Experimental Analysis on Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining Performance Using Boron Carbide (B4C) Powder Mixed Dielectrics

Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining (Micro-EDM) deals with micro dimensional material removal from the work sample due to the repetitive spark discharge between the micro-tool electrode and the workpiece. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to machine through micro-holes on Ti-6Al-4V superalloy plates to show the effect of mixing of Boron Carbide (B₄C) powder additive in kerosene dielectric. A detailed comparative study have been done showing the effect on micro-ED machining criteria i.e. Material Removal Rate (MRR), Tool Wear Rate (TWR), Overcut (OC) and taper by varying two most influencing micro-EDM process parameters i.e. peak current and pulse-on-time keeping other parameters as constant. Analyses have also been done showing some optical and SEM micrographs of the micro-tool electrode tips as well as machined micro-holes to study the micro-hole surface integrity during experimentation.