Removal analysis of WEDM’s tapering process and its application to generation of precise conjugate surface

Tapering process of WEDM, which can generate curved surfaces on workpiece, is a very unique ability of this machining process. This report is dedicated to the removal analysis of tapering WEDM and to the improvement of contouring accuracy in application to conjugate surfaces. An inclined discharge angle (IDA) analysis was proposed to study the removal mechanism with a novel point of view. Based upon the analysis, a theoretical removal model was proposed. Furthermore, it might be reasonable that the machining load and contouring error could be inferred from the removal burden. Therefore, an improvement strategy including control of discharged power and wire tension was proposed to adapt to the variation of machining load. Effects of the proposed method were verified through experiments. It is evident that the tapering accuracy was improved significantly, and it is feasible to the generation of precise conjugate surface. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]