Investigation on the effects of exchanged power and electrode properties on micro EDM drilling of stainless steel

Aim of this research is to study how the exchanged power and the electrode material and diameter affect the performance of micro EDM drilling of stainless steel. Copper and tungsten carbide electrodes, with two dif-ferent diameters, were taken into account. Different values of the exchanged power were obtained by vary-ing the main electrical parameters, namely peak current, voltage and energy level. A dedicated acquisition system for the measurement of effective electrical parameters during the drilling process was implemented. The considered process parameters and the electrode properties, in terms of both material and diameter, resulted to have influence on the drilling performance. Finally, both a linear and non-linear regression ap-proaches were set up to obtain predictive equations about machining time and electrode wear.