Analysis of discharge gap using controlled RC based circuit in µEDM Process

Abstract

Owing to the dependency of real-time inter-electrode gap (discharge gap) on instantaneous discharge voltage in a resistance–capacitance (RC) circuit-based µEDM, analyzing machining responses with respect to the discharge gap could be a crucial task. This work aims to extract the information on the material removal rate (MRR) and overcut at various discharge gaps, set in terms of open-circuit voltage (Vo) in a controlled RC-based µEDM setup. The results have been obtained for MRR and overcut and found to be in good agreement with logical reasoning. The results have been further supported by a thorough discussion in the context of the discharge gap and corresponding discharge energy. A DAQ system has been used to capture the real-time discharge voltage data and corresponding amperage at a high sampling rate to estimate the discharge energy.