Transfer inovácií 32/2015
ELECTRO-DISCHARGE TEXTURING OF TOOLS SURFACES FOR ROLLING
OF STEEL SHEETS
Prof. Ing. Emil Evin, CSc.
Technical University of Košice
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Mäsiarska 74, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
e-mail: emil.evin@tuke.sk
Keywords: Statistical methods, coated sheets,
quality, optimization.
Abstract
Microgeometry of the surface of
galvanized sheets for the superficial parts of cars is
one of the decisive factors affecting the appearance
of the surface after painting and also affects the
stampability of these steel sheets. Requirements for
the surface of steel sheets for the superficial parts
are high (guaranteed microgeometry, minimum
defects, homogenous surface over the full width
and length of the belt, mat appearance, good
adhesion of the Zn layer, etc.) and therefore the
production of the sheets is more difficult compared
to common production. Requirements of
automotive customers in microgeometry are
focused mainly on the roughness parameters Ra
[m] (roughness) Pc [cm-1] (number of peaks) or
Wa [m] (undulation roughness). This paper
discusses the influence of some parameters applied
at roughening surface of the steel steel work rolls,
the quality of rolled steel sheets. The focus is put on
detecting the effects of individual parameters
influencing the technological process. These are
significant to meet the specific requirements of
manufacturers for the output characteristics of the
sheet. The paper describes the EDM process
parameters, which may affect the individual
characteristics.
Introduction
Increasing demands on the anticorrosion
behavior of steel sheet stampings in the automotive
industry supported the development of various
types of coated steel sheets. Galvanized sheets have
their irreplaceable place among the coated steel
sheets in regard to the ratio between the quality
(meeting the requirements of customers) and price.
Unlike conventional steel steels, the evolution of
galvanized sheets for the automotive industry has
its own particularities. It is necessary to meet the
requirements not only for the mechanical
properties, but also ensure a perfect surface of zinc
coating and its adhesion to the base materials. To
achieve the desired surface appearance of body
parts after pressing and painting, customers require
very close tolerance of microgeometry parameters
(Ra) with a uniform microgeometry of the sheet
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surface. Requirements of customers for
microgeometry of the surface of galvanized steel
sheets designed for superficial parts mainly focus
on the parameters of roughness Ra [μm]
(roughness), Pc [cm-1] (number of peaks) [1].
Car plants exactly specify their
requirements for the characteristics of surface
microgeometry of the sheet surface by means of Ra
roughness, Pc number of peaks or Wa undulation
roughness (Table 1).
These parameters have the decisive
influence on stampability of blank ( sheet cuts),
paint adhesion to the base material and surface
appearance of body parts after painting. It can be
seen from Table 1 that customers require tolerance
of Ra roughness of steel sheet belt surface of 6 μm.
The decisive precondition of obtaining required
relief is the surface texture of work rolls of the
rolling mill and its transfer to the steel sheet surface
over the width and length of the belt. Texture
transfer of the roll surface to the steel sheet surface
can be conducted by the removal of the rolling mill
[3]. The bigger removal, the more perfect texture
transfer of the roll to the steel sheets surface.
In term of obtaining Ra and Pc guaranteed
parameters and their reproducibility, it is necessary
to bear in mind that the roughness parameters of the
sheet surface depend not only on the maximum
value of the rolling mill removal, but also the
preparation mode of work rolls of the rolling mill.
Increasingly demanding requirements of
customers can be met by using sophisticated
technologies for the production of galvanized steel
sheet body parts and related requirements for work
rolls of the rolling mills.
For roughening the rolls to prepare a
distinct surface topography, there are several
methods currently available: Shot Blast Texturing
(SBT), Electron Beam Texturing (EBT), Electron
Beam Texturing (EBT), Electrical Discharge
Texturing (EDT), Laser Texturing (LT).
The topology of the sheet surface is highly
dependent on its manufacturing method – Fig. 1.
Due to the different tool preparation for sheet
rolling, a very complex surface design can become
possible. This will theoretically allows choosing the
best steel sheet material for a given process. [2, 3]
Unfortunately, indication of the method by
which a steel sheet surface has been generated is
not sufficient for proper description of its function.
Just as zinc coatings can vary within a single
manufacturing method, also the topographies from
a dressing process can be distinctly different in
functional behavior.
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Transfer inovácií 32/2015 2015

Shot Blast Texturing (SBT), Electron Beam Texturing (EBT),

Electrical Discharge Texturing (EDT) Laser Texturing (LT)

Fig. 1 Texture of surfaces steel sheets

Table 1 Requirement of customers for Ra and Pc roughness parameters

Requirement for Requirement for
Customer Quality
Ra Pc
Škoda Auto DX54D 1.1 - 1.6 min. 40
Dacia Renault DX54D 0.7 - 1.3 min. 110
Ford DX54D 1,1 - 1,7 min. 50
comparison of dressing processes is very difficult.
To describe a surface unambiguously, further In Table 2, some parameters concerning the
process parameters should be specified for each roughness properties are compared.
manufacturing method. This is why a direct

