Test and Analysis of Short Electric Arc Trepanning Machining of Difficult-to-cut Material

Short electric arc machining is a new type of special processing technology, and the method has many advantages such as no cutting force, high processing efficiency and little influence on thermal deformation, etc. In this paper, the features of several typical difficult-to-cut materials were introduced. And the principle and mechanism of short electric arc machining were analyzed. According to the trepanning machining characteristic, the system of the short electric arc in trepanning machining and the electrode tip were designed. By analyzing and comparing the experimental data, the relationship between the discharge area and peak current size was identified, the relationship between covering effect on the depth of material and electrode loss was identified, the relationship between different workpiece materials and processing speed was identified. The results of analysis and test show that the method of short electric arc trepanning processing has the feature of no cutting force, tool electrode is easy to manufacture, machining efficiency and is easy to control etc., it is an exploration of new methods to the difficult-to-cut material trepanning machining.