Development and Experimental Study of Electrical Discharge Drilling (EDD) Process for Titanium Alloy

Advanced engineering materials viz. titanium alloy, nickel alloy, heat-treated steels, superalloy, high-strength temperature-resistant alloys (HSTR) and metal matrix composites (MMCs), etc. are extensively being used in defence, automobile, aerospace, missiles and nuclear applications. Drilling holes in such advanced engineering materials are challenging due to their superior mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Electrical discharge drilling (EDD) process is a very efficient hybrid machining process (HMP) for making holes in advanced engineering materials irrespective of their hardness and toughness. In the present work, an experimental setup of EDD process has been developed, and the effect of input parameters on the process performance of EDD is studied in terms of output parameters namely material removal rate (MRR) and tool wear rate (TWR). It has been observed from experimental study that the copper tool of 2-mm diameter is suitable for machining of small hole on titanium alloy with minimum TWR. Further, when tool rotation is increased from 600 to 900 rpm, about 17% more MRR and 34% reduction in TWR is observed.