Table 2 Comparing the texturing methods [4]

Method SBT EDT LT EBT

Regularity stochastic stochastic (semi-) deterministic Deterministic

roughness of rolls Ra 1-6 Ra 0,8-10 Ra 0,8 – 10 crater diam. 90-530
low - low, up to high for medium, up to high
peak count (PC) high
medium pseudostochastic for pseudostochastic
clearly PC related PC little related to PC little related to
relation PC/Ra
related to Ra Ra Ra
structure transfer dry
limited good distinctly reduced Good
rolling
structure transfer wet
reduced reduced essentially reduced essentially reduced
rolling
reproducibility Bad good Good Good

Methodology and experimental research
Material removal from the roll surface
occurs at electric discharge texturing. It is caused
by electric discharges that are separated in time
and space. Electrodes gradually submerge into
dielectric liquid during the cutting process – Fig.
2 and Fig. 3. Electric discharge occurs in
workspace, whereby filling and evaporation of the
material of roll and electrode occurs. The
discharge canal is created and consequently the
gas bubble is formed. Waste from the roll and the
slag of the used electrode reduces the cutting
efficiency. That is why waste has to be removed
from dielectric liquid in regular intervals.

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Transfer inovácií 32/2015 2015

Fig. 2 Scheme of the Electric

Discharge Texturing process [5]. Fig. 3 Arrangement of the block of 8 electrodes.

Resultant Ra, Pc roughness parameters of

electric discharge texturing of rolls depend on UiL Table 3 Parameters of electric discharge texturing
[V] and UiH [V] texturing voltage, I [A] texturing of rolls.
current, On [μs] pulse length, Off [μs] pause length,
roll speed, feed speed, material of used electrodes, Parameter Ra 1,5 Ra 2,5 Ra 3,8
their shape and size of working surface. Electric [μm] [μm] [μm]
discharge texturing machine EDT 2100/4500 was UiL [V] – voltage 5 10 15
used to research the influence of parameters of UiH [V] – voltage 8 20 35
electric discharge texturing of the surface of work I [A] - texturing 4 8 19
rolls. Parameters of electric discharge roughening current
of the rolls surface on Ra parameter can be found in Pulse length [μs] 4 14 29
Table 3. Pause length [μs] 6 16 38
Rolls surface roughness was measured by Roll speed [mm.s- 800 800 800
the Hommel Tester T 1 000 roughness meter 1]
according to the requirements of the DIN EN ISO Electrode diameter 8 8 8
4288 regulations or DIN EN ISO 12085 (MOTIF) a [mm]
STN EN ISO 4288 regulations at various roughness Cutting time [min] 595 395 135
ranges. Ra and Pc values were measured on the
edges and in the middle of the belt of 0o, 90o, 180o,
270o.. Measured values of Ra, Pc and their standard
deviations are presented in Table 4.

Table 4 Measured values Ra, Pc and calculated values of reliability indices.

• Required Ra roughness of rolls of rolling mill
Measurement
• Ra 1,5 μm • Ra 2,5 μm • Ra 3,8 μm
No.
• Ra • Pc • Ra • Pc • Ra • Pc
•x • 1,53 • 158 • 2,55 • 99 • 3,84 • 68
•s • ±0,03 • ±7 • ±0,03 • ±3 • ±0,03 • ±3
• sT • 0.044 • • 0.038 • • 0.048 •
• Cpm • 2.3 • • 2.6 • • 2.1 •
• Cpk • • >2,28 • • • •

Measured results and their discussion
The method of cause and effect diagnosis
was used to diagnose the formation of incidental
deviations from standard or required characteristics
of Ra and Pc. Ishikawa diagram, which is very
useful tool to determine the knot points of
measuring main and minor parameters that
influence Ra and Pc roughness parameters, can be
found in Fig. 4 [5]. The most frequently incident
errors at the rolls texturing comprise: roll-
scorching, show-through of textured roll surface,
belts along the roll perimeter, longitudinal belts on
the roll body (roller blind).
Roll-scorching can occur either if a short
technological pause is set up, the pulse is not
disconnected or impurities are not excluded from
dielectric liquid at low roll speed and repeated bend
between the electrode and work roll is formed. This
undesirable effect can be prevented by
technological pause extension or increase of the roll
speed over limit values at which this phenomenon
does not occur.

