zircaloy

HI GUYS,
i have to cut zircaloy in a die sinking machine, could you help me? i need information about material of the electrodes, any further information will be thanked.
thanks in advance.

nobody can help me?!?! please it´s quite urgent, thanks again

A little info on what you want to do may be helpful...detail being burned...what kind of machine...anything...

What kind of details are you burning??

You want information about material of the electrodes?!?! What kind of info?

Any electrode info can be obtained from your graphite distributor.

hi chino,
it´s an ONA EDM machine, the material are some zircaloy 4 tubes, of 12mm of diameter.
i would like to know which would be the best material for the electrodes, cupper or graphite.
Do you have any experience with that kind of materials?
best regards.

Just treat it like steel. I would use graphite electrodes, with the grade dependent on the tolerance and surface finish required, which you did not specify.

Some googling tells me there are three grades of Zircaloy, all are 97%+ zirconium, with some tin, and two of the grades have small amount of other alloying elements. There is also a fair amount of research about hydrogen embrittlement, and carbon contamination, which may be an issue considering that most of the applications appear to be for the nuclear industry, again, you didn't specify.

Some machines have special circutry for burning exotic material, but you didn't say what equipment you're using.

If you can sense some tone in my reply, it's because you expressed impatience that your vauge post did not get replies in 2 hours. This forum is the most active EDM specific one that I'm aware of, even so, it may take several days to get responses from everyone who has somethig to offer, and more detailed quries are more likey to get useful responses.

Cheers!

Roy Solomon

thanks for your reply, but it doesn´t help me.
Some of us are working in the real life and we don´t have time to spend in so far investigations.
Inif you have have further information wich can really help me, i have a ONA TECHNO HS60 (60 Amps),with no special supply for exotic materials.
the final surface is not important, also the accuracy i only want to cut it as fast as posible.
In any case many thanks for your reply.

I use copper-tungsten for burning carbide with fine details. For everything else I use graphite, it will definitely burn faster. I do not use plain copper for anything. Some people like copper so they do not have to deal with the dust of machining graphite electrodes.

The most common/popular graphite is Poco, and for your application (speed priority), I would use Poco-100, or an equvalent. This is their coarsest grain size, which will burn fastest, and also the least expensive.

I don't know what other brands are available to you, but I have used Isocarb (I55 grade), Pro-graph, and SGL (grade 8510), that are all very economical, and burn quickly, when you do not have tolerance or finish requirements.

If you are in Valencia, Florida, your local distributor who sells you your supplies currently, should be able to offer you several choices. If you're in Valencia, Spain, Im not sure what your options will be. I understand that copper is a much more popular electrode material in Europe, than in the US.

I'm not familiar with the ONA power supply, but I would use setiings for the same type of burn (active surface area, depth, flush conditions), as I would for steel, and possibly make adjustments based on the speed and stability of the burn, and the final results.

Sorry, that's the best I can do. Good luck!

Cheers!

Roy Solomon

Some of us are working in the real life and we don´t have time to spend in so far investigations.

Click to expand...

Gee, sort of rude, People here are trying to help you.. My only suggestion is to get in touch with Poco Graphite. They are the best aythority on electrodes. I do doubt that they have much info on Zircalloy, but it just takes a phone call.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP, YOU ARE VERY WELLCOME.

I would just use a good grade of graphite like POCO3 or equivilant and try burning like regular steel. Maybe even try a reverse polarity to see what happens since you are not really worried about accuracy or finish. Just be sure to get some flush through the center of the trode and it should burn like bacon....Try giving the tech support for you machine manufacturer to see if they have any better suggestions. Also, tech support for the graphite company you use may be able to help you...

That dude was a bit bitter wasn't he??
I think you guys just help a terrorist...
Probably hates Americans...
Where is Valencia anyhow???

My guess is Valencia Spain. Probably more due to English being a 2nd language - at least I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now...
Greg

I am from valencıa spaın, thank you hollıstergc for the benefıt of the doubtş donştbe afraıdş thıs work ıs for one of your companıes so don`t be afraıd.

Thank you agaın for your help, you are really wellcome!!!!