Insight on Relation between Discharge Delay Time and Machining Parameters in Wire EDM

Abstract

Discharge delay time in EDM is an important indicator used to distinguish the type of discharge or to judge the discharge situation. In recent years, some works have been finished by different researchers for exploring the relation between discharge delay time and various machining parameters. Whereas most of these works are focused on the field of Sinking EDM, in terms of Wire EDM, the relative research is still far from enough. In this work the change regularity of discharge delay time depending on different machining conditions, such as surface roughness, gap width and flushing pressure, was further discussed. Through a number of corresponding experiments of single discharge in Wire EDM, for the change of each kind of parameter, both the average value of discharge delay time and Laue plot were obtained for doing the comparison. It was found that, with increase of gap width or flushing pressure, the discharge delay time increases. In addition, smoother surface also makes the discharge delay time larger. Through relative analysis, the result can help better understand the discharge conditions and at the same time it can be useful for improving the configuration of machining parameters in future works.