Electrical discharge machining experiences with a resonant power supply

A DC to DC LCC resonant converter is the chosen topology for the electrical discharge machining power supply, which has been designed to the purpose to develop small size EDM systems. To design an effective control to achieve stable and efficient process conditions in the machining, a series of manual EDM operations have been performed under different conditions to characterize the process and to collect significant data. The resulting EDM parameters such as metal removal rate, electrode wear and surface finish are analyzed. In this paper, this experimental study is presented and the basis of the design of the gap width control, to keep the gap distance between the electrode and the workpiece within the optimum stable range, is established with these results and general knowledge of the EDM process and its variables.