Automated Monitoring of Energy Pulses and Interelectrode Gap in Electrical Discharge Machining

Electrical discharge machining is processing a product made from an electrically conductive material using the method of material destruction under the influence of high-energy electric current pulses. Monitoring and diagnostics of the state of the interelectrode gap and the efficiency of working pulses are carried out by the CNC system by taking into account all emitted electric pulses. However, only a part of all pulses can be called working, i.e., that are aimed at destroying the workpiece material, while they are spent partially on destroying erosion products (debris). It is especially critical for machining materials with threshold conductivity, inclined surfaces up 10-15°, and more than 100 mm in height products. The study examines the possibility of monitoring the process of the interelectrode gap's state through vibration-acoustic diagnostics.