Observation of melt pool dynamics and material removal in EDM with graphite tool electrode

抄録

In EDM, graphite is becoming a popular choice for tool electrode material due to its advantages in many aspects. However, the gap phenomena with graphite tool electrode are still rarely investigated. In this study, a high-speed camera was used to observe the gap phenomena in single pulse discharge experiments with graphite tool electrode. By virtue of a laser and flash lamp illuminations, the melt pool dynamics and material removal can be observed directly. The influence of polarity was investigated and the gap phenomena were compared with that with copper tool electrode.