Research on the Dynamic Compensation System of the Cathode Electrode Wear for a Short Electric Arc Machine Tool

Abstract

A methodology of on-line monitoring of the diameter of the cathode electrode is put forward in light of the issue that the diameter of the cathode electrode cannot be detected in an accurate manner in short electric arc machine tools. The monitoring methodology is capable of precisely determining the wear amount of the cathode electrode and uses the bus module in the numerical control machine tool to feed the wear amount of the cathode electrode back to the numerical control system (CNC system). The CNC system dynamically adjusts the position of the cathode electrode by driving the compensation shaft to ensure that the discharge gap between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode is within the control range and attain smooth machining. On this basis, a dynamic compensation system for cathode electrode wear for a short electric arc machine tool is developed, which has the potential to automate short electric arc machining and improving the machining performance of the machine tool. The feasibility of this methodology is verified by a machining experiment.