Abstract
This paper describes a 5-DOF controlled maglev actuator for electrical discharge machining. This actuator is compact enough to be attached to conventional electrical discharge machines. The actuator can not only improve machining speed and machining accuracy, but can also be used to realize micro-machining. The experimental results show that the maglev actuator has better than 1μm positioning resolution, a bandwidth greater than 120Hz in the 5-DOF directions, and a positioning stroke of 2mm in the thrust direction. Moreover, the maglev actuator was attached to an electrical discharge machine. Stable magnetic levitation of the spindle shaft during electrical discharge was verified. An electrical discharge machining experiment was executed and a hole of φ1.7mm was machined with the maglev actuator.
