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Electrical discharge machining is a very accurate non-traditional manufacturing process for creating tiny apertures, complex shapes and geometries within mechanical parts and assemblies. Its performance is evaluated in terms of surface roughness, existence of cracks, voids, and recast layer on the surface of product. The high heat generated on the electrically discharged material during the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process unfortunately decreases the quality of product. In this paper, the high strength and unique electrical and thermal properties of multi-wall carbon nanotubes are used to improve the EDM performance when machining the AISI H13 tool steel, by means of copper electrodes. Material removal rate, electrode wear rate, surface roughness, and recast layer were measured in presence of carbon nanotubes in the dielectric, then compared to the outcome of traditional EDM. Experiments show that mixing multi-wall carbon nanotubes within the dielectric makes the EDM more efficient, particularly if machining parameters are set at low pulse of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe cutting technology plays an important role in the process of offshore platforms decommissioning, as many devices such as tubing, drill pipe, and casing need to be decommissioned. In this study, a novel cutting pipe technology based on electro-discharge machining (EDM) is proposed, and a cutting pipe mechanism is developed to cut the pipes for decommissioning offshore platforms. The machining principles and characteristics of the technique are described. The effects of machining parameters, including tool polarity, dielectric fluid, electrode material and width, pulse on-time, pulse off-time, peak voltage, and electrode rotation speed to machining performance, are investigated. The material removal rate (MRR) of the machined casing and tool electrode wear ratio (EWR) is obtained based on the calculation of the percentage of mass loss per machining time. The experimental results show that a better cutting performance can be obtained with negative tool polarity at the conditions of dielectric fluid of emulsion, pulse on-time of 500 μs, pulse off-time of 200 μs, peak voltage of 70 V, copper electrode width of 28 mm, and electrode rotation speed of 250 rpm is a better choice. Additionally, the cutting slots surface has been investigated by the means of SEM. The cutting slots machined by the rotary EDM are clean and smooth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]