What's new
What's new

Wire EDM and Metal 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) - purchase advice

genbuzz

Plastic
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Dear all

We would like to cut off parts “printed” or “built” on a plate by a laser/powder bed metal additive manufacturing process, using a wire EDM machine. Plates are around 10x10 ”. The shop is not a production environment so speed is not a priority. Cutting parameters have to change constantly as there could be various randomly distributed parts on the plate. In addition to that, so called support structures are “built” on the plate holding “printed” parts on the plate which look like a three dimensional mesh, these structures are filled with powder from the process which comes loose once the wire cuts into the structure. We looked at various different machines so far, Makino U6 HEAT, Sodick VZ500HL, Mitsubishi MV2400-S. All of them seem to be capable of doing the job – which I don’t think is a big challenge for the current generation of machines. We did not look into Agie or Fanuc machines yet.
Does anyone in the forum have experience using the wire EDM process to perform the above described machining process? Independent from that does anyone has an opinion or suggestion related to the above mentioned machines?

Thanks for your feedback.
 
If the material cut releases powder it will wreak havoc on your filters. Do you need a wire edm, what about some type of saw? Cold saw, or even a bandsaw and then you could machine the ends in a bridgeport type manual machine maybe?
 
Another problem will be anything non conductive (the powder) will not EDM. The wire will break or stop eroding any time something non conductive (even minute bits) are run into. An example is we sometimes glass bead parts after heat treat. Any grain of sand stuck in a tapped hole will cause a problem.

You will probably have poor flush conditions if the part(s) are different heights. You will have to have the upper head just above your highest part to avoid a collision (expensive mistake) which will slow down the eroding process considerably. The best conditions for cutting is a solid piece with no voids, holes, interruptions. That is how all the specs of the machine speed are given.

Any of those machines will do the job, if this is your first venture into EDM use the distributor with the best applications support and training. You will need it for a while.
 
Take some sample printed parts to an EDM shop and have them EDM wire slice them every which way. Take the bits away and examine the microstructure of the cuts.

You don't want to jump in and buy an EDM machine, only to find a slew of problems.
 
Flush flush flush flush flush flush flush! I helped a company do just this on a submerged WEDM and the only thing we found increased reliability was a bunch of external flushing to help get the powder out of the honeycomb. Think lockline with heavy flow pointed right at the cut under water. Keep the main flushing low to prevent turbulence. This was an older Mitsubishi and PowerMaster worked well for the task. There's a bit of a learning curve as with anything but it's really not that difficult, just a few tricks in learning how to manage the loose debris. You need to keep that stuff out of the cut to prevent shorts and thus wire breakages. The new Mitsubishi's with the linear motors may help a bit due to the faster servo response times.

Out of the 3 machines you listed, I don't doubt they will all do the job well, but the Mits is probably going to be the lowest maintenance.

-Pete
 
I've done a decent amount of exactly what you are asking about and MitsTech hits the nail SQUARELY on the head! RJT is also spot on in his insight. The included non-conductives are to be avoided at almost all costs as they wreak havoc, and the open structure of the supports is very unfriendly to cut stability. It is very doable. It's also a bit of a PITA and slow, even compared to typical WEDM speeds.
 
Good advice so far.
1. Make sure that all of the powder is cleaned from the pieces.
2. 10 X 10 plate is OK but cutting with the heads way up might be painfully slow through 10 inches of interrupted cuts. Half of that height is nicer.
3. You need a submerged machine with adaptive control.
4. As said previously, turn the flushing down to prevent turbulence.

We use Mitsubishi machines exclusively. They do this job well. The other machines you mentioned would probably fit the bill also although I have no experience with them.
 
Thanks for all your feedback guys. Overall I received more positive feedback on the Mitsubishi machines. Even though I like the interface of the Makino.
We performed tests on various machines and all of them were able to deal with the metal powder within the support structures. Adaptive control seems to be a must.
 
Do this all the time on CUT20P machine from AgieCharmilles. FYI the powder is metal so it is conductive. The generator will adapt to the different thicknesses and is not a problem. I know exactly what you are talking about as far as the structure goes. it is a solid criss-cross pattern and the diamonds are filled with non-lasered powder. Not an issue in my experience. Only issue i ran into is as the part breaks off the wire will leave a radius on the edge that you will have to stone off. All wire EDMs will do it unless you hold the parts as well as the base. Mits tech is right submerged is the way to go. CUT20P has on-board programming, 55 lb. wire spool option, big Mann filters, and will do the job nicely. The EOS dealer in the North East is also an EDM dealer. Look up HPM on the inter web. While, you are not in their territory, i'm sure they would be happy to talk to you.
 
I have been doing a lot of this on an Agie-Charmilles Cut300sp machine. It is painfully slow. I have been experimenting with cutting the actual plate itself. A very very shallow cut. More or less skimming the surface of the plate with the intention of keeping the whole length of the wire engaged. The results have been ok but not really too much better than just cutting the parts of.

I am very new to the whole WEDM world. do you have any recommendations for wire and setting that you have gotten decent results?

The plates are C-45 (kind of cheap steel) and the printed material is usually Inconel 718.
 
To resurrect an old topic...
Can someone advise on the standard procedure for Metal Sintered support structure removal from the base plate with Wire EDM...
Is the interface between the part and the plate processed or is the whole plate processed?
 








 
Back
Top