Özet:
The most important cost element of electric discharge
machining (EDM) is the production of tool electrode (shortly
electrode). In the EDM process, copper and its alloys are often
used as electrode materials. The machining with EDM without
increasing the costs can be achieved by selecting the proper
electrode with low production and material costs as well as
high workpiece material removal rate (MRR), low electrode
wear rate (EWR), and relative wear (RW ¼ MRR/EWR). In this
study, the EDM performance outputs, namely, MRR and RW
were experimentally investigated for electrolytic copper,
CuCr1Zr (with and without aging treatment) and CuCo2Be
alloy electrode materials for varying machining parameters.
The performance outputs were affected by the electrode
material and the applied aging treatment. The aged CuCr1Zr
alloy electrodes had higher electrical conductivity and better
machining performance than the as-received alloy. The
CuCo2Be alloy electrodes exhibited moderate to high MRR;
however, their RW was the highest. Although the electrolytic
copper has moderate MRR performance compared to the
investigated alloys, its low cost increased its performance
index, making it a more suitable electrode material for EDM
applications.