(BQ) ilicon infiltrated silicon carbide (SiSiC) is developed. The influences of the major operating EDM parameters (discharge current ie, open gap voltage ui, discharge duration te and pulse interval to) of the iso energetic generator on the machining performances like Material Removal Rate (MRR), Tool Wear Ratio (TWR) and surface roughness (Ra) are examined. Relaxation pulses which have lower energy input are also considered to improve the surface quality. Furthermore, the topography and surface integrity of the material after the EDM process are analysed to determine the corresponding material removal mechanism. With the developed machining strategy, a sample piece with designed features such as ribs, a deep cavity and chamfers are manufactured to examine the machining performances. | Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 631–641 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Materials Processing Technology journal homepage: EDM technology and strategy development for the manufacturing of complex parts in SiSiC S. Clijsters, K. Liu ∗ , D. Reynaerts, B. Lauwers Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division PMA, Catholic University Leuven (), Celestijnenlaan 300B, Bus 2420, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 12 August 2009 Received in revised form 17 November 2009 Accepted 19 November 2009 Keywords: Electrical discharge machining Die-sinking EDM Ceramic composite SiSiC a b s t r a c t Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard and difficult-to-shape engineering ceramic material used extensively in industry because of its superior mechanical properties, wear and corrosion resistance even at elevated temperature. Conventional ceramic processing and structuring techniques such as injection molding and grinding are costly and difficult to obtain flawless complex shaped components. By infiltrating free Si into the SiC, the electrical conductivity of the matrix is largely improved. Thus it can be machined by electrical discharge machining (EDM). In this paper, a die-sinking EDM technology for manufacturing components in a commercial available silicon infiltrated silicon carbide (SiSiC) is developed. The influences of the major operating EDM parameters (discharge current ie , open gap voltage ui , discharge duration te and pulse interval to ) of the iso energetic generator on the machining performances like Material Removal Rate (MRR), Tool Wear Ratio (TWR) and surface roughness (Ra) are examined. Relaxation pulses which have lower energy input are also considered to improve the surface quality. Furthermore, the topography and surface integrity of the material after the EDM process are analysed to determine the corresponding material removal .
