In this study, the variation of workpiece surface roughness with varying pulse duration, open circuit voltage, wire speed and dielectric fluid pressure was experimentally investigated in Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM). Brass wire with 0.25 mm diameter and SAE 4140 steel with 10 mm thickness were used as tool and workpiece materials in the experiments, respectively. It is found experimentally that the increasing pulse duration, open circuit voltage and wire speed, increase the surface roughness whereas the increasing dielectric fluid pressure decreases the surface roughness. The variation of workpiece surface roughness with machining parameters is modelled by using a power function. The level of importance of the machining parameters on the workpiece surface roughness is determined by using analysis of variance (ANOVA).

In this study, a new method for machining of nonconductive ceramic workpieces in electric discharge machining (EDM) was developed. Machining surfaces of nonconductive workpieces were coated with a conductive layer (CL) and graphite powder was added to dielectric fluid for machining. Al₂O₃, ZrO₂, SiC, B₄C and glass workpiece samples were machined by using the method. Different machining conditions were tested for each sample and optimum machining parameters were determined. Effect of electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and melting point of workpieces on material removal rate (MRR) was investigated. Optical microscope and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) surface photographs of workpieces taken after machining are presented and discussed.

In this study, the variations of machining performance outputs, namely workpiece surface roughness, surface profile power spectral density, workpiece removal rate, electrode wear rate, relative wear, workpiece surface hardness, and workpiece surface microstructure were experimentally investigated with the varying machining parameters for metal powder mixed dielectric liquid in electrical discharge machining (EDM). The machining tests were conducted by using a prismatic steel workpiece and copper electrodes with graphite and boric acid powders (H₃BO₃) mixed kerosene dielectric at different powder concentrations and pulse time settings. The experiments have shown that the type and concentration of the powders mixed into the dielectric and the pulse time were effective on machining performance outputs in EDM.