Inverse Simulation of Heat Source in Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)

Temperature field is the main material loading in EDM and responsible for rim zone modifications. For adjusting dedicated surface integrity, it is necessary to quantify the material loading. A direct measurement of temperatures near the working area is not possible due to very high temperatures and corresponding gradients. Also numerical prediction of temperature field is difficult, because no general model for power distribution during EDM process exists. One possibility to obtain this power distribution is inverse simulation. For given temperatures in the inner workpiece a heat source with defined power fraction can be calculated. Hence, the entire temperature field can be determined.