Assessment of the influence of flushing on the wear and morphological properties of the tool during electrical discharge machining

Abstract

The present study is an integrated approach of experimental and simulation processes to investigate the influences of the flushing on the wear, textural feature, heat dissipation, tool-tip temperature, and elemental contents of the electrical discharge machining-tool. The general heat transfer equation in cylindrical coordinates is used to explain the thermal phenomenon through the tool, where the boundary conditions are influenced by convective interactions and dimensionless numbers. The inter-electrode flushing is considered a micro-channel flow, and the used model is conceptualized from “Hazen–Poiseuille observation.” It is observed that the adopted model has a prediction error of 8.503% and can accurately explain the thermal consequences of the process. The study reveals that tool wear is influenced by flushing velocity and flushing pressure. The tool-tip temperature reduces with the Reynolds number, and effectual expelling of the debris can be ensued with a flushing of a higher Reynolds number (Re). However, the increment of Re beyond 4500 provides rapid heat dissipation, which produces extensive residual stress and creates cracks on the surface.