Properties of Molybdenum Wire
The main component of molybdenum wire is molybdenum (Mo), with a content of more than 99 percent. Molybdenum is a silver-white hard metal with a high melting point and good ductility. Its melting point can reach about 2620 deg C and its boiling point about 4639 deg C. Among naturally occurring elements, only tantalum, osmium, rhenium, tungsten, and carbon have higher melting points than molybdenum, and it can still maintain a certain hardness even when heated to red heat. The chemical properties of molybdenum are very stable and it is not corroded by hydrochloric acid or alkali under normal conditions.
How Wire Cutting Works
Wire cutting uses a continuously moving molybdenum wire as an electrode to perform pulse spark discharge on the workpiece to remove metal and cut into shape. In simple terms, the molybdenum wire is energized and keeps moving, discharging electricity to the workpiece, instantly generating a high temperature of several thousand degrees, melting or vaporizing the discharged part, and thus cutting. It is not a head-on cut: it is not the molybdenum wire itself that generates high temperature for cutting, but the discharge, which causes the workpiece to generate high temperature, melt, and erode itself.
Why Molybdenum Wire Is Suitable
Molybdenum wire is selected for wire-cut electric discharge machining because of its high melting point, good electrical conductivity, sufficient strength at elevated temperature, and dimensional stability during the cutting process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can molybdenum wire cut metal? The energized molybdenum wire creates pulse spark discharges against the workpiece; the discharge generates extremely high temperature that melts and vaporizes the metal locally.
What is the melting point of molybdenum? About 2620 deg C, with a boiling point of about 4639 deg C.
Does the wire itself cut the metal? No. The discharge between the wire and the workpiece does the cutting; the wire acts as the electrode.
