5967.2:
Miniature-electrode-feeder for ultra high precision micro-electro discharge machining (MEFee)
Abstract
The recent developments on small size ultra high precision electro-discharge machines (EDM) have demonstrated the commercial potential of these micro-structuring techniques in the nanotechnologies.
During the sinking-EDM process, an important wear is observed on the electrode. Depending on the materials the wear of the electrode can be as high as 200% of the micro-machined part. An electrode-feeder is thus necessary to compensate the wear.
The existing electrode-feeders are not adapted to the micro-EDM machines. In this project we will propose totally new designs, simple and compact, for the electrode-feeder. Several solutions will be proposed and compared. At the end of the project a miniature electrode-feeder will be available for evaluation by AGIE.
This project is directly complementary to the TopNano project 4594.1 (Nanofactory: Ultra high precision electrodischarge machine (EDM) of small size. The electrode-feeder is a key element for in depth analyze of the micro-EDM process, which is the research topic of at a PhD student at EPFL, funded by AGIE