The Reduction of Tool Wear and Machining Time for the Micro-Electro-Discharge Machining of Micro-holes by Using Copper Vapour Laser Machining as a Roughing Process

Micro-electro-discharge machining (micro-EDM) has displayed excellent machined surface quality, but in comparison with other non-traditional machining processes, slow machining speed and high tool wear rate were considered as the major disadvantages of this process. With the increasing demand for higher-precision machining, mass production and widening applications of micro-EDM, new technologies are urgently needed to meet the requirements of reducing machining time and electrode tool wear. This paper describes a novel combination of machining processes to fabricate small holes. Before the micro-EDM of the holes, copper vapour laser radiation is used to ablate an array of small holes first. These holes are then processed in a micro-EDM machine. The experimental results showed that the machining speed of micro-EDM has been improved and tool wear was also reduced while the surface quality remains the same.