Electro Discharge Texturing (EDT) is a specialized texturing process developed to replace conventional shot blasting utilized to texture work rolls to specified surface finishes. EDT has two significant advantages over its predecessor shot blasting. First, EDT is able to maintain tight repeatable surface tolerances required in today's quality driven flat rolled market. In most cases there is less than a 4 percent variance over the entire roll body. Second, EDT is able to texture harder work rolls. Conventional shot blasters are very limited in this area. The increased use of Hi-Chrome and Super Hard rolls make EDT irreplaceable.
The EDT process consists of discharging a series of arcs through electrodes onto the surface of the work roll. Control is fully automated and maintained by submerging the electrodes in a light oil or "dielectric fluid". The electric discharge results in the roll surface being super heated to the melting point, resulting in a microscopic crater being formed on the roll during re-solidification. This process is repeated millions of times with the end result being a fully textured work roll with precise surface characteristics. |
