Borja Izquierdo

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of the Basque Country

Discharge delay time in EDM is an important indicator used to distinguish the type of discharge or to judge the discharge situation. In recent years, some works have been finished by different researchers for exploring the relation between discharge delay time and various machining parameters. Whereas most of these works are focused on the field of...

Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) is a well-known non-conventional machining process for those applications that require both good finishing and tight tolerances. One of the main problems that occur during EDM operations is wire breakage, which leads to stops in the machining process and lowers process productivity. Recent findings have re...

Featured Application The calculation time reduction of the new methodology for obtaining the stability maps in grinding processes contributes to the industrialization of chatter avoidance technologies. Abstract An alternative method is devised for calculating dynamic stability maps in cylindrical and centerless infeed grinding processes. The metho...

The study of the actual conditions in the discharge gap is a matter of large interest in area of WEDM. It is known that gap width and the presence of electrically conductive debris particles are the dominant factors affecting dielectric breakdown strength. Whereas, little information of that in WEDM is available, probably because of the difficult a...

Manufacturing of grinding wheels is continuously adapting to new industrial requirements. New abrasives and new wheel configurations, together with wheel wear control allow for grinding process optimization. However, the wear behavior of the new abrasive materials is not usually studied from a scientific point of view due to the difficulty to contr...

Manufacturing of grinding wheels is continuously adapting to new industrial requirements. New abrasives and new wheel configurations, together with wheel wear control allow for grinding process optimization. However, the wear behavior of the new abrasive materials is not usually studied from a scientific point of view due to the difficulty to contr...

This paper is focused on novel electrode in-machine dressing strategy by means of EDM for seal slotted parts in aeronautical industry. The feasibility of in-machine electrode dressing applying a linear interpolation to the electrode to recover its frontal face has been analysed. The influence of different approaches in plate materials and parameter...

Multi-axis Electrical Discharge machining has become a feasible solution in the manufacturing of complex geometry parts of the aerospace and energy industry. In EDM, the final work piece is principally affected by electrode wear and gap width. The machine tool manufacturers provide limited information concerning both features, in which they do not...

Machining of high-aspect ratio slots is a common operation in industry, particularly in the mold and die and aerospace sectors. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a competitive technology for this operation, since it does not depend on material hardness and can fulfill strict geometrical requirements. However, due to debris accumulation in the...

Manufacturing high aspect ratio slots in low machinability aeronautical materials using conventional machining methods is an arduous work. Electrical discharge machining has become an appropriate solution to carry out this task due to the independence of this process from material properties such as hardness or machinability. Former works show that...

The use of alternative processes for the manufacturing of aeronautical components is essential in order to fulfill the requirements that have been set by the aircraft sector. One particular solution that has been used for certain applications is that of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM). The EDM process can machine any electrically conductive ma...

Grind-hardening is a manufacturing process that uses the heat generated within the grinding zone in order to produce surface hardening. After the process, workpieces present dimensional inaccuracies and a poor surface finish. Thus, a finishing grinding operation has to be carried out. For a successful implementation of the whole process, two proble...

There is a growing interest in the machining of micro-holes with high aspect-ratio in difficult-to-machine alloys for the aerospace industry. Processes based on Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) and developed for the manufacture of both micro-electrode and micro-hole are actually used, but most of them involve micro-EDM machines. In this work, the...

Electrical discharge milling-based processes are a good alternative for the manufacturing of micro-tools. However, some limitations must be considered both on the fields of process cost and control of surface characteristics. The inverse slab electrical discharge milling (ISEDM) process is an economic alternative to other high-precision high-cost m...

Grind-hardening is an innovative manufacturing process that takes advantage of the high amount of heat generated in the contact zone to produce a martensitic phase transformation in the subsurface layer of the workpiece. However, for a successful industrial implementation of the process, the closed loop control of the hardening depth is essential....

The grind-hardening process uses the heat generated within the grinding zone in order to produce surface hardening of the workpiece. However, after the process, workpieces present dimensional inaccuracies and poor surface roughness. Thus, a final grinding operation has to be performed. For an industrial implementation of the whole process, two prob...

Holes of 0.3-0.4 mm diameter and large depths are typical features in aerospace components of Ni-based and Ti-based alloys. The EDM process is a popular manufacturing method for this type of precision holes in difficult-to-machine materials. Optimization of this technology requires taking into account different aspects such as process parameters, e...

The EDM process is adequate for machining of narrow slots in low machinability materials, such as Ni based alloys used for aeronautical applications. This paper studies the influence of main process parameters involved in this process. The objective is to determine the effect of parameters related to the discharge process (current, pulse time and s...

Important research effort is currently being spent on reduction (if not complete removal) of lubricant consumption in machining operations. While scientific and industrial advances can be found in turning, milling and drilling technologies; advances in fluid reduction in grinding are still very limited. The main reason being abrasive processes gene...

