Geometry and surface damage in micro electrical discharge machining of micro-holes

Geometry and subsurface damage of blind micro-holes produced by micro electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) is investigated experimentally to explore the relational dependence with respect to pulse energy. For this purpose, micro-holes are machined with various pulse energies on plastic mold steel samples using a tungsten carbide tool electrode and a hydrocarbon-based dielectric liquid. Variations in the micro-hole geometry, micro-hole depth and over-cut in micro-hole diameter are measured. Then, unconventional etching agents are applied on the cross sections to examine micro structural alterations within the substrate. It is observed that the heat-damaged segment is composed of three distinctive layers, which have relatively high thicknesses and vary noticeably with respect to the drilling depth. Crack formation is identified on some sections of the micro-holes even by utilizing low pulse energies during machining. It is concluded that the cracking mechanism is different from cracks encountered on the surfaces when machining is performed by using the conventional EDM process. Moreover, an electrically conductive bridge between work material and debris particles is possible at the end tip during machining which leads to electric discharges between the piled segments of debris particles and the tool electrode during discharging. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd