The technique of electrical discharge milling insulating ceramics with instantaneous high temperature generated by a discharge channel flowing along a workpiece surface has been developed by the authors. The process uses a thin copper sheet fed to the tool electrode along the workpiece surface as the assisting electrode, using a water-based emulsion as the machining fluid. It is able effectively to machine a large surface area on insulating ceramics, as well as other advanced non-conductive materials such as cubic boron nitride (CBN) and polycrystalline diamond (PCD). The mathematical models of thermal eroding non-conductive Al2O3 ceramic with a single pulse discharge are esta lished. The thermal erosion characteristics of insulating Al2O3 ceramic with a single pulse discharge have been numerically simulated. The numerical simulation results have been validated by experiment.
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