Study of discharge effects by lateral electrodes in EDM

Abstract

Lateral electrodes creating the side machining in electrical discharge machining (EDM) produce the plow grooves and the curved surfaces on the side wall of the blind hole, enhancing the value of the electrode in the machining process. However, lateral electrodes developed by strip spring or triangle copper block are not very stable in the lateral discharge machining. This study develops a new lateral feed electrode included gear and rack transmitted elements to obtain a good discharge effect in lateral EDM. In the process, two rotated gears have been utilized to deliver two horizontal racks, then these racks push copper plates to have horizontal deformation, grooves and curve surface would be machined during this stage. Moreover, copper plates would go back to the original position due to the recover forces of the springs after EDM. In the result, new lateral electrode performs good efficiency in the side discharge machining because of stable feeding mechanism of this electrode.