Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864
DOI 10.1007/s00170-014-6778-3
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A study of the machining characteristics of micro EDM milling
and its improvement by electrode coating
Ai-Huei Chiou & Chung-Chen Tsao & Chun-Yao Hsu
Received: 18 July 2014 / Accepted: 30 December 2014 / Published online: 18 January 2015
# Springer-Verlag London 2015
Abstract Micro electrical discharge machining (micro EDM)
is one of the most powerful technologies for the fabrication of
microstructures. This paper uses a Grey-Taguchi method to
examine the optimization of process parameters for the micro
EDM of high-speed steel alloy (SKH59), using tungsten car-
bide (WC) electrodes. The effect of the micro EDM milling
parameters (discharge current, pulse duration, pulse off, and
jump distance) on electrode wear rate, material removal rate,
and overcut are studied. A Taguchi method with an L9 (34)
orthogonal array and a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and analysis
of variance (ANOVA) are used to investigate the performance
characteristics of the micro EDM. The grey relational analysis
shows that the electrode wear rate is reduced from 8.0×10−6 to
4.0×10−6 mm3/min, material removal rate increases from
1.94×10−4 to 1.96×10−4 mm3/min, and overcut decreases
from 7.5×10−3 to 7.3×10−3 mm. A comparative study of the
performance of WC, WC-coated Ag, and WC-coated Cu
electrodes for the micro EDM milling is also presented. The
confirmation runs show that the WC-coated Ag electrodes
yield the lowest surface roughness of the three electrode
materials. The WC-coated Cu electrodes achieve the highest
material removal rate, followed by the WC-coated Ag and
WC electrodes. The WC electrodes exhibit the lowest wear
rate. The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of
A.<H. Chiou (*)
Department of Mechanical and Computer-Aided Engineering,
National Formosa University, Yunlin, 632 Taiwan, Republic of China
e-mail: ahchiou@nfu.edu.tw
C.<C. Tsao
Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Tahwa University of
Science and Technology, Hsinchu, 307 Taiwan, Republic of China
C.<Y. Hsu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lunghwa University of
Science and Technology, Taoyuan, 333 Taiwan, Republic of China
this electrode coating method, which gives better electrical
and thermal properties.
Keywords Micro EDM . Grey relational analysis .
Electrode coating . Material removal rate
1 Introduction
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for
micromachining, due to the need for miniaturization and
lighter weight in products [1]. Micromachining techniques
use precision machining to manufacture microcomponents
within very close tolerances. Micro electrical discharge ma-
chining (micro EDM) can be used to machine almost every
conductive material, regardless of its hardness. It has been
widely used in processes to fabricate microscale structures and
components, such as micro injection, for micro die/molds, fuel
nozzles, micro probes, photo-masks, and micro tools [2].
Since EDM is a non-contact machining process, there are no
physical cutting forces between the work-piece and the elec-
trode, which makes the method very effective for
micromachining with a thin electrode. This makes it easy to
produce micro-parts without distortion due to physical force
[3]. Micro EDM is becoming increasingly important for the
manufacture of micro- and miniature parts and structures and
in the development of micro-electro mechanical systems [4].
Tool materials, such as copper (Cu), cemented carbide,
tungsten carbide (WC), or tungsten copper (CuW), are used
as electrode materials for micro EDM because of their good
wear characteristics and their ability to be machined in cutting
processes [5–7]. WC is an important tool material, because of
its high hardness, fatigue strength, and wear resistance, which
allows higher currents to be supplied from the pulse generator
during EDM machining, without wire breakage [8]. WC has a
1858
high specific strength and cannot be easily processed using
conventional machining techniques [9]. Cu is the most widely
used electrode material, but its low melting point increases the
electrode wear rate (EWR) during machining. To solve this
problem, several researchers have used CuW as the electrode
