Electrical Discharge Machining

R.K.
RANA [LECTURER]
M.Tech (P), B.Tech, LMIEI
YouTube.com/RamakantRana RamakantRana Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)

It is an advanced machining process primarily used for hard and difficult metals which are difficult to machine with the traditional technique techniques. Only electrically conducting materials are machined by this process. The EDM process is best suited for making intricate cavities and contours which would be difficult to produce with normal machines like grinders, end end-mills or other cutting tools. s such as hardened tool tool-steels, steels, carbides, titanium, inconel and kovar are Metals easily machined through EDM. EDM is a thermal process which makes use of spark discharges to erode the material from workpiece surface. The cavity formed in EDM is a replica of the tool shape used as the erosions occur in the confined area. Since spark discharges occur in EDM, it is also called as "spark machining". The material removal takes place in EDM through a rapid s series eries of electrical discharges. These discharges pass between the electrode and the workpiece being machined. The fine chips of material removed from the workpiece gets flushed away by the continuous flowing di di-electric fluid. The repetitive discharge creates a set of successively deeper craters in the work piece until the final shape is produced. History In 1770, Joseph Priestly a british scientist first discovered the erosive effects of electrical discharges. In 1943, soviet scientists B. Lazarenko and N. Lazarenko had exploited the destructive effect of an electrical discharge and developed a controlled process for machining materials that are conductors of electricity. EDM Principle The schematic of the basic EDM process is illustrated in F Fig. 1. In this process, the workpiece and tool are submerged into a non non-conducting, conducting, dielectric fluid which is separated by a small gap (for sparking). The dielectric fluid insulates the workpiece from the tool and creates the resistance of electricity ty flow between the electrodes. The dielectric fluid may be typical hydrocarbon oil (kerosene oil) or de de-ionized water. It also helps in cooling down the tool and workpiece, clears the inter interelectrode gap (IEG), and concentrates the spark energy to a small cross sectional area a under the electrode.
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R.K. RANA [LECTURER]

Figure 1: Schematic of Electric Discharge Machining EDM As the two electrodes come closer to one another, the electric field intensity increases beyond the strength of the dielectric enabling it to break and thereby allow the current to flow between the two electrodes. As a result of this effect, intense heat gets generated near the zone, which melts and evaporates the material in the sparking zone. As the flow of current is momentarily stopped, some fresh dielectric liquid particles articles come in position between the inter-electrode electrode gap which restores the insulating properties of the dielectric. The solid particles (debris) are carried away by the flowing dielectric. Flushing refers to the addition of new liquid dielectric to the inter-electrode electrode volume. A close view of the EDM process is shown in Fig. 2. The sparks occur at spots where the tool and the workpiece surfaces are the closest and since the spots change after each spark (because of the material removal after each spark), the spark travels all over the surfaces. This results in uniform removal of material, hence exact shape get reproduced on the workpiece surface.
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Figure 2: Close view of ED machining region
Process Parameters:
The process parameters in EDM are mainly related to the waveform characteristics. Figure shows a general waveform used in EDM.
Figure: Waveform used in EDM
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The waveform aveform is characterised by the: The open circuit voltage - Vo The working voltage - VW The maximum current - IO The pulse on time the duration for which the voltage pulse is applied - ton The pulse off time - toff The gap between the workpiece and the tool spark gap The polarity straight polarity tool (-ve) The dielectric medium External flushing through the spark gap. Advantages of EDM The major advantages of the process are: Any materials that are electrically conductive can be machined by EDM. Materials, regardless of their hardness, strength, toughness and microstructure can be easily machined / cut by EDM process The tool (electrode) and workpiece are free from cutting forces Edge machining and sharp corners are possible in EDM process The tool making is easier as it can be made from softer and easily formable materials like copper, br brass and graphite. The process produces good surface finish, accuracy and repeatability. Hardened work-pieces pieces can also be machined since the deformation caused by it does not affect the final dimensions. EDM is a burr free process. Hard die materials with c complicated omplicated shapes can be easily finished with good surface finish and accuracy through EDM process. Due to the presence of dielectric fluid, there is very little heating of the bulk material. Limitations of EDM Material removal rates are low, making the process economical only for very hard and difficult to machine materials. Re-cast cast layers and microcracks are inherent features of the EDM process, thereby making the surface quality poor. The EDM process is not suitable for non non-conductors. Rapid electrode wear makes the process more costly. -
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The surfaces produced by EDM generally have a matt type appearance, requiring further polishing to attain a glossy finish. Applications of EDM Hardened steel dies, stamping tools, wire drawing and extrusion dies, header dies, forging dies, intricate mould cavities and such parts are made by the EDM process. The process is widely used for machining of exotic materials that are used in aerospace and automatic industries. EDM being a non-contact contact type of machining process, i it t is very well suited for making fragile parts which cannot take the stress of machining. The parts that fit such profiles include washing machine agitators; electronic components, printer parts and difficult to machine features such as the honeycomb shape shapes. Deep cavities, slots and ribs can be easily made by EDM as the cutting forces are less and longer electrodes can be used to make such collets, jet engine blade slots, mould cooling slots etc. Micro-EDM EDM process can successfully produce micro micro-pins, micro-nozzles nozzles and micro-cavities. Mechanism of Material Removal in EDM In EDM, for a particular machining condition there are numerous phenomena involved, i.e., heat conduction and radiation, phase changes, electrical forces, bubble formation and collapse, rapid solidification etc. Thermo-electric electric phenomenon is the most appropriate theory for the explanation of the electrical discharge machining process. The removal of material in EDM is associated with the erosive effects produced when discrete and spatial discharge occurs between the tool and workpiece electrodes. Short duration sparks are generated between these two electrodes. The generator releases electrical energy, which is responsible for melting a small quantity of material from both th the electrodes. At the end of the pulse duration, a pause time begins. The forces that may be of electric, hydrodynamic and thermodynamic in nature remove the melted pools. The material removal process by a single spark is as follows: An intense electric field develops in the gap between electrode and workpiece. There are some contaminants inside the dielectric fluid which build a high conductivity bridge between the electrode and workpiece. When the voltage increases, the bridge and dielectric fluid betwe between en the electrode and workpiece heat up. The dielectric is ionized onized to form a spark channel.
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The temperature and pressure rapidly increase and a spark is generated. A small amount of material is evaporated on the electrode and workpiece at the spark contact point. Bubbles rapidly expand and explode during sparking until the voltage is turned off. Next the heating channel collapses and the dielectric fluid enters into the gap in inorder to flush away the molten metal particles. The material removal rate depends on the following factors: o Peak amperage or intensity of the spark o Length of the ON time o OFF time influences the speed and stability o Duty cycle: percentage of on on-time relative to total cycle time o Gap distance: Smaller the gap better is the accuracy and slower is the material removal rate. The material removal phenomena in EDM are shown schematically in the Fig. 3
Figure 3: Schematic of the material removal phenomena in EDM Types of EDM Processes 1. Die Sinker EDM 2. Wire Cut EDM
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Die-Sinker Sinker EDM and its Systems

