Abstract
Micromachining of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) is essential for numerous applications in several industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense, shipping, sporting goods, and biomedical industries. The major challenge in machining CFRP by electrical discharge machining (EDM) is due to the nonconductivity of epoxy material which is used as a binder for manufacturing these CRFPs. This study attempts a novel, yet simple, approach to ensure the conductivity of the work piece through the entire machining process. Experiments were carried out as a part of this work to assess the feasibility of machining high aspect ratio microholes in CFRP by micro-EDM. The effect of process parameters such as voltage and feed-rate on the hole quality was studied. Using optimal process conditions, microhole of 2500 μm deep with an aspect ratio of over 11 was achieved.
