The Electrical Discharge Machining process is very useful while machining very hard materials, which are very difficult to be machined by traditional process, while can make complex geometries and minimum dimensions. One of the materials that are very used in this process is high-speed steel (ABNT M2), which is very hard and has a high mechanical resistance. This work has as main objective the study of performance of different dielectric fluids used in EDM in tree different pre chosen set-ups of work in terms or metal removal rate (MMR) and wear ratio (WR), roughness parameter (Ra), then discuss and analyze the most important factors that can produce different performance when machining with this process. Have been done five tests with different types of dielectric fluids using a cooper tool. Can be noticed that occurred very important different performance between the fluids, which all the other conditions of operation were unchanged. When using such a fluid the workpiece presented less roughness and a higher MMR in some cases. In other cases, a higher MMR produced in the other hand a Recast Layer less uniform. However, the most important conclusion of this work is about kerosene, which costs 3 times less than the specific dielectric fluids for EDM, presented worst finishing surfaces and not too high MMR as expected, despite all the risks for the operator.
EDM; Dielectric Fluids; MRR; Topography and Roughness
