Exploitable results Advanced super finish wire-EDM, and coating technologies for improved tool production Advanced super-finish wire-EDM and coating machines for improved pressing and punching tool production have been obtained. In the final industrial application of wire cut and PVD coated fine blanking punches, a tool life improvement by a factor of 6, compared to uncoated punches, has been attained. The main achievements have been: Development of wire electrodes adapted to the requirements of the parts to be coated and the materials were adjusted to the used power supply. Fundamental knowledge about the wire stress during transport and cutting in the machine have been acquired. The development of a new high-speed generator, the appropriate wire electrode and the adaptation of existing technologies has allowed a high speed machine with an increase of productivity of 380% over former machines. Moreover work-piece surface roughness can be reduced down to a level that is sufficient for an adequate coating process without the necessity of any mechanical pre-treatment. This is a new step towards the top range of super-finish machines. Additionally an expert process control and features like automatic wire threading and multi-wire system have contributed to a big increase in efficiency of wire-EDM prototypes. A modified physical vapour deposition (PVD) coating technology has been developed to obtain a good interface between the substrate material and the coating himself. This new technology is know as arc bond sputtering (ABS) and it is still being improved. Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
