Abstract
This research investigated the performance of spark-plasma erosion-based machining, also known as electrical discharge machining, for micro-hole drilling in SS316L and Ti-6Al-4V under various spark-plasma formation conditions, with 27 experimental combinations of capacitance, voltage, and electrode feed rate. Spark-plasma conditions at various discharge energies were found to play a major role in influencing machining time and overcut, which were considered two responses to evaluate machining performance. Increasing the voltage from 80 to 180 V at 100 pF decreased machining time from 2553 s to 564 s for SS316L and from 2608.2 s to 570.6 s for Ti-6Al-4V, but it increased overcut from 6 to 17.5 mu m and from 8 to 22 mu m, respectively. At 10,000 pF and 180 V, machining times of 51.6 s (SS316L) and 62.4 s (Ti-6Al-4V) were obtained, with maximum overcut values of 62.5 mu m and 73.5 mu m, respectively. Analysis of variance revealed that voltage strongly controlled machining time (similar to 64%), while capacitance dominated overcut (64-69%). Ti-6Al-4V required 5-20% more machining time and exhibited a higher overcut due to its lower thermal conductivity and higher strength. The experimental observations indicated consistent plasma formation and favorable spark to achieve the required geometric accuracy and process productivity for the fabrication of high-quality biomedical components from SS316L and Ti-6Al-4V.