Japan’s Electrical Machining and ISEM Technologies

Abstract

Research on electrical discharge machining (EDM) in Japan all began with Professor Seizaburo Ho of the University of Tokyo (Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering) watching a science movie made in the former Soviet Union. Together with Professor Hisao Kurafuji, also from the University of Tokyo (Department of Precision Engineering), they embarked on studies in this area by establishing the foundations of EDM and electrical machining societies in Japan. In this essay, I would like to talk about the roots of EDM as well as the International Symposium on Electromachining (ISEM), focusing on my own experiences of participating in ISEM Ⅱ onwards. In 1989, Japan hosted the ISEM (IX) for the first time. It proved to be a huge success and became by far the largest conference since it was started. From around 1995, mold-making trends using high speed milling have been accelerating. Cuttable shapes and large molds are gradually being replaced by high speed milling, and sinking EDM is declining. This has led to the need to find new applications for sinking EDM in areas other than mold-making. One example is its application to the electrical discharge coating of jet engine parts. There is also a need for further fundamental studies on sinking EDM as well as the development of electrochemical machining (ECM) techniques for cemented carbide besides EDM.