Abstract

Background: Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) technique is an effective and reliable method for machining difficult-to-cut materials with complex shapes. Pulse power supply, a core component of the EDM machine tool, plays a major role in the processing efficiency and processing quality. Thus, more and more attention has been paid to the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies of EDM at present.

Objective: To meet the increasing requirement of processing efficiency and processing quality of EDM, the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies are enhanced constantly.

Methods: This paper sketches out various current representative patents relevant to the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies of EDM.

Results: Through comparing the characteristics of the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies of EDM, the main problems in the present development such as low processing efficiency and poor processing quality are summarized and analyzed. Utilization and conservation of electric energy is also a concern. In addition, the further development tendency towards the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies of EDM is discussed.

Conclusion: The optimization and development of the power types and control methods of pulse power supplies of EDM are beneficial to solve the problems of processing efficiency, processing quality and energy utilization in EDM. More interrelated patents on the pulse power supply of EDM will be invented later.

Keywords: Control methods, Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), power types, processing efficiency, processing quality, pulse power supply.