This paper presents a novel process using micro-electro-discharge- machining (micro-EDM) combined with ultrasonic vibration by a helical micro-tool electrode to drill and finish micro-holes. During the machining processes, a micro-tool is directly fabricated by wire electro-discharge grinding (WEDG) using micro-EDM combined with various methods for machining the micro-hole and by ultrasonic vibration to finish the hole wall. In this work, circular micro-holes are machined in a high nickel alloy by cylindrical and helical electrodes. Using a helical micro-tool electrode for micro-EDM combined with ultrasonic vibration (HE-MEDM-UV) can substantially reduce the EDM gap, taper and machining time for deep micro-hole drilling. In addition, using a helical micro-tool with micro ultrasonic vibration finishing (HE-MUVF), good surface quality and less taper of the hole wall can be obtained by applying a suitable electrode step variation, rotational speed and ultrasonic amplitude with a machining time of approximately 25 min. According to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement, HE-MUVF can indeed improve the surface roughness from 1.345 µm Rmax before finishing to 0.58 µm Rmax after HE-MUVF. This result demonstrates that using HE-MEDM-UV combined with MUVF can yield micro-holes of precise shape and smooth surface.

Recently, the utilization of pulse voltage has proved to be a potential method for improving the machining accuracy in the microdrilling process by electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM). Although pulse voltage is favorable for improving the machining quality, it is hard to obtain an efficient machining rate. The pulse-off (T off ) duration allows the gas film structure to be re-constructed, which makes the sustainability of a dense gas film difficult and results in unstable and unpredictable discharges. In this study a novel pulse voltage configuration, called offset pulse voltage, has been designed and applied in the ECDM process to improve gas film stability. The offset pulse voltage adds a constant voltage, called offset voltage, at T off duration to enhance gas film stability and to further promote the discharge performance. The experimental results demonstrated that the increase in offset voltage at the pulse-off duration generates more stable discharges when compared to those generated by the conventional pulse voltage. Results also show that both the mean machining time and time deviation are decreased around 60% without sacrificing machining accuracy by an adequate offset voltage.

This paper demonstrates a novel fabrication process using electro-discharge-machining (EDM) combined with co-deposited Ni-diamond composites to build a unique micro-spherical diamond tool. A micro tool is made by a hybrid process including wire electro-discharge grinding, EDM spherical forming, electrochemical machining and co-deposition. Tungsten carbide material is used as the tool substrate. The influence of EDM spherical forming and co-deposition parameters on the tool geometry is presented. The experimental result shows a unique micro-spherical diamond tool can be successfully built with suitable spherical forming parameters that are a peak current of 3 A, pulse duration of 40 µs and spindle rotational speed of 0 rpm in the air, and in Ni-diamond co-deposition are a current density of 7 A dm −2 , diamond particle size of 3 µm, diamond particle concentration of 10 g l −1 and rotational speed of 15 rpm. When using this method, the micro tool has a better geometric shape, uniform particle distribution and suitable particle adhesion quantity. The tool is tested to machine a mold provided with a micro-spherical cavity in a high nickel alloy.