Transient dynamics simulation of the electrical discharge-generated bubble in sinking EDM

  • Yanzhen Zhang
  • Yonghong Liu
  • Renjie Ji
  • Cao Zheng
  • Yang Shen
  • Xiaolong Wang
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The evolution of bubble generated by electrical discharge in sinking electrical discharge machining (EDM) occurs in a very short time period and in a very narrow space, thus making both observation and theoretical analysis extremely difficult. For this reason, the role of the discharge-generated bubble during the material removal process in sinking EDM has not to be understood very clearly. In this paper, the evolution process of the discharge-generated bubble was simulated in three dimensions and the influence of inter-electrode distance was studied. It was found that the evolution of the discharge-generated bubble was significantly affected by the inter-electrode distance. Smaller inter-electrode distances can contribute to a larger pressure and expansion velocity of the bubble as well as a larger force applied on the tool electrode and workpiece. The experimental results showed that the geometry characteristics of the crater were also significantly affected by inter-electrode distance. A smaller inter-electrodes distance can contribute to a larger volume of both melted and removed materials. The simulation results were discussed by relating to the results of single-pulse discharge experiments; some insightful views about the material removal mechanism of EDM were presented in this paper.

Keywords

Electrical discharge machining Bubble Sinking Computer simulation 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag London 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yanzhen Zhang
    • 1
  • Yonghong Liu
    • 1
  • Renjie Ji
    • 1
  • Cao Zheng
    • 1
  • Yang Shen
    • 1
  • Xiaolong Wang
    • 1
  1. 1.College of Electromechanical EngineeringChina University of PetroleumQingdaoPeople’s Republic of China

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