Abstract
In recent years, advances in technology have enabled the machining of nonconductive materials by electrical discharge machining (EDM). However, some machining characteristics still need to be improved for the wide industrial application of EDM. Among them are (i) surface roughness that is not good enough for finish machining, and (ii) the existence of a residual conductive layer on a material' s surface after machining that often requires a secondary process, that is, either shot peening or heat disposal process, for removal. In this research, in order to simplify the process for rough machining and finish machining, we designed a multifunctional machine that uses a feed wire as a tool for the forming process by wire EDM on the same machine, to ensure machining accuracy since the workpiece is not removed from the initial setup. The experimental setup includes a movable pulley with two wire guides at the center (WEDG), which is useful for the final finish processing without wire vibration. The Si3N4 material used as a workpiece was subjected to form machining, surface layer machining and abrasive machining before finish machining. We obtained a mirror surface using a wire with diamond particles as a tool.
