Within this study, the μEDM-milling of
nonconductive ZrO2ceramics could successfully be
demonstrated.
A milling tool path was programmed to allow for the
analysis of surface roughness and structure. Using an
appropriate wear compensation, grooves with even
ground could be machined in nonconducting zirconium
dioxide ceramic material.
As in the machining of micro bores, the process can
be kept stable when a second rebuilt layer is produced
that generates a closed electric circuit.
The surface roughness of ceramic machined with
micro-EDM is in the range of two- to threefold the
roughness in steel when using the same parameter sets.
Discharges show the same anomaly compared to
the short peak discharges in metal as during EDmachining of micro bores in previous studies, however,
smaller pulse peaks with shorter durations of around six
microseconds were observed.
As next steps, the nature of the rebuilt layer and the
influence of process parameter sets on its generation
have to be characterized in order to enable an
optimization of process parameters.
Furthermore, the influence of discharge energy and
gap width regulation strategy on process time must be
analyzed in more detail. Here, an optimization potential,
e. g. by sequentially using roughing and smoothing
processes, can be expected.