ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING (EDM)

PROCESS PRINCIPLES
Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is sometimes called as spark erosion
machining (SEM) or disintegrating.

Fig. 4.1: BASIC COMPONENTS OF EDM

The tool electrode is connected to the - ve terminal and the workpiece is connected to
the + ve terminal of a DC supply source. When these two electrodes are separated by a
dielectric (dielectric means non conducting) liquid and substantial voltage applied,
the dielectric breaks down temporarily. A strong electrostatic field emits electrons
from the tool face, and ionizes the gap. As more number of electrons and ions flow,
the resistance of the gap drops and electrical energy is discharged in the gap between
tool electrode and work piece.

This occurs in a few microseconds. The shock waves in the dielectric created by the
impact of electrons on the anode (work piece) causes a pressure of about 1000
kg/cm2 and minute particles of metal or chips in the form of hollow spheres are
removed by melting and vaporization and are flushed away from the gap between tool
and work. The melting temperature is approximately 12,000°C.

Use of electric sparks for machining requires several special requirements, shown
schematically in fig 4.1. The work piece behaves as one of the electrodes between
which the sparks occur. The work piece must be of electrically conductive material.
The other electrode (tool), which also must be made of electrically conductive
material, is located near to but not in contact with work piece during cutting.

Typical tool electrode materials are brass, steel, zinc, aluminum, nickel, graphite for
larger areas and copper, tungsten and silver tungsten for small areas. An EDM
machine must hold and locate the tool in proper mechanical relationship with respect
to work piece. It is provided with a means for relative motion between tool and work
piece (by moving one or the other, or both) to maintain the desired gap, which is the
space between tool and work piece. Modern machines automatically maintain the gap
by servo control.

EDM usually requires the presence of a liquid, generally a hydrocarbon dielectric, in

the arc gap. Petroleum based hydrocarbon mineral oils are used as the dielectric for
most EDM applications. The oils should have a high flash point and low viscosity,
other dielectric liquids are paraffin, white-spirit, transformer oil, ethylene glycol with
water, water in oil emulsions, and distilled water (some times with boric acid or
borax). The functions of dielectric fluid are to -provide a path for the discharge of
electric current, to remove metal particles produced from the gap, and to cool the tool
and work piece. These functions are achieved by forcing the liquid through the gap by
using a pump. EDM is generally done with the work piece submerged in a dielectric
tank.

Being a thermal process, EDM affects surface integrity. Any molten metal not
removed during the process is resolidified to form a hard skin on the work surface.
Thermal stresses, plastic deformation, and shrinkage result in residual tensile stresses,
and fine cracks may form above the grain boundaries.

POWER-SUPPLY CIRCUITS
Several basic types of electric circuits are available to provide pulsating direct current
to electrical-discharge machines.

In the basic circuit fig. 4.2 (a), with switch S in position 1, the d-c source E charges
capacitor C. Movement of switch S to position 2 connects the charged capacitor and
will discharge through the gap and the spark will remove a minute amount of work
piece material. The metal removed per discharge, the surface finish produced, and the
over cut or gap clearance between tool and work piece are parameters directly
dependent upon the capacitor. The gap capacitance ranges from 0.01 to 100 µF during
normal usage.
 (b) R.C CIRCUIT or RELAXATION
(a) BASIC CIRCUIT
CIRCUIT Fig. 4.2
The disadvantage of using the basic circuit is the mechanical problem of operating
switch S at sufficiently high speeds to obtain the desired frequencies. This problem is
solved by the circuit shown in fig. 4.2 (b), where resistor R performs the switching
function. Capacitor C is charged by source E through resistor R. When the voltage
across C becomes sufficiently high, capacitor C abruptly discharges through the gap,
and the cycle repeats. This circuit is also known as a "R.C. circuit".

Spark discharge frequencies range from 500 to 10,00,000 pulses per second at voltage
levels of 100 to 130 V.

PROCESS PARAMETERS
Figure 4.3 shows the effect of increasing the current. As current is increased, each
individual spark removes a larger crater of metal from the work piece. The net effect
is an increase in material removal rates, when holding all other parameters constant it
also increases surface roughness. The same effect is also observed when spark voltage
is raised. Electrical discharge machining equipment is available that is able to operate
between 0.5 and 400 amp and with voltages ranging from 40 to 400 V.DC.

