Design and Fabrication of Vibrating Electrode for Vibration-Assisted EDM

This paper describes the process where a vibrating electrode is designed and fabricated for vibration-assisted Electrical Discharge Machining process. The vibration electrode is a product of a piezoelectric actuator, a flexure hinge, a pulse generating system (PGS) and a copper electrode. The piezoelectric actuator can generate vibration with controlled amplitudes and frequencies up to 500 Hz. The flexure hinge is designed with appropriate stiffness to help transferring vibration to the copper electrode. The vibration will help improving the flushing of the debris in the machining area and improving the machining process. The flexure hinge is modeled and analyzed for structure optimization. The investigation experiment of the vibrating electrode were conducted and the experimental results are also analyzed and presented in this paper.