The uEDM process benefits extraordinarily from vibration superposition.
Where conventional uEDM processes come to their limits and lose their reproducibility, the process is now stabilised in terms of shape accuracy and machining time.
This is already achievable using indirect vibration, induced via the dielectric.
By minimising the angle between the tool feed and wave front direction, further improvements are possible. However, new setups have to be designed to reduce the free tool length to a minimum in order to achieve stability and immunity to external forces, especially when using small tool diameters of less than 100 um.
Membrane-shaped piezoceramic actuators using bending mode appear to deliver beneficial properties.
With direct application of vibrations, higher aspect ratio structures can be machined and the process speed is improved. Here, the vibration frequency is the crucial point.
Low-frequency vibration mostly reduces the deviation of the process, both in terms of machining time and shape accuracy.
A rise in machining speed in the range of approximately 10% compared to an optimised conventional process is seen.