INFLUENCE OF DUTY FACTOR ON WIRE ELECTRODISCHARGE MACHINING OF CONDUCTIVE CERAMICS

Electroconductive ceramics were machined by a wire electro-discharge machining method. The machining rate and surface roughness for various pulse durations were evaluated as a function of duty factor. It is obvious that there exists an optimum duty factor from a standpoint of machining rate, and that the optimum duty factor increases with increasing pulse duration, specially in machining zirconia ceramics. But, the maximum machining rate did not depend so much upon duty factor. The machined surface roughness increased generally with an increase in duty factor. This indicates that the roughness of the machined surface did not always increase with an increase in machining rate.