Micro-hole machining using micro-EDM combined with electropolishing

This paper presents a novel process of using micro-electro-discharge- machining (micro-EDM) combined with electropolishing to improve the surface roughness of micro-holes. During the machining process, a tool is fabricated by wire electro-discharge grinding (WEDG) directly by using micro-EDM for machining the micro-hole and by electropolishing to finish the hole wall. In this work, various micro-holes are machined on the high nickel alloy. By the electropolishing method, high surface quality of the hole wall is obtained by applying a suitable electrolytic voltage and an appropriate concentration of electrolyte in about 5 min of machining time. The taper and burrs of the inlet of holes are reduced, even for difficult- to-machine special-shaped micro-holes. The surface roughness reduced from 2.11 mum Rmax before grinding to 0.69 mum Rmax after electropolishing.