Cutting austempered ductile iron using an EDM sinker

The cutting of austempered ductile iron (ADI) was investigated in this stud y. Electro-discharge sinker machining (EDM) was employed to machine ADI mat erials by using a copper electrode, which was shaped into a different geome trical form. Machinability was evaluated in terms of the metal removal rate , electrode wear rate and surface finish within the machining conditions ex plored. A suitable pitch electrode was developed to machine ADI materials w ith higher removal rate and lower surface finish than those without a pitch electrode. The predictions were verified using an EDM process with appropr iate reciprocation of the movement in the machining process. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science S.A. All rights reserved.