Analysis and Gap Monitoring for Improving Micro Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) Performance

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This grant provides funding for the development of experimental data, and qualitative and quantitative modeling of the emerging technology of micro Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process for enhancing its application potential in electronics, automotive, medical and aircraft and aerospace industries. The developed data and models will provide basic information for selecting appropriate values of parameters such as current, voltage, capacitance, work and tool materials, feed and dialectic medium for obtaining optimal performance in material removal rates, surface integrity, and tool wear rates in actual industrial settings. The research will be performed on a state-of-the art Micro-EDM available at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The modeling effort involves integration heat transfer due the electric discharge and dielectric fluid (with its temperature and viscosity variation) flow at the gap using a technique called Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).If successful, the results of this research will lead to a better understanding of the selection pf parameters for optimal productivity and performance of micro EDM process for many industrial applications. The modeling effort will also lead to an enhanced knowledge of the physical processes occurring at the inter electrode gap and their influence on the process performance. This, in turn, will also provide impetus to apply developed techniques and tools to other similar micro machining process such as micro Electrochemical Machining (ECM) and Micro Ultrasonic Machining (USM). The hardware and software developed during this project will be implemented in undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and will also be posted on the web for easy access by all interested professionals.