Analysis of the influence of process conditions on the surface finish of ceramic materials manufactured by EDM

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is an emerging alternative versus some other manufacturing processes of conductive ceramic materials, such as: laser machining, electrochemical machining, abrasive water jet, ultrasonic machining and diamond wheel grinding. Due to its interest in the industrial field, in this work a study of the influence of process conditions on the surface aspect of three conductive ceramic materials: hot-pressed boron carbide (B4C), reaction-bonded silicon carbide (SiSiC) and cobalt-bonded tungsten carbide (WC-Co) is carried out. These materials are to be electrical discharge machined under different machining conditions and in the particular case of finish stages (Ra <= 1 mu m).