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Abstract
Electrical discharge texturing (EDT) is used to generate rough surface textures. Though roughness of the work surface obtained through EDM has been studied, surface textures obtained have not been paid attention to so far. Stainless steel 316L samples were textured using tool materials, such as copper (Cu), tungsten (W) and copper–tungsten (Cu–W) while varying operating parameters such as gap voltage and pulse on-time. At low levels of operating parameters, due to high tool wear of copper, a lesser number of surface irregularities such as micro-globules and micro-cracks were observed on the textured surfaces compared to those displayed by other electrodes. However, at high levels of operating parameters, the anodic erosion on the tool becomes constant, which leads to a denser distribution of surface irregularities due to high electrical discharge efficiency. Tungsten electrode with low electrical discharge efficiency and low tool wear shows an opposite trend. Copper–tungsten electrode with high electrical discharge efficiency and low tool wear leads to a denser distribution of surface irregularities at both low and high levels of operating parameters. Evaluation of a few samples textured with copper electrode showed good protein adhesion, whereas the polished sample did not display any protein adhesion.