge machining electrodes

The tool electrode has a significant role in electrical discharge machining (EDM) performance, as it affects machining efficiency, surface quality and the geometrical accuracy of the machined component. This study presents a new approach for developing a pure copper electrode using severe plastic deformation (SPD) to enhance the machining characteristics during EDM. Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is selected because it is the most successful SPD method of processing bulk materials. Finite element analysis, microstructural assessment as well as nanoindentation tests are carried out to determine the behavior of pure copper after one and two ECAP passes. The effectiveness of EDM when using ECAP-treated electrodes is evaluated by introducing new techniques of measuring the volumetric overcut (VOC) and corner sharpness. In addition, tool wear rate (TWR), material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear ratio, surface roughness, surface crack density and the critical crack zone are studied. The results emphasize that an electrode subjected to one pass of ECAP can enhance the workpiece accuracy by decreasing the VOC and increasing corner sharpness by 13 and 66%, respectively. It is also revealed that the nanohardness enhancement following ECAP leads to lower TWR and electrode wear ratio. An investigation of the surface characteristics indicates a thinner recast layer is achieved when using one ECAP pass-treated electrode, which leads to 26% lower surface crack density.     

Effect of ultrasonic-assisted EDM on the surface integrity of cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co)

This paper studies the effects of tool electrode ultrasonic vibration on some surface integrity properties of cemented tungsten carbide (WC-10%Co) in the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. Surface integrity concerns surface alterations associated with a manufacturing process, including surface topography, surface metallurgy, and changes of the mechanical and physical properties of the material as well as residual stresses. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) capabilities, optical microscopy, micro-hardness testing and white light interferometric microscopywere employed to study the surface integrity. This paper studies the topography of the machined surface, the size and amount of cracks on the surface layer, hardness variation in the depth and the composition of the defective layer, when machining with and without ultrasonic vibration of the copper electrode under different machining conditions. SEM, micro-hardness testing results together with surface topography investigation showed ultrasonic-assisted EDM applicability in improving surface integrity.     

Influence of discharge energy on machining characteristics in EDM

The machining characteristics of electrical discharge machining (EDM) directly depend on the discharge energy which is transformed into thermal energy in the discharge zone. The generated heat leads to high temperature, resulting in local melting and evaporation of workpiece material. However, the high temperature also impacts various physical and chemical properties of the tool and workpiece. This is why extensive knowledge of development and transformation of electrical energy into heat is of key importance in EDM. Based on the previous investigations, analytical dependence was established between the discharge energy parameters and the heat source characteristics in this paper. In addition, the thermal properties of the discharged energy were experimentally investigated and their influence on material removal rate, gap distance, surface roughness and recast layer was established. The experiments were conducted using copper electrode while varying discharge current and pulse duration. Analysis and experimental research conducted in this paper allow efficient selection of relevant parameters of discharge energy for the selection of most favorable EDM machining conditions.