STUDIES AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ABOUT THE PROCESSING OF SLOTS BY MEANS OF ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING

This paper presents studies and experimental research concerning the processing of slots, which are frequently used in industry, such as metal carbide draw plates for thin sheets, components for the electronic and electro-technic industries etc. These slots can be made in very good conditions by means of the electric discharge machining processing technology. The realization of slots by electrical discharge machining depends a lot on the materials of which the electrodes are made by means of chipping, of which the most used are electrolytic copper and graphite, due to their high resistance to the electrical discharges. For the study of the phenomena that occur during the chipping of electrodes thinner than 1mm, the process was simulated by means of finite elements method. The results and conclusions of the simulation are used for the effective processing of the electrodes on classical or/and CNC machines, by means of dedicated modular devices, designed and executed by the authors of this paper.