Exploring tool geometry influence on EDD of Waspaloy

Electric discharge drilling (EDD) is a competent method for drilling hard-to-cut materials despite its drawbacks, including minimum material removal rate (MRR), excess tool wear rate (TWR), high surface roughness (Ra), and power consumption (PC). To address these issues, EDD's performance was explored by varying factors like tool electrode geometry (TEG), current (I), pulse-on-time (TON), and tool electrode speed (TES) to investigate the effect on MRR, TWR, Ra, and PC. Cu-6 produced the highest MRR of 36.26 mm³/min, surpassing Cu-7, Cu-8, and Cu-solid by 28.309%, 44.866%, and 51.843% respectively. Cu-solid revealed the lowest TWR of 4.397%, significantly lower than Cu-6, Cu-7, and Cu-8. Ra followed the trend: Cu-solid < Cu-8 < Cu-7 < Cu-6. Cu-solid consumed more power than hollow electrodes. Microscopic analysis attributed rough surfaces to high currents. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis exhibits material migration from a workpiece and tool electrode on the machined surface. .