Improved discharge current control performance in wire-cut electric discharge machines using switching power supplies

Summary form only given, as follows. Summary form only given. A wire-cut electric discharge machine (WEDM) is a kind of die manufacturing machine which is widely used in the machining industry. This paper presents improved characteristics of WEDMs based on switching power supplies with a bi-directional current pulse. Compared to the standard WEDMs, fed by the phase-controlled converters, the use of switching power supplies allows high precision and size reduction in WEDMs for high performance applications. The main advantage of the bi-directional current pulse is that worked dies are free from corrosion by electrolysis which causes a significant deterioration as well as severe accuracy problem in WEDMs. The operation principles, structures, and design considerations are described in the paper. Experimental results are also presented.