# Effectiveness of Electrode Design Methodologies for Fast EDM Slotting of Thick Silicon Wafers
## 1 Introduction
At a medium discharge energy level and powder concentration of 0.4 g/l, the nano additive boosted the MRR by 163% while reducing the TWR and SR by 24% and 17%, respectively. [PERSON] et al. [19] investigated the influence of different types of dielectric fluid on the EDM of AISI D2 steel using copper electrodes with square and round cross-sections. The dielectric fluids used were kerosine, canola oil, and jatropha oil. It was found that canola oil performed better, followed by jatropha oil and kerosine in the case of the MRR for round and square-shaped electrodes. For the TWR and SR, kerosine oil suffered less tool wear and provided a better surface finish, followed by jatropha oil and canola oil for both shapes of electrodes. [PERSON] et al. [20] studied the impact of adding silver nano powder to the dielectric during the micro-EDM of high-aspect-ratio micro-holes in Ti-6 Al-4V, whereas [PERSON] et al. [21] investigated the effects of kerosine and water dielectric on the MRR and TWR during the EDM of Aluminum 606176 using a copper electrode of a 25 mm diameter. Both studies confirmed that the EDM performance is influenced by the dielectric material and the presence of additives in the dielectric fluid. The geometry of the tool electrode plays an important role in influencing the machining speed during EDM. [PERSON] et al. [19] investigated the influence of the shape of the tool electrode in EDM for making blind holes. The workpiece and tool electrode materials were AISI D2 steel and copper, respectively. The shapes of the tool electrodes were square and round. For the square-shaped electrode, the dimension of the side was 8 mm; for the round electrode, the diameter was 8 mm. It was found that square-shaped electrodes outperformed round-shaped electrodes in terms of the MRR and surface roughness for all three types of dielectric fluid, namely EDM oil, canola oil, and jatropha oil. [PERSON] et al. [22] also investigated the effects of the geometry of electrodes on the MRR and TWR. They investigated the effectiveness of hexagonal, square, and triangular-shaped electrodes with round and sharp corners. The study showed that round corners outperformed square corners for a higher MRR and lower TWR. Round-cornered square electrodes provided the highest MRR among all electrodes, and sharp-cornered square electrodes performed the worst. For the TWR, round-cornered square-shaped electrodes performed the best, while round-corned hexagonal electrodes displayed the worst performance. Ti-6 Al-4V and POCOEDM-3 graphite were used as workpieces and tool electrodes, respectively, for this study. [PERSON] et al. [23] looked into how electrode geometry affected the MRR and TWR in the EDM of aluminum-based MMC (Al6063/10%SiC) using copper electrodes. The shapes of the electrodes were varied by preparing conical, hollow, hollow slotted, hemispherical, and solid slotted electrodes. The highest MRR was obtained by a hollow slotted electrode, followed by hollow, conical, solid slotted, and hemispherical electrodes. For the TWR, the solid slotted electrode performed the best, while the hollow slotted electrode performed the worst. [PERSON] et al. [24] investigated the influence of the hollowness of tool electrodes on the MRR and TWR during the EDM of high-speed steel using copper electrodes. For this experiment, five geometric electrode shapes were used: hollow square, hollow triangular, hollow polygon, hollow round, and solid round. It was found that hollow square-shaped electrodes outperformed the other shapes of electrodes in terms of the MRR, whereas solid round electrodes ranked the lowest. A similar pattern was also seen for the TWR. [PERSON] et al. [25] investigated the effectiveness of hollow round and hexagonal electrodes for the EDM of particle-reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite (MMC). It was found that hexagonal hollow electrodes generated a higher material removal rate than hollow round electrodes. Many research studies have focused on designing different hybrid machining processes to improve machining performance.