Multiple lead-electrical discharge machining

Multiple lead-electrical discharge machining (ML-EDM) was investigated to develop the capability and demonstrate the feasibility of applying state-of-the-art electrical discharge machining (EDM) to the manufacturing of mechanical hardware. Two parts selected for the machining tests were a titanium component container and a stainless steel valve mounting plate. Numerous combinations of ML-EDM and conventional EDM tests were conducted on each part, and the results were evaluated for comparison. In all test cases, the cutting time savings of ML-EDM surpassed the conventional EDM by as much as 42%, and when compared to numerical control (NC) milling, a 75% reduction was achieved. A dimensional analysis revealed that the ML-EDM and conventional EDM were similar, but when compared to the NC milled parts, the ML-EDM parts were superior. When the surface finish comparisons were evaluated, the ML-EDM part surfaces were considerably better at higher material removal rates than those of the conventional EDM process. The investigation also revealed an important fact concerning the number of parts to be machined in a single setup.