Research on Energy-Saving EDM Pulse Power Supply

The performance and stability of output of electrical discharge machining (EDM) are determined by the output of EDM pulse power supply. In order to resolve disadvantages of conventional pulse power supply, such as undesirable efficiency and low power factor, the prototype design of energy-saving EDM pulse power supply is developed. It is composed of such three stages as a single-phase active power factor correction (PFC) pre-regulator, a full-bridge phase shift zero voltage switching (FB-PS-ZVS) converter based on complex control paralleled of machining current closed-loop and voltage closed-loop at period of spark gap insulation, and a pulse generator based on machining sequence control. The PFC pre-regulator contributes to a great increase to about 0.95 in its power factor. The efficiency of the new system is considerably increased to about 70% due to design of ZVS. The pulse generator contributes to the pulse machining current without a tail. Experiment results demonstrates that the prototype is capable of low electrode wear, high speed, stable machining.