PEM Technologies (Natrona Heights, PA) will be launching its new precision electrolytic machining (PEM) process in North America. The process represents an advance over electrochemical machining technology because it is more precise and accurate, according to the company. With ECM, metal is machined using electricity and chemistry to erode material and produce the desired end product. PEM technology, in contrast, extends and improves the application possibilities associated with conventional ECM, allowing accurate full-form features to be manufactured in materials that are difficult to machine using conventional methods.

The system can process most metals and alloys in large or small quantities, and its speed is not dependent on the hardness or toughness of the material. In addition, parts with finishes as low as 1–4 µm in. Ra can be machined without burrs and finished in a single operation. The machine's electrode replication accuracy is increased by employing a small working gap, enabling the machining of smaller structures and shapes such as prongs, holes, cavities, and inscriptions. Since the system does not make mechanical contact with the material, it does not produce stress in workpieces. And because there is no mechanical or thermal load on the tool, there is no resulting mechanical wear, offering long tool life, the company says.

The PEM process can be used to manufacture components used in surgical instruments. For example, it can be used to make handles for surgical scissors that are employed as clamps and cutters. It can also manufacture other surgical instruments, such as replaceable knife blades used in eye surgery. Additional applications include fabricating perforated foil used to wrap bone fractures and bone screws with breakable heads.