• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.76-82
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• 2018

3D formed Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) and hole EDM were conducted for die and mold manufacturing with electrodes which were made by mechanical machining and wire EDM. It is difficult to machine the hardened material after heat treatment and quenching with traditional machining. The only method of machining hardened material is die-sinking EDM. In this research, hole EDM was conducted for heat-treated cold-worked tool steel (SKD11) for use as a die material. The EDM surfaces were analyzed by pulse-on time and peak current of EDM current, according to the machining conditions of EDM. The EDM surface profiles were affected by the peak current. The contribution of each factor is peak current (91.63%) and pulse-on time (0.93%). The best surface roughness was obtained with a $130{\mu}s$ pulse-on time and a 14.2 A peak current. With uniform EDM processing, the surface deteriorated with increasing pulse-on time and peak current. The thickness of the solidified layer induced by EDM was increased as the peak current, crater shapes, and erupted shapes of EDM surfaces were increased. Therefore, microcracking gaps induced by surface tension were increased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1053-1058
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• 2007

Micro-EDM technology (or the manufacture of miniature parts is used to make a micro hole. Two electrode shaping methods, mechanical electrode grinding and WEDG technique, have been studied. In this study, an electrode shaping method by using previously machined hole is introduced in order to obtain an optimal hole-making condition. Key factors such as applied voltage, capacitance, feedrate, and hole-dimension have an influence on the fabricating error of electrode shaping, which are taper ratio of a hole, electrode form accuracy, and electrode surface. Therefore, we try to investigate the optimal fabricating of electrode shaping from various experiments. Results from experiments, it was able to minimize the electrode fabricating error as voltage increases, and also applied feedrate and capacitance decreases.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.52-59
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• 2005

When a micro hole is machined by EDM with a cylindrical electrode, the hole diameter is different at the inlet and the outlet of the micro hole. The taper shape of the micro hole is caused by not only wear of the electrode but the eroded particles. The eroded particles cause secondary discharge during machining the micro hole. As a result, the diameter of the inlet becomes larger than that of the outlet. In this paper, a new method is proposed to reduce the difference in diameter between the inlet and the outlet of the hole. Observed was that the feed depth and machining time affect the formation of taper shape On this experimental basis, ultrasonic vibration was applied to reduce machining time, and capacitance was changed during machining to use the difference in discharging energy of different capacitances. Using the proposed method, a straight micro-hole was fabricated.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2013

Electric discharging machining (EDM) is commonly adopted to machine the precise and tiny part when it is difficult to meet the productivity and the tolerance by the conventional cutting method. The die-sinking EDM method works well to machine the micro-parts and the perpendicular wall of die and mould, whereas EDM drilling, called super drill, is excellent to machine the deep and narrow hole regardless the material hardness and the hole location. However, the electrode wear is rapid compared to the conventional cutting tool and makes it difficult to control the electrode feeding and to machine precisely. This paper presents an efficient method to estimate the electrode wear using hole pass-through experiment while the stochastic method is used to compensate for the estimation model. To validate the proposed method, the commercial EDM drill machine is used. The experiment result shows that the electrode wear amount can be predicted very precisely.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.109-117
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• 2003

With development of high advanced technologies and skills, micro machining techniques also are being more functional and smaller. Some of the recently developed micro machining technologies are micro drilling, micro EDM, WEDG, LBM, micro milling, micro UVM etc. In these micro machining techniques, Micro -EDM is generally used for machining micro holes, pockets, and micro structures in difficult-cut-materials. For machining micro structures, first of all, tool electrode should be fabricated by WEDG process. In micro-EDM, parameters such as peak current, pulse width, duration time are very important to fabricate the tool electrode and micro structures. Developed experimental equipments are composed of RLC circuit with PWM. In this paper, using developed micro EDM machine, the characteristics of micro electro discharge machining are investigated at micro holes, slot, and pocket machining etc. Also the trends of tool wear are investigated in case of hole and slot machining.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.5-11
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• 2005

Among the micro machining techniques, micro EDM is generally used for machining micro holes, pockets, and micro structures on difficult-cut-materials. Micro EDM parameters such as applied voltage, capacitance, peak current, pulse width, duration time are very important to fabricate the tool electrode and produce the micro structures. Developed micro EDM machine is composed of a 3-axis driving system and RC circuit equipped with pulse generator. In this paper, using micro EDM machine, the characteristics of micro EDM process are investigated and it is applied to micro holes, slots, and pockets machining. Through experiments, relations between machined surface and voltages and between MRR and feedrate are investigated. Also the trends of tool wear are investigated in case of hole and slot machining.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.421-425
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• 2016

Micro-EDM is one of the recent fine-machining technologies. Micro-EDM is widely used in precision processes because products manufactured via EDM are free from workpiece hardness. However, the debris produced during the process cause many problems such as reduced precision of the process. The first solution of this problem involves using the milling hole process. Micro-EDM hole process involves an electrode moving rapidly in the vertical direction via a servo system to disperse debris. However, this process can cause reduced work efficiency owing to contact between the electrode and workpiece. In this study, ultrasonic vibration is added to micro-EDM channel machining. Ultrasonic vibration removes the debris during machining and enables precision machining. Consequently, a clean work environment for the subsequent processes is maintained.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.54-61
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• 2003

The first stage rotating blade of industrial gas turbine is one of the components that is normally run in exposed state at the highest temperature of the combustion gas stream. For this reason superior materials and advanced cooling technology are required to allow higher heat resisting characteristics of the component. The 1st stage blade of a selected commercial gas turbine blade made of directionally solidified Ni-based superalloy has a row of cooling holes on its trailing edge. In most cases, minor cracks have been found at some of the root cooling holes after one cycle operation (24,000 hrs) or even shorter operation time because of the high temperature gradient and the frequently alternating thermal stress. In the repair process, unfortunately, it is usually very difficult to get rid of the damage due to the fact that cracks are initiated at the root cooling hole and propagated deep into the hole. In this study, the feasibility of removing the sidewall cracks in the hole by utilizing EDM drilling has been investigated. Also the criteria of surface integrity for EDM drilling were established to achieve high quality repair as well as machining accuracy.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.3-10
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• 2008

Micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) is an effective method for machining all types of conductive materials regardless of hardness. Since micro-EDM is an electro-thermal process, the energy supplied by the pulse generator is an important factor in determining the effectiveness of the process. In this study, an investigation was conducted on the micro-EDM of tungsten carbide (WC) to compare the performance of transistor and resistance/capacitance (RC) pulse generators in obtaining the best quality micro-hole. The performance was measured by the machining time, material removal rate, relative tool wear ratio, surface quality, and dimensional accuracy. The RC generator was more suited for minimizing the pulse energy, which is a requirement for fabricating micro-parts. The smaller-sized debris formed by the low-discharge energy of RC micro-EDM could be easily flushed away from the machined zone, resulting in a surface free of burrs and resolidified molten metal. The RC generator also required much less time to obtain the same quality micro-hole in WC. Therefore, RC generators are better suited for fabricating micro-structures, producing good surface quality and better dimensional accuracy than the transistor generators, despite their higher relative tool wear ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.953-956
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• 1997

Micro drilling characteristics by EDM method was investigated. In detail, Micro tool electrode for EDM drilling was machined by use of WEDG method and micro hole was drilled using the machined tool electrode in SUS plate. The machining accuracy and time was compared in a different dielectric fluid. As a result, it was convinced that this method could be utilized as a fabrication technology of micro mold or micro 3 dimensional parts.