Analysis of Electrical Discharge Machining Using Water as Dielectric and Diverse Electrode Materials

This paper presents an experimental investigation carried out to study the performance of electrical discharge machining (EDM) using water as dielectric. This experimentation was performed using different types of water as dielectric, several electrode materials and two different workpiece materials. The electrode materials used in the experimentation were bronze, brass, copper, aluminium and steel; and the workpiece materials used were ASTM A36 mild (low-carbon) steel and D-2 tool steel. A new desktop size EDM machine to perform the experiments was designed and is presented in this paper. After performing the experimentation, the results have shown that the best EDM performance is achieved with brass and bronze electrodes using a mixture of 75% tap and 25% deionised water as dielectric. The results also indicate that the material removal rate and the electrode wear are proportional to the source voltage used in the EDM process. Finally, a forming die with a complex shape used in a jewellery industry, was manufactured using the EDM system presented in this paper.