Influence of tool electrode material with low melting point on the material removal process of EDM

摘要

It is known that wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) becomes more efficiently using wire electrode coated with zinc. It is widely believed that during the cutting process, the zinc actually vaporizes, which helps cool the wire. Furthermore, during the discharge process, when the zinc is vaporized, there will generate lots of vapor and gas. Those vapor and gas will expand and fly around, then crash the surface of melting area in the opposite electrode and exert a kind of force on the surface of the melting area. Therefore, in order to reveal the action mechanism of low melting point material in the material removal process during the discharge process and study its influence on the material removal process, a series of single discharge experiments were implemented, in which copper and zinc were used as tool electrode and gauge blocks were used as workpiece. Then, molecular dynamics simulation (MD) was carried out to reveal the above action mechanism.