Effect of single spark micro-EDM on crater size of different alloys

Abstract

Owing to the fact of continuous discharges in RC circuit based μ-EDM process, it is indeed very difficult to analyse difficult-to-control single discharge pulse. This work is thus aimed to develop an innovative technique for generating single discharge in the process. An electrical circuit, parallel to the existing discharge circuit of μ-EDM, has been integrated in-house for the purpose and verified for its applicability over a wide range of metal alloys. For example, single crater diameters of approximately 7μm, 10μm and 18μm have been achieved for stainless steel, Inconel and brass respectively at minimum energy input. The single discharge generatorhas been developed expecting it would be helpful in gathering information such as volume removal by each discharge which will definitely lead to development of a robust thermal model for material removal in μ-EDM.