Effect of ultrasonic vibration of tool on electrical discharge machining of cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co)

• Published in: International journal of advanced manufacturing technology Vol. 38; no. 11-12; pp. 1137 - 1147
• Main Authors: Abdullah, Amir, Shabgard, Mohammad R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer-Verlag 01.10.2008; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: CAE) and Design; Carbide tools; Cemented carbides; Cementing; Circuits; Cobalt; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD; Electric discharge machining; Engineering; Industrial and Production Engineering; Material removal rate (machining); Mechanical Engineering; Media Management; Microscopes; Original Article; Surface roughness; Tool wear; Tungsten carbide; Ultrasonic vibration; Cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co); Ultrasonic assisted EDM; Surface roughness; Material removal rate; Ultrasonic vibration of the tool; Electrical discharge machining; Tool wear ratio
• ISSN: 0268-3768; 1433-3015
• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-007-1168-8

This paper deals with the effect of copper tool vibration with ultrasonic (US) frequency on the electrical discharge machining (EDM) characteristics of cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co). It was found that ultrasonic vibration of the tool (USVT) was more effective in attaining a high material removal rate (MRR) when working under low discharge currents and low pulse times (finishing regimes). In general, the surface roughness and the tool wear ratio (TWR) were increased when ultrasonic vibration was employed. It was observed that application of ultrasonic vibration significantly reduced arcing and open circuit pulses, and the stability of the process had a remarkable improvement. This study showed that, there were optimum conditions for ultrasonic assisted machining of cemented tungsten carbide, although the conditions may vary by giving other input parameters for those which had been set constant in the present work.