Identifying Direct Electrical Energy Demand in Wire-Cut EDM

Non-traditional machining processes are popular for generating complex features on the work piece. With advances in material engineering, new ways of cutting technologies has been emerged. However, EDM (Electric Discharge Machining) has gained recognition for producing extraordinary surface finished, intricate part geometries with accuracy and its ability to cut through difficult to machined materials. However, like every product cycle, manufacturing processes also require energy to convert raw materials into finished product. In manufacturing operations, energy input gives carbon footprints which have an effect on our environment. It is observed that reducing energy consumption is becoming the main concern of manufacturers because of enforcing environmental laws and due to the economics of the processing. It is argued that world's 70% of energy consumption is consumed by manufacturing sector. The aim of the work was to identify direct energy demands in wire cut EDM. The variability in energy demand was explored by operating wire cut EDM at no-load and loaded conditions.Stainless steel S304 was used as a work piece. Experiments were performed on three different wire-cut EDM.Molybdenum wire, brass wire andcopper wire were used as an electrode wire and distilled water was used as a working fluid. During the experiment, electrical current was measured and the variation of power requirement was evaluated. Power required by different features of EDM was compared with the existing energy models and factors were identified that consume most of the electrical energy. Further, a comparison is made between traditional and non-traditional machining processes. This contribution will help to assess energy efficiency of EDM technology and identify priority areas for improvements. This work is also significant for machine tool designers for optimum utilization of energy,reduced environmental impact and reduced production cost of their machine tool.