material for EDM, with hard WC and die-steels [10–12]. Lee
and Li observed that CuW is suitable for use as the tool
electrode in the EDM of WC [10]. Jahan et al. found that
AgW, which produces the smoothest and most defect-free
nano-surface of the three electrodes (WC, CuW, and AgW),
appears to be the best choice for the finish die-sinking micro
EDM of WC [11]. However, CuW electrodes have the highest
material removal rate (MRR), followed by AgW [11]. Yu et al.
showed that dry EDM milling involves a higher machining
speed and lower electrode wear ratio than oil EDM milling,
using a CuW electrode [12].
The Taguchi method, which combines experimental
design theory and the quality loss function concept, is
used to design robust products and processes and has
been used to solve some problems with the machining
of Inconel 718 [13]. With the EDM process to Ti–6Al–4V
alloy material considering multiple performance character-
istics, it is evident that discharge current has dominant
effects on the EWR, MRR, and surface roughness [14].
This experiment uses four deposition parameters—dis-
charge current (A), pulse duration (B), pulse off (C), and
jump distance (D)—each of which is assigned high, me-
dium, and low levels, as shown in Table 1. In order to
optimize the design for the micro EDM process with high-
speed steel alloy (SKH59), the EWR, MRR, and overcut
are selected as the machining characteristics. This study
uses a Taguchi L9 (34) orthogonal array, with four col-
umns and nine rows. Grey relational analysis is then used
to evaluate the multiple performance characteristics of the
optimized deposition process, using a limited number of
experiments [15]. Furthermore, Cu films and Ag films are
also coated onto a tool electrode (WC), in order to im-
prove the machining characteristics of micro EDM.
Table 1 The setting of factors and levels for micro EDM milling
Work-piece
Electrode
Dielectric fluid
Polarity
Electrode rotational speed
Symbol Factors
A Discharge current (A)
B Pulse duration (μs)
C Pulse off (μs)
D Jumping distance (mm)
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864
2 Experimental studies
The SKH59 specimens were ground to a uniform thick-
ness of 25×25×1 mm3, using a grinding machine (KGS-
520ZT, KENT Industrial Company) with a diamond grain,
resin bond grinding wheel. The micro EDM experiments
were conducted using an EDM machine (OCT 200-MA,
Ocean Technologies). For machining micro holes
>100 μm, the micro tool electrodes can be mass produced
by the wire drawing, which has been widely used in
industrial production [16]. The tool electrodes (WC) were
dressed from 300 to 200 μm in diameter, using wire
electro-discharge grinding (WEDG). A micro EDM depth
of 20 μm was used in all experiments. In order to obtain
a greater material removal rate during micro EDM, the
polarity of the tool electrode was the cathode and the
work-piece was the anode. The electrode wear was calcu-
lated using a CCD system with measurement software.
The length of the micro electrode was measured, both
before and after the micro EDM process, and compensa-
tion was made for electrode wear, based on the results of
measurement. A scanning electron microscope (SEM)
(JSM-6500F, JEOL) was used to more accurately ascertain
surface quality and film thickness. Better electrical and
thermal properties are noted for tool electrodes (WC) onto
which thin films are coated by means of pulsed direct
current (DC) magnetron sputtering, using silver (Ag, purity
99.99 %) and copper (Cu, purity 99.99 %) metal targets.
The coating parameters were DC power (100 W), base
pressure (5.0×10−6 torr), working pressure (1×10−2 torr),
pulse time (3 μs), and pulse frequency (30 kHz). The
deposition rate of the thin films is approximately 10 nm/
min, and the thickness of the films is 300 nm. The
experimental set-up for the thin film coating onto the tool
electrode (WC) is shown in Fig. 1. The magnetron
sputtering technology is known to guarantee high-quality
coatings, whose quality is still cannot be reached by other
conventional surface treatment methods [17].
High-speed steel alloy (SKH59), thickness=1 mm
Tungsten carbide (WC), diameter=200 μm
Kerosene
Electrode (negative), work-piece (positive)
150 rpm
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
0.2 0.5 1.0
6 13 25
3 6 13
5 10 15
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864 1859