Sinker EDM is known by different names such as Ram EDM, sinker EDM, vertical Die-Sinker EDM and plunge EDM. The process is generally used for producing blind cavities. In die-sinker sinker EDM, the electrode and workpiece are submerged in an insula insulating ting liquid such as oil or other dielectric fluids. The electrode and workpiece are connected to a suitable power supply. An electrical potential is generated between the tool and the workpiece through the power supply. As the electrode approaches workpiece, the dielectric break down starts taking place in the fluid. Due to this activity, a plasma channel starts forming and sparks jump from the electrode to the workpiece leading to material removal from the workpiece. The principle of die-sinking EDM is shown in Fig. 3.1 and the schematic of die-sinker die EDM process is shown in Fig. 3.2 The main components of Die Die-sinker EDM are: Power supply. Dielectric system. Electrode Servo system
Figure 1: Principle of Die-Sinking EDM
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Figure 2: Schematic of Die-Sinking EDM Process Power Supply: The power supply provides a series of DC electrical discharges and controls: Current Pulse voltage Pulse duration Duty cycle Electrode polarity Pulse frequency Dielectric and its Circulation System System: The dielectric fluids used in EDM operations are of different types. The most popular dielectric fluids are hydrocarbon oil (kerosene in particular). The other fluids used are transformer oil, paraffin oil; silicon based oil, or de-ionized ionized water. The selection of an appropriate dielectric fluid depends upon its various chemical and fluidic properties (such as flash point, dielectric strength, viscosity, specific gravity and color) The dielectric system performs the following tasks: It induces clean dielectric electric into the cutting zone Flushes away debris Cools the workpiece and electrodes
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In order to provide circulation of the dielectric fluid to the work piece, the EDM machine tool is equipped with a well-designed designed dielectric circulation system. ists of following two parts: It consists on-to to the workpiece 1. Pump : Its main purpose is to circulate the dielectric fluid on 2. Filter and suction unit: This unit filters out the material debris and any other foreign parts from the dielectric. Servo System: The servo system is commanded by signals from gap voltage sensor system in the power supply and it controls the in-feed feed of the electrode to precisely match the required rate of material removal. At times stepper motor can be used instead of a servomotor. As soon as the gap voltage sensor system determines bridging of some pieces of electrically conductive materials between the electrode and work work-piece, piece, the servo system immediately reacts and reverses the direction. The process is restored when the gap is flushed by the he dielectric fluid. When the gap becomes clear, the in in-feed feed resumes and cutting process continues. Electrodes: The electrodes for EDM process are usually made of brass, copper, graphite and coppertungsten alloys. Design considerations for EDM process process: In EDM process, fine openings and deeper slots need to be avoided. Very fine surface finish values should not be specified. As the MRR of EDM process is low, the rough cutting should be done by some other machining process and EDM machine should me made used for the finishing operations only.
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Wire Cut Electric Discharge Machining (WEDM)

