Abstract
Recently used wire EDM machines generate a triangular high peak discharge current of 500 ampere or more. It is very difficult to detect the true discharge voltage, because the discharge voltage is transformed by the influence of the high discharge current and impedance of the wire. In this study, we investigate the variation of discharge location and the discharge voltage immediately before the wire breakage in the case of high discharge current on wire EDM, in orderto predict the wire breakage. Three methods that compensate the detected discharge voltage are proposed and the investigated results using these methods are described It was found that in the case of low discharge current, phenomena immediately before the wire breakage such as local concentration of discharges and increase of short circuits in the gap, are clearly observed, but it is difficult to observe them in the case of high discharge current.
