Study of energy distribution to electrodes in a micro-EDM process by utilizing the electro-thermal model of single discharges

Micro-electrical discharge machining (μ-EDM) has recently received increased attentions in high precision machining and micro manufacturing. Since μ-EDM is a very complex process, it is difficult to develop a comprehensive model to analyze and predict its characteristics. This makes μ-EDM more difficult to control and requiring high skilled, experienced operators. Although electro-thermal models have been developed to estimate the material removal rate, tool wear ratio and surface roughness of the μ-EDM process, since they are based on the usage of incorrect value of fraction of energy distributed to electrodes, the estimations deviate significantly from the experimental results. This paper presents an experimental study of the fraction of energy distributed to the electrodes of a μ-EDM process where the material of both electrodes and dielectric are in concern. The fractions of the energy are estimated using an electro-thermal model based on controllable parameters, and were simplified by empirical models for investigation and comparison.