Wire electrical discharge machine and wire electrical discharge machining method

A wire electrical discharge machining method for performing electrical discharge machining on a workpiece by applying voltage across an electrode gap formed between a wire electrode and the workpiece to thereby generate electrical discharge while moving the wire electrode relative to the workpiece along a path specified by a machining program, comprising:

• calculating, as a facing area, an area of a surface of the workpiece that is contained within a predetermined distance from a center axis of the wire electrode;
• determining an axis feed rate based on a value of a gap voltage detected by a voltage detector configured to detect the gap voltage across the electrode gap, and the facing area;
• and
• performing control so that the wire electrode moves relative to the workpiece at the axis feed rate.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a machining program comprising computer executable instructions for a wire electrical discharge machine for performing electrical discharge machining on a workpiece by applying voltage across an electrode gap formed between a wire electrode and the workpiece to thereby generate electrical discharge while moving the wire electrode relative to the workpiece along a path specified by the machining program, the computer executable instructions comprising:

• calculating, as a facing area, an area of a surface of the workpiece that is contained within a predetermined distance from a center axis of the wire electrode;
• determining an axis feed rate based on a value of a gap voltage detected by a voltage detector across the electrode gap, and the facing area;
• and
• performing control so that the wire electrode moves relative to the workpiece at the axis feed rate.