Formation of a new EDM electrode material using sintering techniques

The commonly used materials for electrical-discharge machining electrodes a re graphite, copper, copper alloys, copper-tungsten, brass, silver-tungsten and steel. Each material has its pros and cons in respect of machining per formance. Materials having good electrical and thermal conductivity with a high melting point are preferred to be used for fabricating electrodes. In this study, compounds of ZrB2 and TiSi with Cu at various compositions are investigated for EDM electrodes by either solid-state sintering or liquid p hase sintering. The performance of the newly formed material is compared wi th that of conventional electrode materials such as Cu, Graphite, CuW and t he Rapid Tool(TM) produced from the selective laser sintering (SLS) machine . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.