Modelling and analysis of the wire-tool vibration in wire-cut EDM

Although wire-cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM) has revolutionised the present day metal cutting, die making and press tool manufacturing industries, further improvements are still required to meet the increasing demand of product precision and accuracy in those sectors of manufacturing. The machining performance in this regard is greatly influenced by the wire-tool vibration occurring during machining. This paper briefs an account of the vibrational behaviour of the wire and presents an analytical approach for the solution of the wire-tool vibration equation considering multiple spark discharges to investigate into the characteristic effects of wire vibration in WEDM. It includes the output of the model depicting the influence of the pulse discharge frequencies under various wire tensions on the maximum amplitude of wire vibration. Also, the trend of variation of the maximum amplitude of the wire vibration with the ratio of 'the height of a job' to 'the span of the wire between the guides' has been studied and reported in the paper. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.