Surface morphology analysis of AISI-D3 tool steel using rotary tool electric discharge machining process

Electric discharge machining (EDM) is one of the most prominent machining processes, which is used across the world for machining and creating intricate shapes in very hard-to-cut electrically conducting materials. This comprehensive study aims to investigate the surface modification and characterisation of thin AISI-D3 tool steel sheets and provides thorough information about the material characteristics, which are quite vital from the design and reliability point of view. The analysis shows that the average improvement in the final surface finish of the machined surface is close to 12%. In addition, the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) images confirm the presence of 2.1% copper and 25.22% of carbon on the workpiece surface, showing the tool material transfer at the workpiece surface. Moreover, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images confirm the presence of a thinner recast layer, fewer micro-cracks and very less embedding of tool material on the workpiece surface as compared to the stationary tool process.