Increasing spark frequency and maintaining all other parameters constant, as shown in
Fig.4.4, results in decrease in surface roughness. This is because the energy available
for material removal during a given period is shared by a larger number of sparks,
hence the corresponding crater size is reduced. The frequency capability of EDM
machines ranges from a low of 180 Hz when performing roughing cuts, to a high of
several hundred kilohertz when generating the fine finishes required for finishing cuts.

Fig. 4.3: EFFECT OF CURRENT ON EDM PROCESS

 Fig. 4.4: EFFECT OF SPARK FREQUENCY ON SURFACE FINISH
The gap between the electrode and work piece is determined by the spark voltage and
current. Typical values for the gap range from 0.012 to 0.050 mm, small gap produces
more accuracy with a better finish and slower material removal rate. As the gap
decreases, flushing becomes difficult to achieve.

Increasing the pulse duration of the sparks has the effect of increasing the material
removal rate, increasing the surface roughness, and decreasing the electrode wear. The
values of pulse duration range from a few microseconds to several milliseconds.

PROCESS CAPABILITIES
Electrical discharge machine is capable of machining all electrically conductive
materials regardless of hardness. The process is suitable for drilling irregularly shaped
holes, slots, and cavities and is also suitable for simultaneously drilling many small
holes of one or multiple diameters.

EDM is a precision process with accuracies of ±0.025 + 0.127 mm. With special care,
accuracies as fine as ± 0.007 mm are obtainable.

Depending upon the parameters and finishing techniques used taper can range from
0.005-0.05 mm/cm.

When using EDM for drilling small holes, aspect ratios (see appendix) up to 30:1 can
be obtained through thickness as high as 50 mm. By using proper flushing techniques,
aspect ratios up to 100:1 can be obtained.

APPLICATIONS, ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF EDM Applications

1. For machining dies for forging, blanking, extrusion, etc.
2. For drilling fine deep holes like in fuel injecting nozzles.
3. Hydraulic valve spools can be machined.
4. It is possible to manufacture fragile components which are difficult to machine
by conventional methods because of high tool forces.
Advantages
1. Complicated geometrical forms are easily machined.
2. Toughness and hardness of the material are of no importance for the material
removal rate, so dies can be hardened before being shaped by EDM.
 3. Possibility to do jobs which are impossible by conventional machining
methods (including machining of tungsten carbide, profiling holes for
spinning orifices, etc.)
4. No cutting force.
5. No burrs
6. High aspect ratios.
7. High accuracy.
Limitations (Disadvantages)
1. Tool wear, which leads to the use of two or three tools per operation, thus
resulting in high tool manufacturing cost,

Tool wear ratio depends on tool material, work material and other conditions.
Tool wear ratio is 3.0 with brass tool and tungsten carbide work piece and 1.0
with brass tool and hardened carbon steel work piece.
2. Only electrically conductive materials can be machined.
3. Produces heat affected zone (HAZ).
4. Electrodes are consumable.

COMPARISON BETWEEN ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING

(EDM) & ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING (ECM)
EDM
1. Economical for tools of small cross
section. (Cost of machining by EDM
= l/5th that of the cost of machining
by ECM).
2. Tool design is easier.
ECM
1. Economical for tools of large cross
section (if the required electrical
power and current are available).
2. Tool design is complicated.

