Layer Generation Process on Work-piece in Electrical Discharge Machining

In recant years, surface modification of metals and machining of insulating ceramics by electrical discharge machining (EDM) have been successfully carried out. In surface modification by EDM with semi-sintered electrodes, worn substances in the gap region form the material source of the layer generated on the work-piece surface. In the machining of insulating ceramics by EDM, a crystallized carbon layer or carbide layer from the working oil covers the surface of the insulator. Increase in the thickness of the generated layer, however, tends to stop at a certain maximum value in both surface modification by EDM with semi-sintered electrodes and machining of insulating ceramics by EDM processes. In these machining operations, accretion and removal phenomena occur alternately. In this paper, the mechanisms of machining insulators and the accretion process are discussed considering the characteristics of the generated layers on the work-piece surface.