Manufacturing Processes

(ME 361)- Lecture 16

Instructor: Shantanu Bhattacharya
Thermal Machining
• Thermal machining removes the
machining allowance by melting or
vaporizing the work piece material.
• Many secondary phenomena occur during
machining such as microcracking,
formation of heat affected zones,
striations etc.
• The source of heat could be plasma as
during EDM and PBM or photons as
during LBM, electrons in EBM, ions in IBM
etc.
 Electric Discharge Machining
• EDM is the process of material removal by a controlled erosion
through a series of electric sparks.
• It was developed in USSR around 1943.
• The basic process is illustrated below.
• When a discharge takes place between two points of the anode
and cathode the intense heat generated near the zone melts
and evaporates the materials in the sparking zone.
• For improving the effectiveness the work-piece and the tool are
submerged in a dielectric fluid. (Mineral oils or hydrocarbons)

•Experiments indicate that in

case both electrodes are of
the same material there is a
prominently more erosion of
the electrode connected to
the positive terminal.
 Electric Discharge Machining
• For this reason the workpiece is generally made the anode.
• In an EDM process electrons emanating from the cathode first strike the
neutral molecules of the electrolyte and these undergo electrolytic
dissociation producing cations and more electrons.
• The electrons are accelerated due to the electric field and may ultimately
dislodge other electrons and ions.
• A suitable gap, known as the spark gap, is maintained between the tool and
the work-piece surfaces.
• The sparks are made to discharge at a high frequency with a suitable source.
• Since, the spark occurs at a spot where the tool and the work-piece surfaces
are the closest and since the spot changes after each spark (because of the
material removal after each spark), the sparks travel all over the surface.
• This results in an uniform material removal all over the surface, and finally the
workface conforms to the tool surface.
• Thus the tool produces the required impression in the work-piece.
 Electric Discharge Machining
•For maintaining the predetermined spark gap, a servo control unit is generally used.
•The gap is sensed through an average voltage across it and this is compared with a preset
value.
•The difference is used to control a servomotor.
•A solenoid control is also possible for maintaining the gap voltage and this is illustrated
below.
•The spark frequency is normally in the range of 200-50000 Hz. The spark gap is around
0.025-0.05mm.
•The peak voltage across the gap is kept in the range of 30-250 Volts.
•A material removal rate up to 300 mm3/min can be obtained with this process.
•The specific power is around 10W/mm3/min.

•The efficiency of performance

increases if a forced circulation of
dielectric fluid is provided.

•The most commonly used

dielectric fluid is kerosene.

•The tool is generally made of

brass or a copper alloy.
 Mechanics of EDM processes
•The figure below shows the state of electrode surfaces.
•Even if the surfaces look smooth there exist some asperities and irregularities.
•As a result the local gap varies, at a given instant .
•It is minimum at one point say ‘A’.
•When a suitable voltage is built up across the tool and the work-peice, an electrostatic
field of sufficient strength is established at ‘A’ connecting the two electrodes.
In an EDM process electrons emanating from the cathode first strike the neutral molecules
of the electrolyte and these undergo electrolytic dissociation producing cations and more
electrons.
• The electrons are accelerated due to the electric field and may ultimately dislodge other
electrons and ions.
•Ultimately a narrow column of ionized dielectric fluid molecules is established between
the two spots on both electrodes responsible for the spark (which is an avalanche of
electrons due to the already high conductivity positive ion column).
Mechanics of Electric Discharge Machining
• The spark produces a compression shock wave which results in the development of a
very high temperature near the region hit by the spark and this melts and vaporizes
the anodic material.
•The melt or vapors are further removed by the mechanical blast and results in pitting
on the electrode surface.
•The temperature in the melting zone is in the range of 10,000-12,000 deg. C.
•This results in small craters in both electrode surfaces.
•As soon as this happens the gap between the electrodes at ‘A’ increases and the next
location of shortest gap is somewhere else. (Say B)
•So, as the cycle is repeated the shortest gap is now at ‘B’ and subsequently the
machining takes place at ‘B’.
•In this way the sparks wander all over the electrode surfaces and ultimately the
process results in a uniform gap.
 Mechanics of EDM processes
• Therefore, a negative of the electrode shape is created over
the work-piece electrode.
• Generally, the rate of material removal from the cathode is
comparatively less than that from the anode due to the
following reason:
1. The momentum with which the stream of electrons strike
the anode is much more than that due to the stream of the
positive ions impinging on the cathode though the mass of
an individual electron is less than that of the positive ions.
2. The pyrolysis of the dielectric fluid (normally a hydrocarbon)
creates a thin film of carbon on the cathode.
3. A compressive force is developed on the cathode surface
primarily due to cations.
Therefore, normally, the tool is connected to the negative
terminal of the dc source.
 Mechanics of EDM process

