Experimental investigation of the effect of tool material on the performance of AISI 4140 steel in the rotary near dry electrical discharge machining

This research conducts in three sections. The first section studies the effect of tool materials and gases on rotary workpiece electrical discharge machining. During the experiments, the effects of three kinds of tool materials (Cu, Cu-Cr, and Cu-Sn) and three types of industrial gases (air, argon, and CO₂) on the material removal rate, tool wear rate, and workpiece surface roughness are investigated. The second is a comparison between rotary workpiece, rotary tool, and the fixed workpiece by choosing the appropriate tool material and gas in order to observe the effect of workpieces rotation on the process. Finally, another comparison has been done between wet electrical discharge machining and near dry electrical discharge machining of the fixed workpiece in order to study the effect of the dielectric. The results show the copper tool has the best performance compared with other tools. Scanning electron microscopy output shows the Cu-Sn tool creates shallow micro-cracks on the surface. Air and CO₂ gases have the higher material removal rate in low current, but argon has better function than other gases in high current. In addition, a rotational speed causes an increase in material removal rate and tool wear rate and surface roughness decrease in near dry electrical discharge machining. The level of tool wear rate has decreased by 14% in the rotary workpiece compared with the rotary tool.