INVESTIGATION ON THE SURFACE QUALITY OF BÖHLER S290 POWDER METALLURGICAL TOOL STEEL AFTER WEDM MACHINING

Abstract

Nowadays, there is a growing demand for fast, accurate and precise tool manufacturing. At the same time, the requirements for the quality of tool steel materials have also increased. Increasingly, tools are being made from high alloyed, highest purity, segregation free, homogenous and high hardness materials. These materials are difficult to machine with conventional technology. For this problem a solution could be the electrical discharge machining technology (EDM). During the EDM process an electrical discharge occurs between an anode and a cathode in a dielectric medium [1]. The EDM process is characterized by high heat, that cause structural changes on the surface of the machined materials. In EDM process the surface of the machined material is eroded by melting and evaporation due to large quantity of heat [2]. This paper presents a study of the wire EDM machining surface of S290 PM HSS materials with different parameters performed by multiple cutting. The aim of this investigation was to find the optimal parameters and trim cuts number for the efficient production of the tools from S290 HSS PM materials with the required surface quality

Keywords

• : high speed steel
• electrical discharge machining
• surface quality
• surface roughness
• scanning electron microscopy