Process parameter analysis in ablating micro-mold manufacturing

The accuracy and process reliability of both laser ablation and EDM depend on various influences like machine tool performance, temperature, material properties and process parameters. This paper focuses on the variation of the most important process parameters to reduce surface roughness and machining time. For the experiments standard tool steel (X38CrMoV5-1) was used. In the following the variation of process parameters is described and validated by selected machining examples for EDM and laser ablation, respectively.