Electric discharge drilling of metal matrix composites with different tool geometries

There exist numerous challenges during hole making in super alloys and other advanced materials such as the metal matrix composites. The conventional hole making operations such as drilling sometimes becomes uneconomical because of low productivity and poor quality. It becomes necessary to conceptualize and develop processes that are not only economical but also produce high-quality holes. Electric discharge drilling process is one such process that combines the effect of the electric discharge machining and the conventional drilling. In the present experimental investigation, experiments have been performed on a modified electric discharge machining setup with a facility to rotate the electrode. The work-piece material has been selected as Al6063/10% SiC metal matrix composite as tool wear is an important limitation during its conventional drilling. The major objective is to investigate the effect of the geometry of tool electrode on the process performance that has not been investigated exhaustively. The material removal rate has been selected as the measure of performance and criteria for comparison. It has been found that the geometry of the tool electrode influences the material removal rate and should be selected judiciously.