ABSTRACT During electric discharge machining (EDM) process, localized high temperature electric discharges occur in the presence of hydrocarbon dielectric such as kerosene. Hydrogen that can get incorporated into the workpiece during the process can dramatically affect the mechanical properties of the machined workpiece. In the present work the hydrogen content in workpieces machined by EDM and electric discharge abrasive drilling (EDAD) have been measured by a relatively new diagnostic technique called Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD), which utilizes He+ ions of mega electron volt energy obtained from a particle accelerator. Workpieces made up of high-speed steel and cemented carbide were machined at different pulse-on-times, and their hydrogen content was measured. From the experiments reported in this paper, it is concluded that hydrogen diffusion takes place in the workpiece surface.
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