The concept
also had possible advantages for drilling straight holes due to an improvement in the method of clamping and the
possibility of being able to correct the angle of the electrode
in the fixture. Shorter electrode protrusion from the
electrode clamp was also seen as an advantage, in that less
vibration at the tip of the electrode would be possible. This
would reduce the hole diameter variation. The design also
meant that machining would be more lateral than before and
that the shortest gap from the electrode to the workpiece
would be lateral. This was expected to overcome the neck
effect shown in Fig. 1. It was expected that cycle time would
not be affected too much, especially when compared to the
other solutions, as there was less likelihood of an increase in
the number of short-circuits. One of the goals was that this
solution could be implemented relatively easily to existing
EDM equipment. This goal was achieved in this case.