3. Structural changes in work material 3. ECM causes no mechanical damage.

occur. The EDM process produces
residual compressive stress.
4. Best surface finish is obtained with
low current density and with very low
MRR.
5. If machining parameters are not
properly chosen, amount of tool wear
will be more than the amount of work
material removed.
ECM produces stress free surface
4. Best surface finish is obtained when
current density is as high as possible.
Best surface finish is obtained with
highest feed rate.
5. No tool wear.
 WIRE CUT EDM (WEDM) OR ELECTRICAL
DISCHARGE WIRE CUTTING (EDWC) OR TRAVELLING
WIRE EDM (TW - EDM)
PROCESS PRINCIPLES
The CNC continuous wire cut EDM shown in fig 4.5 produces complex shapes in
through-hole application e.g. extrusion or press-tool die cavities. The wire electrode
typically 0.25mm diameter, is taken from a supply spool having sufficient wire for 24
hour continuous operation, at a velocity of 0.1 to 8 m/min. For highly accurate work,
the wire is drawn through a sizing die and reduced in diameter by 0.015 mm; it is then
annealed (to remove stresses caused by the pulling of wire) and passed through
sapphire guides to a device which stabilizes the tension at 0.5 - 1.0 kg. The power
supply is about 55 to 60 Volts and 1 to 32 Amps at pulse frequencies of 180 to 300
KHz and pulse durations 1 to 100s, wire tension is about 50 to 60% of the tensile
strength of the wire. Typical wire material are molybdenum, tungsten, copper and
brass.In operation, de-ionized water is used as the dielectric. The electrode may be
inclined at an angle of 1.5° to the perpendicular to provide means for machining
clearance in the profile of dies. Displacement of slides in the X and Y axes are
controlled by CNC.

The process is suitable for electrically conductive heat-treated metals, sintered or

cemented carbides and other ultra-hard materials like electrically conductive ceramic
materials such as SiC, ZrB2, TiB2, B4C, CBN and PCD (Poly-Crystal Diamonds).
 Fig. 4.5: PRINCIPLE OF WIRE CUT EDM

PROCESS PARAMETERS
The linear cutting rate for wire cut EDM is approximately 38-115 mm/hr in 25-mm
thick steel or approximately 20 mm/hr in 76- mm steel. The linear speed is dependent
upon the thickness of the material and not upon the shape of the cut. The linear cutting
rate is the same whether a straight cut or complex curves are being made.

The speed of the wire passing through the workpiece can vary from 8.42 mm/sec
depending upon cutting conditions.

PROCESS CAPABILITIES
Wire cut EDM is a specialized process that is capable of machining electrically
conductive work pieces to produce fine finishes, extremely high accuracies and cut
edges with a smooth finish.

Surface finishes ranging from 0.12 to 0.25 u. are obtained, and by utilizing a second
"finish pass", finishes as low as 0.05-0.12 u are possible.
Accuracies of ± 0.0025 mm are possible. However to achieve such results, care must
be taken to ensure the uniformity of the wire diameter, and the temperature and
resistivity of the dielectric must be properly controlled.

APPLICATIONS, ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF WEDM

Applications
1. The wire cut EDM is widely used in the production of prototypes, small series of
spare parts, stamping dies, drawing and extruding tools, templates, gauges, cam discs,
electrodes for spark erosion blanking dies, sintering dies, plastic molding dies etc.

Advantages
1. Wire cut EDM can machine any complicated through hole dies of
electrically conductive materials.
2. Tool manufacturing and storage is avoided.
3. The time utilization of WEDM is high as it can continuously work
throughout the day.
4. Small batch productions including prototypes can be economically
machined as most of the CNC programming is easily done.
5. The process has high surface finish.
6. It avoids wastage and rejections due to initial planning and checking of the
program.

Limitations (Disadvantages)
1. Electrolysis can occur in some materials
2. Slow cutting rates
3. Not suitable for very large work pieces
4. High capital cost.

ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE GRINDING (EDG)

PROCESS PRINCIPLES
Electrical discharge grinding (EDG) is a spark erosion process used for precision
machining of electrically conductive work pieces. It is very similar in principle to
EDM.

Fig. 4.6 shows a schematic illustration of an EDG operation. A rotating electrically

conductive grinding wheel is used as the "electrode” in EDG.

Both the wheel and work piece are submerged in a tank containing a dielectric
hydrocarbon oil. Pulsed electrical energy is delivered to the wheel and work piece
from a power supply that is capable of generating pulses at rates of up to 250000
pulses/sec. The wheel is charged negatively and the work piece is charged positively.
 Fig. 4.6: AN EDG SYSTEM SCHEMATIC SHOWING WHEEL AND
INTERACTION ZONE

The dielectric fluid flows through a small gap that is maintained between the wheel
and work piece. The rotating motion of the EDG wheel helps to flush the dielectric
liquid continuously without the need for a pump (Note: a pump is needed to flush the
dielectric liquid in EDM).

