Study of specific discharge energy in WEDM and its application

The relationship between machining parameters and machining characteristics of different materials in WEDM is difficult to obtain because a large number of experiments must be conducted repeatedly. A new concept attempting to solve this problem is presented in this paper. The specific discharge energy (SDE) defining as the real energy required to remove a unit volume of material is proposed. The SDE is constant for a specific material. Experimental results reveal that the relative relationship of SIDE between different materials is invariant as long as all materials are machined under the same machining conditions. It is also found that the materials having close value of SDE demonstrate very similar machining characteristics such as machining speed, discharge frequency, groove width and surface finish of the machined surface under the same machining conditions. This result can be applied for the determination of the settings of machining parameters of different materials. Furthermore, by dimensional analysis of SDE, a quantitative relationship between machining characteristics such as the material removal rate and the efficiency of material removal and machining parameters is derived. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.