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Transfer inovácií 32/2015
Show-through of textured roll surface can
be caused by improper boring out a roll, damage to
the transmission gearing or damage to the work roll
pin. It can be to some extent corrected by the
regulation of the roll speed at texturing or regular
maintenance of electric discharge machine.
The goal is to ensure the roll texture so that
probability of reaching required Ra and Pc values
was as high as possible and above mentioned errors
on the work rolls were prevented. Reliability of
electric discharge texturing process can be ensured
by comparing requirements of the customer to the
state that can be reached by the process. Japanese
engineer and statistician Gen'ichi Taguchi proposed
simple relations to count Cpm reliability index to
evaluate the process reliability
T USL  LSL
C pm   double tolerance is concerned. In this case the
6.sT 6.sT (1)
and Cp reliability index
x  LSL, resp.USL
C pL (lower ) 
3.s (2)
where x is the mean value of Ra and Pc
roughness parameters measured on the rolls,
Fig. 4 Ishikawa diagram of electric discharge texturing process.
It results from Fig. 5 that measured values
of work rolls roughness are in the middle of the
tolerance field T that is required by customers.
Calculated values of Cpm reliability index are
higher than 1,67. It means that applied procedures
of electric discharge texturing of rolls are reliable.
It is unlikely that Ra of work rolls will be beyond
specified tolerance of 0,6 µm, if applied parameters
of electric discharge texturing will be used at
surface texturing of work rolls.
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s – standard deviation of Ra and Pc roughness
parameters,
T – mean value of Ra roughness required by the
customer,
USL – upper tolerance limit required by the
customer (USL – upper specification limit),
LSL – lower tolerance limit required by the
customer (LSL – lower specification limit),
6.sT – sigma expresses the process level, i.e. real
number, „standard deviation” between target
value and tolerance .
As for Ra parameter, customers specified mean
value of tolerance T = 0.6 µm, lower tolerance limit
LSL = 0.3 µm and upper tolerance limit USL = -0.3
µm (see Table 1). It results from measured values
of work rolls roughness of the rolling mill that
process variability consists of determining sT
process variability
sT  s 2  (T  x)2
(3)
and difference at centring T – Cpm reliability
index.
As it results from Fig. 6, the higher Ra of
the work roll surface, the lower number of peaks on
the rolls at the equal removal of the rolling mill. As
for Pc parameter, customers specified only lower
tolerance value of number of peaks (Table 1, Ra 1.5
m – Pc 158 cm-1). If we assume that at Ra
roughness of 1 µm – 1,3 µm the minimum number
of peaks Pc 40 - 110 on 1cm is required (Table 1),
then CpL reliability index of the process will be
higher than 2,3. It means that it is a reliable process,
at which with high probability the roll will be
produced within the frame of specified limits.
Transfer inovácií 32/2015
Fig. 5 Dispersion of roughness values of work rolls
Dependencies of arithmetic mean
roughness Ra= f(Ui, Ii, on, off) and Pc= f(Ui, Ii, on,
off) were described by regression equations - Table
5.
Table 5 The dependence of roughness parameters
Ra and Pc on the EDT parameters
Ra  0.124Ui  0,67 Pc  0.124Ui  0,67
Ra  0.684Ii0.592 Pc  0.684Ii0.592
Ra  0.091on  1.165 Pc  0.091on  1.165
Ra  0.1611off 0.504 Pc  0.1611off 0.504
Conclusion
The aim of the paper was to analyse and
describe the influence of selected parameters of the
process of electric discharge cutting of work rolls
designed for sheet rolling for galvanized line.
Obtained results can be summarized as it follows:
Based on the analysis of the process of
electric discharge texturing Ishikawa diagram of
most frequently incident errors of the process was
worked out.
Average values of Ra, Pc roughness
parameters and Cpm and Cp reliability indices were
calculated from measured data. The values of
indices were higher than 1,67, which means that
customer specified roughness parameters of work
rolls of the rolling line will be reached with very
high probability through measured parameters of
electric discharge texturing.
Measured results were processed
graphically and individual dependencies of Ra and
Pc on the parameters of the process of electric
discharge texturing were expressed by regression
equations. By means of those equations it is
possible to optimize the process of electric
discharge texturing based on work cycle and
production costs.
2015
Fig. 6 Dependence of number of peaks on arithmetic mean
roughness of work rolls.
References
[1] Kundracik, V.: Mikrogeometria povrchu pásu
na povrchové diely automobilov. In.:
Pozinkovaný materiál pre automobilový
priemysel. Zborník prednášok z 66. pracovného
seminára Spoločnosti Ocelové pásy,
Jahodná (2009).
[2] K. Kuzman,K., et al.: Enviromental friendly
lubricants in deep drawing of steel sheets metal.
Report Enform project, Cejle (2000).
[3] Evin, E., et al.: Vplyv fázového zloženia
povlakov Fe-Zn na charakteristiky trenia pri
lisovaní. Metal, Ostrava Tanger (2008), ISBN
9788025419878.
[4] Kuzman,K., [et al.] Environmental friendly
lubricants in deep drawing of steel sheet metal.
Final report of the research project Concerted
Action Contract No. : IC15-CT98-0824
(DG12-MZCN), Celje TECOS, (2002), p. 189.
[5] Lindsey, J. H., Paluch, R. F., Nine, H. D.: The
interaction between electrogalvanized zinc
deposit structure and the forming properties of
sheet steel. Plating and Surface Finishing
(1989), vol. 76, p. 62-69.
Acknowledgment
The contribution was supported by the
project VEGA 1/0824/12 “Study of tribology
aspects of formability of coated steel sheets and
tailored blanks”, project APVV-0273-12
“Supporting innovations of autobody
components from the steel sheet blanks oriented
to the safety, the ecology and the car weight
reduction” .
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