Micro-electrical discharge machining is a non-contact manufacturing process without macroscopic force. Microelectrode fabrication is the fundamental and influence factor of micro electric discharge machining. As for the efficiency of microelectrode fabrication, this paper proposed a fast online microelectrode fabrication method by an efficient horizontal micro electric discharge machine, in which an online diamond wheel ultra-precision grinding method and an online wire electrical discharge grinding method is combined to fabricate microelectrode. Machine designed in this paper consist of a CCD online dimension examination system, precision motion and feeding system, nanosecond-pulse independent discharged power supply and gap state-detection system. experimental study on microelectrode, micro nozzle fabrication and microstructure milling by the machine conducted. Microelectrode with 15 micrometers in diameter and micro hole with 50 micrometers in diameter are done in experiment. Results show that the composite method improves the efficiency of micro electrical discharge machining.
A fatigue study of electrical discharge machine (EDM) strain-gage balance materials