A study of ultrasonic-aided wire electrical discharge machining

Abstract An investigation has been made into the combined technology of ultrasonic and wire electrical discharge machining (W-EDM), in which the design of the vibrating device is described. The theory to describe the vibration modes of the wire under the action of ultrasonic has been established. Experimental results show that wire vibration induced by ultrasonic action has a significant effect on the overall performance of the W-EDM process. It was found that there exists an optimum relationship between the vibration amplitude of the wire and the discharge energy, by which the highest cutting rate and the best machined surface quality can be obtained. In addition, ultrasonic vibration reduced the residual tensile stress of the machined surface.