Development of an electromachining method for machining curved holes

Controlling the mold surface temperature is a critical factor in improving the quality of products produced in die casting and injection molding processes. An ideal way to control the mold temperature is to circulate coolant through curved channels machined in the mold along the shape of the product. In this work, a method of machining a curved hole by following a small hole made by the same tool has been developed with the aim of using this technique to form the coolant channels of molds. A study was made of the potential of this curved hole machining method and the results confirmed that a variety of curved hole shapes can be machined using simple equipment and that the hole curvature can be varied during the machining process. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.