INTRODUCTION

EDM die sinking machine consists of an electrode and workpiece that are submerged in
an insulating liquid such oil or, less frequently, other dielectric fluids. The electrode and
workpiece are connected to a suitable power supply.
As the electrode approaches the workpiece, dielectric breakdown occurs in the fluid
forming a plasma channel and a small spark jumps. These sparks usually strike one at a time
because it is very unlikely that different locations in the inter-electrode space have the very
identical local electrical characteristics which would enable a spark to occur simultaneously in
all such locations.
The EDM die sinking process is most widely used by the mold-making tool and die
industries, but is becoming a common method of making prototype and production parts,
especially in the aerospace, automobile and electronics industries in which production quantities
are relatively low.

OBJECTIVES

There are several objectives that have to be meet in order for this experiment to be a success,
among the objectives were:

Have a better understanding on the EDM die-sinking machining and its requirements
Perform a successful EDM die-sinking machining
Design and manufacture the die for the EDM machining
Have a better understanding in manufacturing stimulation using Mastercam software
Perform the milling process to create the die

SCOPE

The scope of the experiment mainly revolves around the successfully performing an EDM
die-sinking machining process. For this experiment, the final product would be the work piece
after the process have been done. For it to be a success, the final product must not have any
obvious defects and any machining/technical error.
The final product must also be within the allowable dimension that have been set during the
design stage. This prove to be a challenge given the limited tools present. The experiment does
not take into account the degree of surface finish on the work piece. Also the process will only
remove the material in a single axis (y-axis), therefore the final product will have the exact
mirror image of the die.
An assumption that were made during the experiments were all the material were removed
from the work piece via melting due to electrical spark.

SAFETY PRECAUTION

Several safety precautions that were made during the EDM die-sinking process were:
-

Make sure that the die does not touch the work piece during the process
Making sure that the fire extinguisher was near by
Wearing the lab coat during the process
Ensure there is no leakage and the hose are properly connected
Making sure that the process runs at an appropriate voltage
Ensure that there is no visible debris in the sink

Method and Standard Operation Procedure

Firstly, in order to do EDM die sinking, we have to need a design. After discussing for
which design we are going to use, we start draw it in MasterCAM V3 and simulate the design.
Next, we will go to the milling machine to make the copper into our mold.

Figure 1: CNC Milling Phase

Next, we will go to the EDM Die Sinking Machine. The steps are:
1. The main switch is open
2. Die sinking EDM controller switches open and the safety button is released the use of
machines
3. Home panels, manual (F2) is pressed
4. coordinates X, Y and Z coordinates are adjusted to adjust the position of the electrodes
5. cycle start switch is pressed to heat the engine system

Step work PROGRAMMING

1. Oil pump is opened to drain the liquid (oil) which aims to reduce sparks during cutting.
2. G54 Work coordinate;
3. Absolute coordinate G90;

4. Position Z 50.0;
5. Position X 50.0, Y 50.0;
6. Position Z 0.5
7. Line 3-axis Z I1 B1 -0.5;
8. NG position Z 50.0;
9. Oil pump off
Step work EDIT

1. F1 Edit, input
2. F8 file, input
3. F1 load, input
4. Yes, input
5. Enter the name of data file, input
6. Enter, input
7. F10 exit, input
8. F2 Dialogue, input
9. Key in program, input
10. Exit, input

Step work for EDGING (auto)

1. Manual, input
2. Exit center, F6 input, input
3. Column X, Y, Z, input. Using a ruler, the distance between the axes at work things are
included. Electrodes are moved automatically to adjust the center position of work objects
4. Ix, the input
5. Ly, the input
6. LZ, input
7. Cycle start
Analysis/Final Product

For milling part, we have successfully doing it and the result of the copper workpiece is shown
below.

Figure 2: Copper Workpiece

Next, for the main part, EDM die sinking is shown below

Figure 3: Final Product of EDM Die-Sinking

As we can see, the final product is on the left side. The material that we used is mild steel
and as we can see in the picture, we have set the roughness of the product to a certain degree. For
the mold, after we used it for the die-sinking, the surface shows a blackened side because when
the copper is in contact with the workpiece during die-sinking.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

As a conclusion, we were able to perform the EDM die-sinking machining process with the
aids of the reliable technicians of the lab. The final product from the EDM process is the exact
mirror of the die made, but with different surface finish. We were also able to better understand
all the requirement and process in EDM die-sinking process
As a recommendation, the next EDM die-sinking process should include more than a single
axis material removal. Also to have an experiment to determine which setting is best for a better
surface finish or faster material removal rate.