Influence of the electrical conductivity of dielectric on WEDM of sintered carbide

This work deals with the electrical conductivity of dielectric and cobalt percentage on output parameters such as metal removal rate and surface roughness value of sintered carbides cut by wire-electrical discharge machining (WEDM). To obtain a precise workpiece with good quality, some extra repetitive finish cuts along the rough cutting contour are necessary. Experimental results show that increases of cobalt amount in carbides affects the metal removal rate and worsens the surface quality as a greater quantity of solidified metal deposits on the eroded surface. Lower electrical conductivity of the dielectric results in a higher metal removal rate as the gap between wire electrode and workpiece reduced. Especially, the surface characteristics of rough-cut workpiece and wire electrode were analyzed too. To obtain a good surface equality without crack, 4 finish-cuts were necessary by reducing the electrical energy and the offset value.