Modal convection and its effect on the stability of EDM wires (Q1597815)

It has been shown that electro discharge machining wire undergo thermal buckling at low axial transport speeds and a series of transport instabilities at high axial transport speeds. Hence, only intermediate speeds ensure the straight wire configuration, which is needed for high-accuracy cutting. The present study re-examines the issue of wire stability given this new insight into the modal characteristics of the convection process. It is shown that even mild vibrations produce enough additional heat transfer to prevent thermal buckling at low transport speeds. This increases the acceptable range of transport speeds for cutting.