An investigation on drilling micro holes in different processes using micro-EDM

Microparts are widely used for aerospace, medical and other special industries. Due to the limitation of cutting tools and processing technology, and cost a lot, it is difficult to machining for conventional mechanical process especially for the micro holes in the materials with high strength and hardness. Yet it is a highly efficient machining process using micro-EDM, because of its non-contact mode. SUS 304 possess excellence corrosion resistance and heat resistance while it is hard to machine, this paper will do a series of research on the SUS 304 material about drilling micro holes using micro-EDM. From the comparative analysis of three different processes about drilling holes, it shows that using cutting edge electrode and layered milling processes effectively decrease the taper angle under keeping the precision of holes, the cutting edge electrode produces better material removal rate(MRR), and layered milling with different layered numbers have different influence on the machining performance.