When each pulse of electricity is delivered from the power supply, the insulating
properties of the dielectric fluid are temporarily broken down. This allows a small
spark to jump the shortest distance between the wheel and work piece. A small pool of
molten metal is formed on the work piece at the point where the spark makes contact.
A gas bubble forms around the spark and the molten pool. When the pulse of
electricity stops and the spark disappears, the gas bubble collapses. The flow of cool
dielectric fluid causes the molten metal to be flushed from the work piece, leaving a
small crater. This action is repeated hundreds of thousands of times each second
during EDG process. This removes material from the work piece in a shape opposite
that of the grinding wheel.

Because there is no mechanical contact between the wheel and work piece, EDG is
commonly used to perform operations on very fragile parts or to produce thin sections
without damage. Wheels can be dressed to produce complex shapes in one pass. The
fig 4.6 shows a concave formed wheel, grinding a convex shape on the work piece .
EQUIPMENT
There are many similarities between EDG machines, EDM machines, and
conventional abrasive grinders. The power supply, dielectric supply system and
Alteration system, are identical with those used for EDM machines. An EDG
machine's axis motions, wheel mounting, and overall appearance are very similar to
that of a conventional surface grinder.

Wheels
Wheels used for EDG are made from porous, low grade graphite and are commonly
between 100 and 305 mm in diameter. Wheel widths can range from 152 mm to only
0.25 mm.

Because EDG wheels are made of graphite, the shaping of EDG wheels can be easily
done by using high-speed steel tools.

Because there is always a gap between the active surfaces of the wheel and the work
piece surface, the dimension on the wheel will be different from those required on the
work piece. Compensation for this over cut must be made when designing the wheel.

Because wheel erosion takes place from the sparking action of EDG (although at
much slower rate than work piece (erosion), wheel dressing is performed after every
machining pass.

Servodrive System
The EDG servo drive system is a special feed back device, it must sense and always
maintain a constant gap between the wheel and work piece while feeding the work
piece into the wheel. This is done by the system monitoring electrical conditions at the
machining gap and comparing the results with preset limits corresponding to the
desired gap distance. This results in a condition in which the wheel is feeding into the
work piece at a rate equal to the rate at which material is being removed. If the circuit
senses that the gap is becoming blocked with particles of removed material, the work
piece will move back to allow the gap to clear itself before starting to grind.

PROCESS PARAMETER
Current capabilities can range from 0.5 to 200 amp at 40-80 V DC. The higher the
current the faster the removal rate. However as the current increases (at a given
frequency), the surface finish becomes rougher and the depth of the heat-affected zone
increases.

The spark current also has a relationship between the wheel-work piece gap and the
resulting surface finish. As the gap increases, the surface finish becomes rougher, as
shown in the following table.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GAP AND SURFACE FINISH
GAP (mm) SURFACE FINISH (µ)
0.050 4.4
0.040 2.5
0.020 0.6 – 0.7
0.012 0.2 – 0.25

Pulse frequency ranges from 50,000 to 250,000 Hz. The higher the frequency, the
smoother the surface finish.

The EDG wheel speeds are slower than those for conventional grinding. A 305 mm
diameter wheel should be operated at approximately 125 RPM for best results. Wheel
speeds can range from 30 to 183 SMPM (surface metres per minute, which is the
peripheral speed of the wheel).

PROCESS CAPABILITIES
Because there is no contact between the wheel and work piece, EDG is useful when
grinding thin sections or very fragile parts. Also, material hardness is not

a problem to the process, because EDG removes material through spark erosion.
Electrical discharge grinding is able to grind very hard materials, such as carbide, at
rates 200-300% faster than grinding with diamond grinding wheel.
Accuracies of ±0.0025 mm can be obtained. Aspect ratios higher than 10:1 can be
produced.

APPLICATIONS, ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF EDG Applications

1. Any shape that is ground by conventional grinding can be done by EDG
2. Grinding carbide tools, dies, form tools and thin work pieces.
3. Difficult to grind shapes such as grooves and slots can be ground by EDG.

Advantages
1. Non contact grinding.
2. Low cost wheels.
3. Simple dressing procedure.
4. Grinds any conductive material.
5. No distortion is produced during grinding

Limitations (Disadvantages)
1. Recast layer is produced.
2. Oil fires are possible.
3. Wheels are fragile.