A comparative study on the performance of sinking and milling micro-EDM for nanofinishing of tungsten carbide
by M.P. Jahan, Y.S. Wong, M. Rahman
International Journal of Nanomanufacturing (IJNM), Vol. 6, No. 1/2/3/4, 2010

Abstract: Micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) is a flexible machining technique offering the possibility to produce freeform microstructures and micromoulds using hard-but-conductive materials like tungsten carbide (WC). It is desirable to obtain fine surface finish directly using micro-EDM when micromoulds and dies are machined, so that subsequent polishing can be avoided. This paper presents a comparative study between the performance of die-sinking and milling micro-EDM for the semi-finish and finish machining of WC. The comparison was conducted with respect to achieved material removal rate (MRR), relative electrode wear ratio (EWR), surface topography, average surface roughness (R_a) and peak-to-valley roughness (R_max). It has been found that, micro-EDM milling is capable of generating smooth, shiny and defect-free surfaces with lower R_a and R_max at comparatively higher MRR and lower EWR in the finish micro-EDM of WC. Moreover, the MRR in milling micro-EDM can further be increased at semi-finishing regime with the sacrifice of surface finish and EWR by increasing the electrode scanning speed. Comparing all the performance parameters, milling micro-EDM has been found to be the better option for semi-finishing and finishing of WC than die-sinking.

Online publication date: Sun, 22-Aug-2010

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