Surface Quality of Al2O3 Ceramic and Tool Wear in Diamond Wire Sawing Combined with Oil Film-Assisted Electrochemical Discharge Machining

Abstract

Diamond wire sawing is one of the most widely used methods of cutting Al2O3 ceramic because it has good machining accuracy and causes less surface damage. However, its material removal rate (MRR) needs to be improved with the increasing demand for Al2O3 ceramic parts. In this paper, spark discharges are generated around the diamond wire based on the electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) process. An oil film-assisted ECDM process is applied to solve the difficulty of generating spark discharges when the thickness of the workpiece exceeds 5.0 mm due to the difficulty of forming a hydrogen gas film. Experimental results show that the combination of oil film-assisted ECDM and diamond wire sawing improved the MRR of Al2O3 ceramic. Oil film-assisted ECDM may improve the surface quality of machined parts and reduce the wear on diamond wire. Therefore, this research focuses on the surface quality of Al2O3 ceramic and tool wear in diamond wire sawing combined with oil film-assisted ECDM. Surface roughness and topography, recast layer, and elements of the machined surface are analyzed. The tool wear is studied using SEM images of diamond wire. The results provide a valuable basis for application of diamond wire sawing combined with oil film-assisted ECDM.