An experimental investigation of tool wear in electric discharge machining

In this study, the variations of geometrical tool wear characteristics – namely, edge and front wear – and machining performance outputs – namely, workpiece removal rate, tool wear rate, relative wear and workpiece surface roughness – were investigated with varying machining parameters. Experiments were conducted using steel workpieces and round copper tools with a kerosene dielectric under different dielectric flushing conditions (injection, suction and static), discharge currents and pulse durations. The experiments have shown that machining parameters and dielectric flushing conditions had a large effect on geometric tool wear characteristics and machining performance outputs. Additionally, published research on tool wear is presented in detail in this study.