Development of Coating Wire Electrode for High Performance WEDM (1^st Report)

—Fundamental WEDM Characteristics of Coating Wire—

Abstract

In this study, we aim to develop a new coating wire electrode for a high-performance wire EDM instead of conventional wires. The effects of coating materials on the fundamental machining characteristics are investigated to obtain the optimum structure, using a high-tensile steel wire coated with brass and zinc whose diameter is 200μm. The experimental results showed that the removal rate increased with the thickness of the coated brass on the steel wire in WEDM with the brass and zinc coated steel wire. The SEM observation and the element analysis of wires after machining clearly showed that the coated brass layer was easily removed when the thickness was small, and a high tension could be loaded during machining when the thickness of the coated brass was sufficiently large to maintain a stable machining performance. Furthermore, the effect of zinc coating on the removal rate was marked when the thickness of the coated brass was relatively small.