Electrical discharge abrasive drilling of hard materials using a metal matrix composite electrode

Abstract

The main object of the present work was to develop an electrical discharge abrasive drilling (EDAD) methodology to remove the re-solidified layer through the grinding induced by a metal matrix composite electrode prior to the re-solidification of molten material. A metal matrix composite (Cu/SiCp) electrode, with an electroless pretreatment of Cu coating on SiCp to enhance bonding status between Cu and SiCp, was made with a rotating device and this was employed to study the EDAD technology. The machinability of the mold steel HPM50 and tungsten carbide P20 was investigated by the combined technologies of EDAD. The machined surfaces of these materials were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their surface roughness measured by a profilemeter. From the experimental results, it was found that the EDAD machining efficiency was three to seven times than that of normal EDM operation for mold steel. However, the efficiency improvement is hardly detectable for tungsten carbide. In addition, the surface roughness of both materials could be improved in comparison with that achieved after EDM.