Technological Advancement in Electrical Discharge Machining with Powder Metallurgy Processed Electrodes: A Review

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a well-established machining option for processing hard materials with complex geometrical shapes which are extremely difficult-to-machine by conventional machining processes. These hard materials find applications where lower surface cracks, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. are desirable surface properties. In recent years, research has been carried out to determine the possibility of employing electrode as feed stock material in an effort to produce significant surface alloying. These electrodes are generally produced through powder metallurgy (PM) technique in order to achieve necessary combination of operating characteristics. This paper reports state of art related to the usefulness of PM-processed electrodes in imparting desirable surface properties and modification of the machined surface. The final part of the paper outlines the trends for future EDM research using PM-processed electrodes.