Material Electropulsing Treatment and Characterisation of Machinability

The machinability of metals and alloys is well known for being affected by the cutting conditions, cutting tools and material properties. A very high-quality surface finish can be obtained by the use of advanced machine tools based on single point diamond turning (SPDT). However, no matter how accurate the machining system is, the limit of performance is determined by the tool/workpiece interaction during the chip removal process at the micro- and nano-scales. In particular, the dimensional accuracy and stability of the machined surface depend on the metallurgical properties of the surface before and after machining, such as the plastic deformation, microstructural changes, phase transformation. This chapter introduces the electropulsing treatment (EPT), as an alternative to traditional thermal and mechanical processes, to enhance the machinability of the difficult-to-machine materials for ultraprecision machining.