What is EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) Machining?

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a nonconventional metal removal machining method that employs the use of an electrode to machine the desired shape into a workpiece under carefully controlled conditions. it can be used in calibration block manufacturing, which usually need many different types of hole or notche.

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a machining method primarily used for hard metals or those that would be impossible to machine with traditional techniques. One critical limitation, however, is that it only works with materials that are electrically conductive. This method is especially well-suited for cutting intricate contours or delicate cavities that would be difficult to produce with a grinder, an end mill or other cutting tools. Metals that can be machined with EDM include hastalloy, hardened tool-steel, titanium, carbide, inconel and kovar.

This method is sometimes called “spark-erosion machining” because it removes metal by producing a rapid series of repetitive electrical discharges. These discharges are passed between an electrode and the piece of metal being machined. The small amount of material that is removed from the workpiece is flushed away with a continuously flowing fluid. The repetitive discharges create a set of successively deeper craters in the work piece until the final shape is produced.

EDM has several advantages:

1. The ability to machine extremely narrow notches.
2. The ability to access hard-to-reach locations such as pipe/tube inside diameter without the need to section the workpiece.
3. The ability to hold very close dimensional tolerances.
4. The ability to machine harder materials and exotic alloys.
5. The ability to machine irregular shapes not otherwise possible.

NDT-KITS can supply different kinds of calibration blocks, included the international standard blocks and customized blocks, by using Electrical Discharge Machining technology, we can process 0.13 mm notch.