Wire Electric Discharge (WED) machining (also known as electric spark machining) is a precision cutting method, which is used for cutting metals and other conducting materials across industries. The invention proposes a miniaturized version of the WED machine that can fit on a table top and is capable of cutting small workpieces. The machine is 50% smaller in size than the commercial machines. It could also be made available at 50% of the cost of the present off-the-shelf products.
Additionally, this innovation contains a customizable WED machine that enables input parameters of the WED machine to be customized, like the voltage and current levels of the electrical pulse, frequency and ON time of the electrical pulse, wire diameter and material, dielectric fluid type, and speed and control system of workpiece feed.
Figure 1. Prototype of the customizable WED machine
Wire Electric Discharge (WED) machining (also known as electric spark-machining) is a non-conventional machining technique that involves cutting (machining) through heat generated by an electrical spark. WED machining is the workhorse of precision manufacturing. However, commercial machines are large in size, usually occupying a space of 10 ft × 10 ft × 10 ft. At the same time, they are very costly and mostly imported from outside India – the cost ranges from INR 20 lakhs to 2 crores. Therefore, many MSME-level industries depend on specialized wire Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) shops to get their jobs done. The commercial machines lack customizability. Therefore, they cannot be used by research / educational institutes, which require that wire EDM machines be tweaked easily.
- The mini-WED machine occupies 50% lesser space than current machines.
- It can be fabricated at a lower cost (selling cost can be reduced by approximately 50%) than currently available machines.
- It enables customization of input parameters to the machine, such as the voltage and current levels of the electrical pulse, frequency and ON time of the electrical pulse, wire diameter and material, dielectric fluid type, and speed and control system of workpiece feed.
- Since the machine is customizable, the machining accuracy, Material Removal Rate (MRR), surface roughness, and so on, can be tuned to a required value by changing the process parameters.
- As this machine is small in size and customizable, it can be used by MSME industries, engineering colleges, and research institutes for their research.
A prototype has been developed as shown in Fig. 1 above. A video with further information on the customizable miniature WEDM can be viewed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOt7Ra93Zg
A prototype of the machine has been developed.
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- This innovation is in line with the ‘make-in-India’ goal.
- MSME industries, who cannot afford large machines, can buy this WED machine on their own, thereby increasing manufacturing resources in precision centric sectors.
- The WED machine can also be useful for engineering institutes that cannot afford to purchase and maintain the large-size WED machines available in the market.
- Indian MSME sector (like watch manufacturers, die manufacturers) depends on specialized machining shops for cutting of complicated metallic parts with high precision, as commercial wire EDM machines are costly. This adds to the time and money involved in the manufacturing. Customizable miniature WED machine (CM-WEDM) can solve these issues and help to boost local MSME sector.
- This machine can be used by small engineering institutes, research institutes.
- Local manufacturing of small machine parts required for defense and medical sector can also be solved with this innovation.
- This portable machine can also be used by various R&D sectors for precision manufacturing of complicated shapes and parts for testing and characterization.
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