The electrostatic field-induced electrolyte jet (E-Jet) electric discharge machining (EDM) is a newly developed micro machining method. However, the strong coupling of the electrolyte jet liquid electrode and the electrostatic induced energy prohibited it from utilization in conventional EDM process. In this study, the method with two discharge devices connecting in serials is proposed to decouple pulse energy from the E-Jet EDM process. By automatic breakdown between the E-Jet tip and the auxiliary electrode in the first device, the pulsed discharge between the solid electrode and the solid workpiece in the second device can be generated. With this method, the induced charges on the E-Jet tip can indirectly regulate the discharge between the solid electrodes, giving a new pulse discharge energy generation method for traditional micro EDM. The pulsed variation of current and voltage generated during the discharge process in conventional EDM process verified the feasibility of this decoupling approach. The influence of the distance between the jet tip and the electrode, as well as the gap between the solid electrode and the work-piece, on the pulsed energy, demonstrates that the gap servo control method is applicable. Experiments with single points and grooves indicate the machining ability of this new energy generation method.
Keywords: discharge in gas; electrolyte jet electrode; energy generation method; field-induced discharge; micro EDM.