Powder-mixed multi-channel discharge wire electrical discharge machining

Wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) is the most important approach to cutting difficult-to-machine materials and components with complex shapes in the manufacturing industry. However, the multiple demands for high material removal rate, high surface quality, and low energy consumption require contradictory working conditions and restrict the further improvement of the performance of WEDM. This paper introduced a novel powder-mixed multi-channel WEDM method using the multi-channel discharge effect to meet the conflicting requirements. The multi-channel discharge effect utilizes the equipotential characteristics of the semiconductor powder mixed in the dielectric to disperse discharge energy and therefore provides a feasible solution to resolve the above contradictions. New working principles and machining mechanisms were discovered and verified by the simulation and experimental results. Comparative experiments show that the new powder-mixed multi-channel discharge WEDM method significantly reduced surface roughness and thermal defects while maintained a similar material removal rate as conventional WEDM.