Uhlmann, EckartEckartUhlmannPolte, MitchelMitchelPoltePolte, JulianJulianPolteKuche, YvesYvesKucheHocke, ToniToniHocke2023-12-042023-12-042020https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/409321Due to the international competition, continuous increases in productivity, product quality and reduction of production costs are required. Especially, the development of milling tools made of innovative cutting materials and application-specific tool geometries are in focus to overcome these challenges. Besides copper, graphite is the most important electrode material for electrical discharge machining (EDM). The machining of graphite leads to high tool wear due to a strong abrasive effect. Short tool life has a considerable influence on the economic efficiency of manufacturing processes. Currently, for the machining of graphite cost intensive diamond coated carbide tools are applied. In order to reduce machining costs, innovative cutting materials and dedicated manufacturing processes have to be applied. First results show a great potential of ceramics as tool material for machining graphite. The aim of this investigation is the characterisation and identification of novel ceramic cutting materials and the evaluation of an innovative tool micro-geometry especially designed for machining graphite. Therefore, the cutting material properties such as hardness, fracture toughness and wear resistance of four ceramic materials were investigated. Various hardness tests and particle blasting tests were carried out. Based on this investigations to manufacture the ceramic milling tools, a specific and innovative tool micro-geometry with defined angles was used. Thereby, a suitable cutting ceramic was identified, which represents a promising approach for an optimised machining of graphite.en658670conference paper