Electrochemical discharge machining of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites: A challenging approach

Abstract

In this paper, a hybrid machining method called electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) has been applied for making micron size holes in glass/epoxy composites. Initially, pilot experiments were conducted to check the feasibility of ECDM method for making a micro hole in glass/epoxy composites which is nonconductive in nature. Then the parametric investigations were conducted to analyse the influence of different parameters on the process performance. The influence of (i) applied voltage and (ii) pulse-on-time on (a) material removal rate (MRR) and (b) thickness of the heat-affected zone (THAZ) has been studied. It was identified that the ECDM method is a viable solution for making micron size holes in glass/epoxy composites.