Electric discharge machining (EDM) is the most promising one to machine conductive materials irrespective of their hardness with good accuracy and precision. The plasma discharge phenomenon during EDM involves complex physics which needs to be understood. Several attempts are being tried by researchers in this direction but still, it required further efforts. The present study made to develop an FEA-based electrothermal model to simulate the temperature distribution and material removal rate in EDM of the aluminum alloy AA6061. The cylindrical disk-type heat source was assumed for the current model. To have more realistic machining conditions, the model has introduced a discharge current term in addition to discharge duration in defining the plasma radius and used the Gaussian heat flux. Also, both the conductive (due to plasma) and convective heat transfer (due to dielectric) modes were taken into consideration. The theoretical material removal rate (MRR) was estimated by assuming the cavity produced in the model as a hemispherical type. The EDM experimentation was performed on the AA6061 work material at similar electrical conditions used in the model. The experimental MRR was calculated from the weight difference (before and after machining) method. The results showed that the difference in theoretical (understated assumptions) and experimental MRR as 12%. The reasons for the MRR difference were also discussed in detail. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020.