Rapid tooling of EDM electrodes by using stereolithography technique

viRAPID TOOLING OF EDM ELECTRODES BY USINGSTEREOLITHOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE(Ph. D. Thesis)Devrim ANILGAZI UNIVERSITYINSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYJune 2006ABSTRACTSince Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) electrodes had complexgeometries and several of them were required for machining, the required timeand cost of production of electrical discharge machining electrodes wereincreased. The purpose of this study was to produce electrical dischargemachining electrodes by using stereolitography (SL) rapid prototypingtechnique with minimum time, cost, high accuracy, and investigate themachining performance of these electrodes. In the experimental part of thestudy, the performance of solid copper electrodes and stereolitographyelectrodes were compared by considering parameters such as electrode wear,material removal rate, machining depth, workpiece surface roughness. Themain problem of the stereolitographic electrode was peeling of copperelectroplating due to heat build up in the electrode that was created duringelectrical discharge machining. Temperature measurements were taken fromthe electro erosion face of both solid copper and stereolitography electrodesindicated that the heat build up during machining speed up the failure ofstereolitography electrodes. Internal cooling channels formed withstereolitography technique were improved the performance of stereolitographyelectrodes by disspating heat with circulating cooling liquid inside. Cooling ofviistereolitography electrodes was found to be elongating the life of thestereolitography electrodes and Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)program were used for analyzing numerical aspects of cooling ofstereolitography electrodes.Science Code : 914.1.140Key Words : Electrical discharge machining, electrode, stereolitography,rapid prototyping, removal rate, electrode wear, electrodecooling, computaional fluid dynamics (CFD)Page Number : 178Adviser : Prof. Dr. Can ÇOĞUN