Electrical Discharge Machining Using Isolated and Bundled Flat Plate Electrode

The kind of electrode and its internal structure affect greatly electrical discharge characteristics such as metal removal rate and surface roughness. A new electrode, in which the insulator plate is inserted between thin copper plates, was proposed in this study, in order to achieve a high removal rate without deteriorating the surface roughness. The result of an impulse discharge experiment with this new electrode shows that a larger crater was generated compared with that having a copper solid electrode. It is also clarified that, in repetitious discharge machining using this electrode, the surface roughness doe's not increase even in high-removal-rate machining.