• If the tool is stationary relative to the work-

piece, the gap increases as the material
removal progresses, necessitating an
increased voltage to initiate the sparks.
• To avoid this problem the tool is fed with the
help of a servo-drive which senses the
magnitude of the average gap and keeps it
constant.
 Theoritical MRR values
• The quantity of material removal due to a single discharge can be
determined by considering the diameter of the crater and the depth
to which the melting temperature is reached.
• We make some assumptions for modeling the temperature in the
zone of the spark:
1. The spark is a uniform circular heat source on the electrode surface
and the diameter = 2a of this circular source remains constant.
2. The electrode surface is a semi infinite region.
3. Except for the portion of the heat source the electrode surface is
insulated.
4. The rate of heat input remains constant through out the discharge
duration.
5. The properties of the electrode materials do not change with
temperature.
6. The vaporization of the electrode material is neglected.
Schematic Description of the Idealized
heat source during EDM
Solution of the equation
Solution of the equation
 Mechanics of EDM
•To take care of the latent heat of the molten material, the actual heat input rate can be
found out by subtracting the heat used to melt the material from the total heat supplied
by the spark.

•Thus the rate of heat input per unit area per unit time is given by the following
equation:
Mechanics of EDM
Calculation of Crater Volume
Calculation of the Crater Volume
 Actual variation of Melting Temp. depth Z and crater
volume Vc with discharge time td
•The figure on the right depicts the crater
volume with td for different spark
energies.

•One important feature which becomes

evident from these results is that the
material removal is very low for small
discharge time and increases with td.

•Then reaching a peak value it suddenly

drops to zero.

•It has been also established that the material removed per discharge strongly depends
on the melting temperature of the material.

•The effects of cavitation in the mechanical removal process is also important.

 Role of Cavitation in Material Removal
•The MRR during a single spark
plotted against time is as shown in
the figure on the right.

•Clearly, the MRR is highest at

pressures below pressures below
atmospheric, showing the
importance of cavitation.

•For arriving at a rough estimate, empirical relationships have been developed for the
material removal rate during EDM.

•Since the size of the crater depends on the spark energy the depth and diameter of the
crater are given by:

hc = (K1 w1/3 ) cm and 2a = (K2 w1/3 ) cm, where W is the spark energy (joules), K1 and K2
being constants. For Cu electrodes and kerosene as the dielectric medium, K1=0.4 and K2
= 0.045

Vc becomes =
 Role of Melting Temperature of the
work material
•A rough estimate of MRR can also be had from the melting point of the work-
piece material.

•Q = 4 X 104 θm -1.23 mm3 /amp-min.

Where, Q = material removal rate (mm3/ amp-min)

θm = melting temperature (deg. C)

•In this relation we have assumed the average sparking condition.

•The MRR also depends strongly on the circulation of the dielectric fluid.

•Without a forced circulation the wear particles continuously melt and reunite
with the electrode.
 Role of Melting Temperature
• The figure on the right shows the
nature of the MRR characteristics
without and with forced circulation
of the dielectric.

•After the discharge is completed,

the dielectric medium around the
last spark should be allowed to
deionize.

•For this the voltage across the gap must be kept below the discharge voltage until
deionization is complete.

•Otherwise the current may once again start to flow through the gap at the location of the
previous discharge.

•The time required for a complete deionization depends on the energy released by the
preceding discharge.

•A larger energy release results in a longer deionization time.

 EDM circuits and operating
principles
•Several different electrical circuits are available to provide the pulsating DC
across the work tool gap.

•Though the operational characteristics are different, in almost all such circuits a
capacitor is used for storing the charge before the discharge takes place across
the gap.

•The suitability of a circuit depends on machining conditions and requirements.

•The commonly used principles for supplying the pulsating DC can be classified
into:

1. Resistance capacitance relaxation circuit with a constant DC source.

2. Rotary impulse generator.
3. Controlled pulse circuit.
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit ( Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)
Power and Voltage variation with
Time
Resistance capacitor Relaxation
circuit (Analysis of RC circuits)