1114 Electrical discharge machining characteristic of copper-based carbon nanotube composite electrodes prepared by plasma sintering and electroplating

Abstract

The wear properties of the Cu-based electrodes in electrical discharge machining (EDM) were improved by codepositing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the Cu matrix. The Cu-CNT composite electrodes were sintered with 12 vol% of low melting point alloys, which liquidus temperature is 780℃, for impregnating the liquid phase alloys among CNTs and for fabricating dense composite materials. The wear ratios of sintered Cu-CNT electrodes with 30 vol% of CNTs were decreased by 68% in relation to those of pure Cu electrodes. The wear ratio of the sintered Cu-CNT electrode was approximately the same as that of the electroplated Cu-CNT electrode, which contained a measured volume fraction of CNTs of 11.1%.