Machining performance of 3D-printed ABS electrode coated with copper in EDM

Purpose Rapid tooling (RT) technique using rapid prototyping (RP) process has been looked upon as an approach which reduces time and cost of production. This study aims to produce electrode for electrical discharge machining (EDM) from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) process of RP. The electrode is coated with copper to a depth of 1 mm by using electroplating to make it conductive. This electrode is termed as RP electrode. The performance of RP electrode having square shape is compared with that of solid electrode of copper having identical size. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the work piece material is chosen to be titanium Grade-V alloy (Ti-Al6-V4). The input parameters on the EDM machine such as discharge current, pulse on time and voltage are studied, and experiments are designed using the Taguchi method. Findings The results pertaining to the material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear rate (EWR) and surface roughness (Ra) are reported. It is found that the performance of a coated RP electrode is equally satisfactory when compared with that of a solid electrode. Originality/value This paper reports the machining performance of a square-shaped ABS electrode coated with copper. This technique, particularly when the electrode is of intricate shape, saves on cost and time of production of electrode to be used for EDM.