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Applications and Characteristics of CNC High-Speed Wire-Cut EDM

EDM wire cutting is also known as wire cutting. It belongs to the category of electrical processing, in 1960 in the former Soviet Union, Lazarus Lenko couple in the scientific study of the power switch point contact suffered spark discharge erosion destruction conditions and causes, found the spark discharge of the instantaneous high temperature can make part of the metal material melting, air oxidation and be eroded, and then open up and create the invention of the EDM wire cutting method.


Following this, the former Soviet Union invented the wire EDM using this technology, marking the first use of such machinery in industrial production in China. It was primarily used for precision machining in industrial production, capable of processing various high-strength, high-hardness, high-toughness, and high-melting-point conductive materials. Features include high processing precision, low cut surface roughness, and high safety. To date, CNC high-speed wire-cut EDM accounts for more than half of EDM.


CNC High-Speed Wire-Cut EDM: Precise and Efficient New Processing Options


A thin metal wire skims over the metal material, accompanied by sparks. In no time, the metal workpiece is cut. This is wire EDM——a processing method utilizing the principle of electrical erosion.


Rather than directly cutting the workpiece with the metal wire, wire EDM uses a moving metal wire as a tool electrode. When an electric current flows between the well-conductive metal wire and the metal workpiece, and the gap between them is sufficient to be broken down by the pulse voltage, spark discharge occurs, generating high temperatures that can dissolve and vaporize the processed material, thereby achieving material cutting. Hence, wire EDM is also called electrical discharge cutting.


Due to difficulties in controlling the cutting path, traditional wire EDM methods find it challenging or impossible to process complex-shaped workpieces. However, with the introduction of CNC technology, the machine only needs to locate the cut according to the pre-programmed control program, facilitating easy automated processing of various complex-shaped workpieces.


CNC wire EDM processing is fast, highly precise, and very suitable for small batch parts, single piece, and complex-shaped product processing.


Suitability of CNC High-speed Wire-Cut EDM


In some contact-based machining processes, such as CNC lathes and CNC milling machines mentioned earlier, the workpiece is prone to deflections due to cutting forces.


However, CNC high-speed wire-cut EDM cuts through sparks rather than drill bits or end mills, eliminating the need for direct contact with the workpiece. This ensures that processing does not suffer from deflections, resulting in high precision and making it more suitable for processing thin workpieces with complex designs and high precision requirements.


When processing thin workpieces with complex designs and high precision requirements,CNC high-speed wire-cut EDM demonstrates unique advantages. They cut through sparks instead of direct contact with the workpiece, ensuring that the processing generally does not suffer deflections, thereby guaranteeing precision. However, due to the limitations of EDM, it can only process conductive materials and cannot be used for non-conductive materials such as plastics and ceramics. Moreover, the processing speed at corners and curves is relatively slow, necessitating a balance between production speed and cost.

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