Design and experimental study of a power supply for micro-wire EDM

This paper presents the development and application of a new power supply in micro-wire EDM. A transistor-controlled power supply composed of a low-energy discharge circuit and an iso-frequency pulse control circuit was designed to provide the functions of high frequency and lower energy pulse control. Pulse states are classified as open circuit, normal spark, arc discharge and short circuit by means of the level of gap voltage and associated discharge current. A power supply test revealed that a high current-limiting resistance results in a decrease of discharge current. Peak current decreases with an increase of pulse-control frequency. Experimental results not only demonstrate that the iso-frequency pulse generator can provide low-energy pulses with a frequency of 185 kHz and a discharge current of 0.7 A, they also verify the applicability of the developed power supply in micro-wire EDM.