Machine tool - EDM, Electrical Discharge, Machining

machine tool

Table of Contents

Introduction
History
Machine-tool characteristics
Cutting tools
- Tool materials
  - Carbon steel
  - High-speed steel
  - Cast alloys
  - Cemented tungsten carbide
  - Oxides
  - Diamonds
- Cutting fluids
Basic machine tools
- Turning machines
- Shapers and planers
- Drilling machines
- Milling machines
- Grinding machines
- Power saws
- Presses
Modifications of basic machines
- Turret lathes
- Multiple-station machines
- Gang drills
- Production millers
Special-purpose machines
- Gear-cutting machines
- Broaching machines
- Lapping and honing machines
- Boring machines
Automatic control
- Tracer techniques
- Numerical control (NC)
Computer-aided machining
- Computer numerical control (CNC)
  - Adaptive control
  - Machining centres
  - Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
- Robots
- Flexible manufacturing system (FMS)
- Computer-integrated manufacturing
Nonconventional methods of machining
- Electrical methods of machining
  - Electron-beam machining (EBM)
  - Electrical-discharge machining (EDM)
  - Electrochemical machining (ECM)
  - Ion beam machining (IBM)
  - Laser machining (LM)
  - Plasma arc machining (PAM)
- Other methods of machining
  - Ultrasonic machining (USM)
  - Chemical machining (CHM)
  - Photochemical machining (PCM)
  - Water-jet machining

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Learn from a saw filer what working in a saw mill is like

For Students

machine tool summary

Discover

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

EDM involves the direction of high-frequency electrical spark discharges from a graphite or soft metal tool, which serves as an electrode, to disintegrate electrically conductive materials such as hardened steel or carbide. The electrode and workpiece are immersed in a dielectric liquid, and a feed mechanism maintains a spark gap of from 0.0005 to 0.020 inch (0.013 to 0.5 millimetre) between the electrode and the workpiece. As spark discharges melt or vaporize small particles of the workpiece, the particles are flushed away, and the electrode advances. The process is accurate, but slow, and is used for machining dies, molds, holes, ...(100 of 6816 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.