A Survey on Electrode Materials for Electrical Discharge Machining

This work screens electrode materials used in EDM and proposes some potential electrodes for future industrial applications. Traditional graphite, W, and Mo EDM electrodes have low TWR due to their high melting points; while, Zn, brass, and Cu often experience too much tool wear. As to some newly developed alloy and composite materials, their machining performances depend on not only their melting points but also their microstructures. Cu-W alloy has high wear resistance but it is susceptible to shape loss due to its internal porosity. By contrast, Cu-graphite, Cu-ZrB2 and Cu-TiB2 composites show good capabilities of removing material with little wear loss and therefore could be promising for future usages.