Of all the various eroding procedures possible, here at WIAG Antriebstechnik we have picked the method of wire eroding or wire EDM for our products. This process allows the manufacturing of precision contours boasting a dimensional accuracy of 0.002 mm and it also enables high-precision keyways in bores of hardened parts to be produced. Furthermore, complex internal and external toothed systems can be manufactured with this method.
Possible component dimension is 600 x 400 x 250 mm. Eroding can be performed with wire thicknesses from 0.05 to 0.3 mm. We use brass wire with which, in principle, all electroconductive materials can be cut.
Wire eroding is an electrothermic separation process. This method makes use of the material-removing effect of electrical discharges between two electrodes (workpiece and wire), discharges which come closer together in an insulated medium (dielectric) until a flashover occurs. The actual material removal is generated by means of a combination of electrical and plasma physical occurrences. Electrical energy created by a flashover and its resulting heat production brings about a melting and removing of the material in the electrodes. In contrast to the metal-cutting manufacturing processes (turning, milling, grinding etc.), no mechanical material removal is involved. The actual profile of the workpiece is generated by a targeted and numerically controlled movement of the "wire" tool within the raw material of the workpiece itself.