3 Analysis and discussion of experimental results

In this study, EWR and overcut have the lower the better (LB)
performance characteristic, but MRR is the higher the better
(HB). The signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) for LB and HB are
calculated as follows [18]:
" n #
1X 1
HB : ηHB ¼ −10*log ð2Þ
n i¼1 yi 2

" n
#
1X 2
LB : ηLB ¼ −10*log y ð3Þ
n i¼1 i

where η denotes the observed value, which is the calculated

value of the S/N ratio (unit dB), yn represents the measured
experimental value, and n is a repeated number. An analysis of
variance (ANOVA) and an F test were used to analyze the
experimental data, in order to determine which machining pa-
rameters significantly affect the performance characteristic [19].
X 2
ηi X ð4Þ
Fig. 1 The experimental set-up for the thin film coating onto the tool Sm ¼ ; ST ¼ ηi 2 −S m
electrode (WC) 9

During the micro EDM process, the electrode diameter was X 2

maintained at a constant value. Therefore, the EWR for the η2Ai X ð5Þ
SA ¼ −S m ; S E ¼ S T − SA
micro EDM operation was calculated using Eq. (1), which is N
defined as follows:
SA
LI −LW VA ¼ ð6Þ
EWR ¼ ð1Þ fA
LI
where ST is the sum of squares due to the total variation, Sm is
the sum of squares due to the means, SA is the sum of squares
where LI is the ideal milled depth and LW is the actual milled due to parameter A (A=discharge current, pulse duration,
depth, in micrometers. pulse off, or jump distance), SE is the sum of squares due to

Table 2 The experimental results and S/N ratios for electrode wear rate, material removal rate, and overcut

Exp. Factors Electrode wear rate S/N (dB) Material removal rate S/N (dB) Overcut (10−3 mm) S/N (dB)
(10−6 mm3/min) (10−4 mm3/min)

A B C D E1 E2 M1 M2 O1 O2

1 1 1 1 1 7.7 8.3 −18.07 1.94 1.94 5.76 7.2 7.8 −17.51

2 1 2 2 2 5.3 6.2 −15.22 1.47 1.43 3.22 10.3 15.1 −22.23
3 1 3 3 3 4.7 4.6 −13.35 1.26 1.25 1.97 9.1 9.9 −19.56
4 2 1 2 3 31.6 31.7 −30.01 2.01 2.02 6.09 14.5 13.9 −23.05
5 2 2 3 1 82.4 85.4 −38.48 4.10 4.25 12.41 15.8 10.1 −22.45
6 2 3 1 2 27.5 25.2 −28.42 5.41 5.75 14.92 15.3 16.1 −23.92
7 3 1 3 2 53.9 54.6 −34.69 3.91 3.81 11.73 19.5 24.1 −26.82
8 3 2 1 3 28.8 30.5 −29.44 8.61 8.44 18.61 14.2 17.4 −24.02
9 3 3 2 1 67.4 66.9 −36.54 14.7 14.5 23.29 21.1 23.2 −26.92
1860 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864

Table 3 The ANOVA results for electrode wear, material removal rate, and overcut

Factors S/N ratio (dB) Degree of freedom Sum of squares Variance Contribution (P %)

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Electrode wear rate (EWR)

A −15.55 −32.30 −33.56 2 606.799 303.400 86.24
B −27.59 −27.71 −26.10 2 4.803 2.402 0.68
C −25.31 −27.26 −28.84 2 18.716 9.358 2.66
D −31.03 −26.11 −24.27 2 73.302 36.651 10.42
Total 8 703.620 100
Material removal rate (MRR)
A 3.651 11.138 17.876 2 303.807 151.903 72.28
B 7.857 11.415 13.393 2 47.224 23.612 11.24
C 13.096 10.866 8.704 2 28.946 14.473 6.89
D 13.817 9.958 8.890 2 40.306 20.153 9.59
Total 8 420.282 100
Overcut
A −19.77 −23.14 −25.92 2 56.9303 28.4652 76.27
B −22.46 −22.90 −23.47 2 1.5353 0.7676 2.06
C −21.82 −24.06 −22.94 2 7.5869 3.7935 10.16
D −22.29 −24.32 −22.21 2 8.5932 4.2966 11.51
Total 8 74.6457 100

error, ηi is the η value for each experiment (i=1, 2,…,9), ηAi is 3.1 Optimal micro EDM parameters
the sum of the ith level of parameter A (i=1, 2, 3), N is the
repeating number for each level of parameter A, and fA is the Grey relational analysis (GRA) is used to determine the com-
degree of freedom of parameter A. plicated relationships between multiple performance character-
Table 2 shows the experimental results for the MRR, the istics. The grey relational coefficient (GRC) is as follows [15]:
EWR, and the overcut and the corresponding signal-to-noise
ratios (S/N), calculated using Eqs. (2) and (3), respectively. rðxo ðk Þ; xi ðk ÞÞ
The corresponding ANOVA results are listed in Table 3. The
discharge current (P=86.24 %) and the jumping distance (P= min min jx0 ðk Þ−xi ðk Þj þ ζ max max jx0 ðk Þ−xi ðk Þj
i k i k
10.42 %) have a greater effect on the EWR. The S/N response ¼
jx0 ðk Þ−xi ðk Þj þ ζ max max jx0 ðk Þ−xi ðk Þj
graph in Fig. 2 shows that the EWR decreases when the i k

