MACHINING EXOTIC MATERIALS WITH EDM

Techniques have been developed and are used at the Argonne National Laboratory for electrical discharge machining of reactive and refractory metals such as beryllium, molybdenum, niobium, thorium, titanium, and zirconium, each of which present staggering fabrication problems. These techniques, not considered proprietory and now in wide use industrially, combine the use of the traveling wire electrode, the tubular or trepannrng electrodes, and the formed electrodes with an aggressive application of EDM. The precise holes, slots,and configurations achieved are described.