• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.22-26
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• 2008

The use of electrical discharge machining (EDM) for micro-machining applications requires particular attention to the machined surface roughness and discharge gap distance, as these factors affect the geometrical accuracy of micro-parts. Previous studies of conventional EDM have shown that selected types of semi-conductive and non-conductive powder suspended in the dielectric reduced the surface roughness while ensuring a limited increase in the gap distance. Based on this, an extension of the technique to micro-EDM was studied Such work is necessary since the introduction of nanopowders suspended in the dielectric is not well understood. The experimental results showed that a statistically significant reduction in the surface roughness value was achieved at particular concentrations of the powder additives, depending on the powder material and the machining input energy setting. The average reduction in surface roughness using a powder suspended dielectric was between 14-24% of the average surface roughness generated using a pure dielectric. Furthermore, when these additive concentrations were used for machining, no adverse increase in the gap distance was observed.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.312-318
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• 2012

With an increasing trend toward miniaturization, electrical discharge machining(EDM) has been receiving a lot of attention as a suitable production technology for micro-parts, since it enables the machining of hard conductive materials with a high degree of repeatability and without alteration to the material. When a micro-hole is fabricated by EDM, however, the diameter of the inlet hole is larger than that of the outlet region due to the additional discharge effect caused by the eroded particles. In this paper, a shot blasting surface treatment, in which an abrasive material is accelerated through a pressurized nozzle and directed at the surface of a part, is suggested as an effective method to reduce the tapered shape of EDM micro-hole. In addition, the influence of process parameters such as spark-on time and electrode diameter on the machining performance was investigated. It is shown quantitatively that the difference in diameter between the inlet and outlet holes decreases with the shot blasting treatment and with decreasing spark-on time.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.2256-2261
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• 2017

Carbon nanotube (CNT) and alumina ($Al_2O_3$) are synthesized into hybrid composites, and an advanced electrical discharge machining (EDM) system is developed for the machining of hard and conductive materials. CNT nanoparticles are mixed with $Al_2O_3$ powder and the $Al_2O_3$/CNT slurry is sintered by spark plasma. The hardness and the electrical conductivity of the $Al_2O_3$/CNT hybrid composite were investigated. The electrical discharge is controlled by a capacitive ballast circuit. The capacitive ballast circuit is applied to the tungsten carbide and the $Al_2O_3$/CNT hybrid composite. The voltage-current waveforms and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were measured to analyze the characteristics of the boring process. The developed EDM process can manufacture the ceramic based hybrid composites, thereby expecting the variety of applications.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 2014

Alloy tool steel such as SKD11 and SKD61 or high speed tool like SKH51 are used as materials for semiconductor dies. Cavities, curl blocks, pot blocks and housings are made from those materials. To make those parts from alloy tool steel or high speed tool, one utilizes discharge machining, and mechanical machining including machining center, milling, drilling, forming grinding and others. In the process of cutting machining and polishing, the die materials become unsuitable for machining owing to bubbles and foreign substances in them, which hinders production process. Therefore, this study focuses on die material selection criteria, and on analysis and comparison of material characteristics to help companies to solve their problems, make die manufacture less burdensome and extend die life.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2005

Some studies have shown that unstable factors are inherent in WEDM process, causing the instability of the discharging pulse to reach about 40∼60％ in normal machining. Transient stability is an important subject in WEDM process since there is a close relationship between stability and machining performance, such as the characteristics of a machined surface, machining speed and problem of instability like wire rupture phenomenon. Among the many machining parameters affecting WEDM machining state, three specific parameters (Vr, Ip, off time ) are major controllable variables that can be applied in transient stability control. And, this research investigates the implementation and analysis of real-time micro control of the discharging stability of WEDM (Wire Electric Discharge Machining) process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.556-562
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• 2012

Micro electrical discharge machining (${\mu}EDM$) has been used for non-conventional material removal. One drawback of ${\mu}EDM$ is low productivity. In this study, we tried to find the optimal machining conditions to manufacture the micro hole with an optimal machining time without loss of accuracy. Taguchi method was used to figure out the relation between machining parameters and characteristics of the process. It was found that the electrode wear, the entrance and exit clearance gave a significant effect on the diameter of the micro hole when the diameter of the electrode was identical. Grey relational analysis was used to determine the optimal machining condition for minimum machining time without loss of accuracy. The obtained optimal machining condition was the input voltage of 80V, the capacitance of 680pF, the resistance of $500{\Omega}$, the feed rate of $1.5{\mu}m$/s and the spindle speed of 2900rpm. The machining time was reduced to 48% without loss of accuracy under the optimal machining condition.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.220-226
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• 2012

The Electric discharge machining (EDM) process is used to minimize the difference between designed feature and machined feature while the most workpiece is removed through the cutting processes. The tiny-deep hole machining and perpendicular wall machining in mold and die are good applications of EDM. Among EDM equipment, the super drill uses the hollowed electrode to eliminate the debris which causes the second discharge with the electrode and degrades the machining quality. Through the hollow, the high pressured discharge oil is supplied to remove the debris together with the spindle rotation. The thin-hollow electrode tends to easily wear out compared to the sold die-sinking electrode and its wear rate is might not allowed to monitor in real time during discharging. Up to now, the wear amount is measured by off line method, which leads machining time to increase because the hole pass-through moment can be check by visual (manually) with the extra tool path. Therefore, this study suggests the attractive method to evaluate the hole pass-through moment in which the gap voltage and z-axis encoder pulse are monitored to predict the moment. The commercial super drill is used to validate the proposed method and the experiment is carried out.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.422-425
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• 2005

This study predicts the heat-affected zone (HAZ) after electrical discharge machining. To predict HAZ, the temperature distribution is calculated using FEM. Heat flux is calculated from electrical energy, and it can be assumed Gaussian distribution. Plasma channel expands as time goes. Copper and NAK80 are used as the workpiece material. The depth of HAZ in simulation is determined by temperature distribution. The simulation results were compared with a developed actual single discharge crater. Through investigating the cross section of simulated & actual craters, the depth of HAZ in simulation and experiment are compared. Simulation model can predict the crater shape.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 1999

The influences of TiB2 additions to the β-sialon on mechanical propeties and electrical discharge machinability were investigated. Samples were prepared by adding 15, 30 and 45 vol.% TiB2 particles as a second phase to a β-sialon matrix. The β-sialon-TiB2 composites were sintered by hot pressing in a nitrogen atmosphere at 1800℃ with pressure of 30 MPa. The fracture toughness of the composites was increased with TiB2 content except 45 vol.% TiB2 composite. The crack propagation and crack deflection were observed with a SEM for etched samples after vicker's indentation. The composites containing more than 30 vol.% TiB3 had resistivity lower than 10-3 Ω㎝. The electrical discharge machining (EDM) of composited was conducted with two kind of machines such as die-sinker and wire cutter. The machinability was evaluated with the cutting rate surface roughness after machining.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.875-878
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• 1997

Electrical discharge machining is the method of using thermal energy by electrical discharge. Generally, if the material of workpiece has conductivity even though it is very hard material and complicated shape which are difficult to cut such as quenching steel, cemented carbide, diamond and conductive ceramics, the EDM is favorable one of possible machining processes. But, the process is necessarily required of finish cut and heat treatment because of slow cutting speed, no mirror surface, brittleness and crack due to the residual stress for manufactured goods.