Electro discharge machine tool and technology provider ONA will exhibit four new state-of-the-art EDM machines at this year’s EMO exhibition (Hall 15 – Stand C30) in Hanover, Germany from 19 to 24 September 2011.

Ian Holbeche, managing director of the company’s exclusive UK agent, Warwick Machine Tools, explains: “This new development from ONA is not a simple increase in the column height, but offers a technological solution for the efficient application of the wire EDM cutting process in very thick applications. It combines a high performance stable cut in totally submerged mode along the 800 mm of the Z-axis travel, with the option of automatic threading with any thread type up to the maximum height.”

The success of the new technological development is due to ONA’s participation in the integrated Euro 7 million research project, IMPELER, financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation in Spain.

The IMPELER project started in January 2010 and is due to end in December 2012. Five companies, specialised in the large scale machine tool sector, are working in collaboration with four research centres on the project.

ONA’s main specific technical objectives in the project are based on the increase of production capacity and the improvement of precision for large machines.

As a consequence of the redesign of the generator, it has been possible to apply ONA’s high-speed cutting parameters to large machines. All the ONA AF Modular models include the high power ONA EasyCut digital generator, designed and built to reach the highest possible EDM cutting speeds of 450 mm2/min with 0.33 mm diameter wire or 370 mm2/min with 0.25 mm diameter wire, providing 100 per cent electrolytic corrosion-free cuts.

In collaboration with the Tekniker (IK4) technological centre, the latest technologies in mechanical design and volumetric error measurement have been incorporated in order to improve the dynamic behaviour as well as the precision and resolution of this type of machine.

“As a consequence of the results obtained in the IMPELER project, the numeric control systems ONA-W64 and ONA-S64, used on ONA’s wire and die-sinking EDM machines, now include a very accurate volumetric compensation feature,” concludes Ian Holbeche.