EDM electrode manufacture using rapid tooling: a review

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a non-conventional process for the manufacture of complex or hard material parts that are difficult to machine by conventional machining processes. During EDM, the electrode shape is mirrored in the workpiece. As a result, problems are transferred on the electrode manufacturing process. Rapid tooling (RT) is a new technology which uses rapid prototyping (RP) models to reduce the time and cost of tool manufacture. The various methods of manufacturing RT electrodes, with respect to different materials and the incorporated supplementary processes, are classified in the present work. Recent international research work on RT electrodes is reviewed and the results on the performance of RT electrodes are tabulated.