En procesos de mecanizado por descarga eléctrica EDM (Electro Dischage Machining) el fluido dieléctrico normalmente está compuesto por derivados del petróleo. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar fluidos alternativos a los tradicionales. En este contexto, fueron analizados 5 fluidos dieléctricos de origen vegetal, comparándolos con el desempeño de kerosene y aceite mineral. El material mecanizado fue acero rápido M2, usando parámetros de desbaste para electrodos de cobre y grafito. Fueron medidas las tasas de remoción de material (TMR), el desgaste de los electrodos, la rugosidad y la morfología de la superficie mecanizada. Los dieléctricos de origen vegetal presentaron un desempeño competitivo usando electrodos de cobre y grafito.

EDM process commoly use petroleum based died fuids. The aim of this work is to evaluate alternative fuids to traditional mineral ones. It was analyzed 5 different dielectric fuids derived of seeds. They were compared with kerosene and a mineral oil. The workpiece was speed-steel M2. The machining parameters were preestablished for working with copper and graphite electrodes. The material removal rate, the wear rate of the electrodes, the finishing and morphology of machined surface were all measured. Vegetable based oils showed a competitive performance using cooper and graphite electrodes when compared with mineral based oils.

In the present study, the morphology and the impurity distribution were investigated in growth sectors formed around the [0001] axis of synthetic quartz crystals. Plates containing cylindrical holes and cylindrical bars parallel to [0001] were prepared by ultrasonic machining and further used as seed-crystals. The hydrothermal growth of synthetic quartz was carried out in a commercial autoclave under NaOH solution during 50 days. The morphologies of crystals grown from cylindrical seeds were characterized by X-ray diffraction topography. For both types of crystals, +X- and X- growth sectors were distinctly observed. Infrared spectroscopy and ionizing radiation were adopted to reveal the distribution of point defects related to Si-Al substitution and OH-species. It was found a different distribution of Al-related centers in relation to the crystals grown from conventional Y-bar and Z-plate seeds.

O processo de Usinagem por Descargas Elétricas é muito utilizado na usinagem de materiais de elevada dureza, difíceis de serem usinados por processos convencionais, além de permitir a confecção de geometrias bem complexas e de dimensões diminutas. O objetivo principal desse trabalho é o estudo das superfícies usinadas pelo processo EDM com diferentes tipos de fluidos dielétricos em três regimes de usinagem. Os diversos fluidos dielétricos utilizados possibilitam diferentes condições de usinagem e muito pouco se sabe sobre qual o fluido mais indicado para operações de acabamento ou desbaste. Foram feitos ensaios com cinco tipos diferentes de fluidos dielétricos e com uma ferramenta cilíndrica vazada de cobre eletrolítico. Verificou-se que há diferenças importantes quando usina-se com fluidos diferentes, mantendo-se constantes todas as demais condições de operação, embora todos os fluidos, com exceção do querosene, são vendidos como se fossem exatamente iguais entre si, o que se mostrou falso. Porém a maior conclusão desse trabalho foi a de que o querosene, apesar de ser até três vezes mais barato que os demais fluidos, apresentou piores acabamentos superficiais com grande formação de bolhas durante o processo, pois sua menor densidade confere também excessiva evaporação durante a usinagem, o que acabou por conferir uma superfície muito irregular e com muita porosidade e presença de microtrincas, além de maiores riscos ao operador.

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.