Single pulse studies of the electrical discharge machining of metal matrix composite materials

The main objective of this investigation is to study the influence of the processing medium and gap distance on the electrical discharge machining process performance while machining metal matrix composite materials. Machining characteristic of electrical discharge machining in air and emulsified oil medium has been compared. The effects of medium, gap distance on the crater size have been studied. The study shows that the discharge modes in both of the medium are all in the form of an arc. And it was also found that the material removal rate of EDM in emulsified oil was considerable higher (about 300%) than that in air medium under the experimental conditions of this study. Moreover, in both air and emulsified oil medium, more molten materials can be flushed out if the gap distance has been enlarged.