The Wire Electric Discharge Machining (WEDM) is a variation of EDM and is commonly known as wire wire-cut EDM or wire cutting. In this process, a thin metallic wire is fed on-to to the workpiece, which is submerged in a tank of dielectric fluid such as deionized water. This process can also cut plates as thick as 300mm and is used for making punches, tools and dies from hard metals that are difficult to machine with other methods. The wire, which is constantly fed from a spool, is held between upper and lower diamond guides. The guides are usually CNC CNC-controlled and move in the xy plane. On most machines, the upper guide can move independently in the z zuv axis, giving it a flexibility to cut tapered and transitioning shapes (example: square at the bottom and circle on the top). The upper guide can control axis movements in x xyuvijkl. This helps in programming the wire wire-cut cut EDM, for cutting very intricate and delicate delica shapes. cut EDM process, water is commonl commonly y used as the dielectric fluid. In the wire-cut Filters and de-ionizing ionizing units are used for controlling the resistivity and other electrical properties. Wires made of brass are generally preferred. The water helps in flushing away the debris from the cutting zone. The flushing also helps to determine the feed rates to be given for different thickness of the materials. The schematic of wire cut EDM is shown in Figure 3.1
Figure 1: Schematic of Wire-Cut EDM Process
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The WEDM process requires lesser cutting forces in material removal; hence it is generally used when lower residual stresses in the workpiece are desired. If the energy/power per pulse is relatively low (as in finishing operations), little changes in the mechanical properties of the material are expected due to these low residual stresses. The materials which are not stress stress-relieved relieved earlier can get distorted in the machining process. The selection of process parameters is very crucial, as in some cases t the workpiece undergoes significant thermal cycles that can be very severe. These thermal cycles can form recast layers and induce residual tensile stresses on the workpiece which are undesired. Process of Material Removal in Wire Wire-Cut EDM: In the WEDM process, ocess, the motion of wire is slow. It is fed in the programmed path and material is cut/ removed from the workpiece accordingly. Electrically conductive materials are cut by the WEDM process by the electroelectro thermal mechanisms. Material removal takes place by a series of discrete discharges between the wire electrode and workpiece in the presence of a di di-electric fluid. The di-electric electric fluid gets ionized in between the tool-electrode electrode gap thereby creating a path for each discharge. The area wherein discharge takes place gets heated to very high temperatures such that the surface gets melted and removed. The cut particles (debris) get flushed away by the continuously flowing dielectric fluid. conventional process and is very wid widely ely used in tool steels for WEDM is a non-conventional pattern and die making industries. The process is also used for cutting intricate shapes in components used for the electric and aerospace industries. Cut EDM EDM: Applications of Wire-Cut Wire EDM is used for cutting aluminium, brass, copper, carbides, graphite, steels and titanium. The wire material varies with the applicati application requirements. Example: for quicker cutting action, zinc zinc-coated coated brass wires are used while for more accurate applications, molybdenum wires are used.
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M.Tech (P), B.Tech, LMIEI The process is used in the following areas:
Aerospace, Medical, Electronics and Semiconductor applications Tool & Die making industries. For cutting the hard Extrusion Dies In making Fixtures, Gauges & Cams Cutting of Gears, Strippers, Punches and Dies Manufacturing hard Electrodes. Manufacturing micro-tooling for Micro-EDM, Micro-USM USM and such other micromachining applications.
Figure 2: Laminated Sheets being cut by wire wire-cut EDM Process The Subsystems of Wire EDM Power supply. Dielectric system. Wire feeding system. Positioning system. The power supply and di-electric electric system used in WEDM is very similar to that o of the conventional EDM. The main difference lies only in the type of dielectric used. In wire cut EDM, a moving wire electrode is used to cut complex mplex outlines and fine details in the required workpiece. The wire is wound on a spool and is kept in constant tension. The drive system continuously delivers the fresh wire o on-to the work area.
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hence e the wear of the wire (tool) is New wire is continuously exposed to the workpiece henc not the major issue in WEDM process. The wire feeding system consists of a large spool of wire and rollers which direct the wire through the machine. The presence of metal contact provides power to the wire and guides it further in-order order to keep it straight throughout the cutting process. The other parts are the pinch rollers which provide drive and wire tension, a system to thread the wire from the upper to the lower guide and a sensor to detect when the wire runs out or breaks. Process Parameters in WEDM The process parameters that can affect the quality of machining or cutting or drilling in WEDM process are shown through an Ishikawa c cause-effect effect diagram as shown in fig.3.3. The major parameters are as follows: Electrical parameters: Peak current, pulse on time, pu pulse lse off time and supply voltage and polarity. Non-electrical electrical parameters: Wire speed; work feed rate, machining time, gain and rate of flushing. Electrode based parameters: Material and size of the wire. Dielectric System: Type, viscosity, and other flow characteristics
Figure 3: Ishikawa Cause and Effect Diagram for EDM
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R.K.

YouTube.com/RamakantRana RamakantRana Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)