Investigation an assisting electrode powder mixed electrical discharge machining of nonconductive ceramic

This research is aimed to describe a new approach for machining zirconia ceramics. The purpose is to develop an electrical discharge machining with assisting electrode and dielectric mixed with graphite powder to enable processing of nonconductive material and improve machining performance. Methodology that used in this paper is Box-Behnken design. Three controllable parameters were selected, namely discharge current, pulse duration, and graphite powder concentration. The material removal rate, surface roughness, and relative tool wear were chosen as machining performances. The proposed approach uses the concept of response surface methodology to develop mathematical models. Although the discharge current and pulse duration proved to be the most influential input parameters, the finding that resulted in this research is the positive effect of graphite powder on machining performance. The proposed approach provides a very beneficial option of EDM input parameters to achieve the performance improvement: increase in material removal rate, reduction in surface roughness and relative tool wear.