Effect of electrolytic copper and copper alloy tool electrodes on machining performance in electric discharge

The most important cost element for the process of the electric discharge machining (EDM), is the production cost of electrodes. In EDM process copper and its alloys are commonly used as electrode materials. The way of the processing EDM without increasing the costs is to select the copper alloy having low material costs and high electrical wear resistance. In this study, effect of electrolytic copper, CuCr1Zr and CuCo2Be alloys, which are commonly used as electrode materials in EDM applications, on EDM performance outputs, namely, workpiece removal rate, relative wear and workpice surface roughness were experimantelly investigated, Also, effect of aging of CuCr1Zr alloys (results in increasing electrical conductivity) on the performance outputs in EDM process were examined. The performance outputs found to be affected by the types of copper alloy and the applied aging treatment.Keywords : Electro discharge machining (EDM), costs, electrolitic copper, CuCr1Zr alloy, CuCo2Be alloy, aging, electrical conductivity.