Sustainable Processing of Insulating Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Ceramic Using Wire Electrical Discharge Machining in Distilled Water

The insulating ceramic materials owning to their properties are being useful in modern industrial applications. The same desirable properties make the processing of ceramics difficult by the conventional techniques. The wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is well known for its three-dimensional intricate shape generation capability in hard materials. Applying the WEDM to process insulating ceramic materials require electrical conductivity to establish the initial electric contact. This can be provided by covering the insulating ceramic surface with electrically conductive assisting electrode (AE) material. The present study applies the AE technology to machine yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramic with graphite powder additive mixed distilled water. The study verifies the feasibility of applying WEDM to cut the insulating ceramic materials successfully. The secondary electroconductive layer generation on the insulating ceramic surface to maintain the electrical contact on exposure of ceramic is also supported by the composition analysis of the ceramic surface. With the replacement of the kerosene dielectric, this paper highlights the use of distilled water offering a sustainable approach. The sustainability index obtained for graphite additive mixed dielectric is 78.0 compared with 50.33 of EDM oil and 48.67 of kerosene dielectric.