Electrical discharge machining is a popular non-traditional machining process, optimum for accurate machining of complex geometries in hard materials. EDM has been used for decades for machining pieces for the aeronautical industry, but surface integrity, and consequently the reliability of the machined parts have been questioned for long time due...

The use of fluids in grinding is necessary to carry out an optimized process that avoids any kind of damage in the ground workpieces. However, the use of fluids in machining processes presents some problems as the economic one and the environmental one. The present work analyzes the industrial viability of a new solution to avoid the use of fluids...

Grinding is a stochastic process applied in the last stages of the manufacturing cycle. In last decades, grinding research has focused on prediction of thermal damage on ground workpiece since it is of considerable importance from both research and industrial perspectives. A number of numerical and analytical thermal models have been carried out so...

The process of Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) has experienced a dramatic growth in the last years. Together with the new requirements imposed by customer needs, globalization of the markets has brought about a new scenario in which competitiveness is the keyword. In the case of WEDM, it is only possible from a perspective that integrate...

This paper analyses the technological capabilities of a novel rotary (EDM) electrical discharge machining process for the manufacturing of high aspect ratio cylindrical micro-components. The process is called Inverse Electrical Discharge Grinding (ISEDM). An experimental analysis has been carried out on high speed steel (tool steel Vanadis 23), usi...

Manufacturing of micro-pins with diameter less than 1 mm is a field of great interest both in research and in industrial application. There is a wide variety of components of low-diameter cylindrical geometry for various applications, including precision products such as gear shafts, valves, shafts, and channels of micro-fluidic systems, parts for...

Grinding process using superabrasive metal-bonded wheels is unavoidably linked to long and inefficient truing and dressing processes. This document presents the application of electro-discharge dressing process as an alternative to form wheels. The accuracy of the process and its efficiency has been analyzed on wheels of different grit size. To do...

Temperature measurement in grinding has been a widely analyzed field in the study of the process. Temperatures in grinding are too difficult to measure due to the high gradients in the ground workpiece. A lot of different methods have been employed by many researches in the last years. In this paper the use of thermocouples is analyzed attending to...

The European Higher Education Area has entailed some upheaval since it has involved deep changes in university education. Among the subjects taught in technical education such as Manufacturing Technologies, which involve strong experimental contents, the use of specific tools is helpful for better understanding of such subjects. This article highli...

The increased concern for environment and sustainability are pushing machining operations towards the reduction or even complete elimination of cutting fluids. Grinding is not excluded from this objective, but greater difficulties appear due to the nature of the material removal mechanisms. In this work, two approaches aiming at the optimization of...

The electrical discharge machining (EDM) process is a popular non-traditional machining process, but, although it is widely used in industry, there is still a lack of scientific knowledge about its fundamentals. This paper discusses some aspects of the discharge process at the sight of the results obtained with a previously developed thermal model,...

Important research efforts are being devoted to the analysis and optimization of grinding operations. Due to the large number of variables involved in the process, a deeper understanding of the nature of contact mechanics between wheel and workpiece is required. The possibility of a sound estimation of the actual contact length is a critical issue,...

Although there are already successful industrial experiences in other machining industries with the elimination of coolants, this is not so in the grinding industry due to the large amounts of generated heat that must be evacuated from the contact zone. In this work, a new approach to the elimination of fluids in grinding is presented. The technolo...

Superabrasive grinding is a high efficiency process used in special applications such as high speed grinding, creep feed grinding, and Quick-Point. Although the maximum efficiency is obtained by metallic bonded wheels due to their wear resistance, their hardness makes almost impossible to dress them properly. Vitrified bonded wheels are now being u...

In recent years, efforts have been put on modelling of the EDM process, being thermal modelling of the process one promising alternative. In a previous publication an original model of the EDM process was presented; even though predictions made by the proposed model show very high accuracy, there are still some aspects regarding the modelling of th...

Hard metal is characterised by having a extremely high hardness and high wear resistance, and those characteristics make difficult conventional machining. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) has become an attractive and feasible method for the manufacturing of precision hard metal tooling, and it is now an alternative to classical diamond grinding...

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a non‐conventional machining process whose thermoelectric nature makes it suitable for the machining of any material, regardless of its hardness and of its brittleness, as long as it conducts electricity. Despite EDM is a popular process in industry, the fact that it involves phenomena of very distinct nature...

The electrical discharge machining (EDM) process is optimum for accurate machining of complex geometries in hard materials, as those required in the tooling industry. It has become by far the most popular among the non-conventional machining processes. However, although a large number of EDM machines are sold every year, available knowledge of the...

The electrical discharge machining (EDM) process is, by far, the most popular amongst the non-conventional machining processes. The technology is optimum for accurate machining of complex geometries in hard materials, as those required in the tooling industry. However, although a large number of EDM machines are sold every year, scientific knowledg...