discharge current decreases. The ANOVA results of MRR, ð7Þ

also listed in Table 3, show that discharge current is the most
significant factor for MRR, with an approximate 72 % contri-
A B C D
S/N ratios of electrode wear rate

bution, followed by pulse duration, with an approximate 11 % -15

contribution. Figure 3 shows the S/N response graph for MRR.
An increase in discharge current and pulse duration results in
-20
the dissipation of large amounts of energy during a specific
period of time. This produces a higher discharge of energy,
which is input into the discharge channel, which results in high -25
MRR. For overcut, discharge current (P=76.27 %) has a
significant effect on the micro EDM process. The S/N response
graph in Fig. 4 shows that the overcut decreases when the -30

discharge current energy decreases. When the discharge cur-

rent is increased, more intense discharges strike the surfaces -35
and a greater quantity of molten and floating metal becomes 0.2 0.5 1 6 13 25 3 6 13 5 10 15
suspended in the electrical discharge gap during EDM [20], Fig. 2 The S/N response graph for the electrode wear rate. Note: A,
which results in an increase in the overcut. discharge current; B, pulse duration; C, pulse off; D, jumping distance
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864 1861

S/N ratios of material removal rate Table 4 The Grey

A B C D
relational grade and its Exp. Grey relational grade Order
17.5 order for the optimized
micro EDM milling 1 0.7557 1
15.0 process 2 0.6315 3
3 0.7063 2
12.5
4 0.4878 7
10.0 5 0.4323 8
6 0.5144 6
7.5 7 0.3887 9
8 0.5351 5
5.0
9 0.5738 4

0.2 0.5 1 6 13 25 3 6 13 5 10 15

Fig. 3 The S/N response graph for the material removal rate
where xi(k) is the normalized value of the kth performance
characteristic in the ith experiment and ζ is a distinguishing
coefficient, ζ∈[0,1]. The value of ζ can be adjusted according
to the actual system requirements. The micro EDM parame-
ters are equally weighted in this study, so ζ is 0.5.
When the GRC is derived, the average value of the GRCs is
usually taken as the grey relational degree. This is defined as
follows [15]:
n
1X
r ð x0 ; xi Þ ¼ rðr0 ðk Þ; xi ðk ÞÞ
n k¼1
larger GRG is desirable [22]. This study obtains the multiple
performance characteristics for micro EDM with orthogonal
array parameters of A1B1C1D1 (experiment 1) and with grey
theory prediction design of A1B3C1D1 (that is, 0.2 A dis-
charge current, 25 μs pulse duration, 3 μs pulse off, and
5 mm jumping distance). The confirmed experimental results
for the multiple performance characteristics for micro EDM
are shown in Table 5. There is a 50 % improvement in EWR,
and the MRR and overcut are improved slightly. The SEM
micrograph of the micro EDM milling surface at optimal
GRG (A1B3C1D1) is shown in Fig. 6.
ð8Þ
3.2 Deposition of Cu and Ag thin films onto WC tool
electrode

where n is the number of performance characteristics.
Grey relational analysis, using grey system theory, is used
to determine the complicated relationships between multiple
performance characteristics [21]. In order to obtain the multi-
ple performance characteristics, all of the experimental data is
used for the GRA. Using Eqs. (7) and (8), the Grey relational
grade (GRG) for each experiment in the L9 orthogonal array is
shown in Table 4 and Fig. 5, respectively. The larger the GRG,
the closer is the product quality to the ideal value. Therefore, a
EDM is characterized as an electro-thermal process, wherein
the electrical and thermal conductivity and the melting points
of both the electrode and the work-piece materials play an
important role [11]. In order to improve the micro EDM
milling performance, thin films with better electrical and
thermal properties (300 nm) were deposited onto WC tool
electrodes, using pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with Ag
and Cu metal targets. Figure 7 shows the electrode surface of
(a) a WC electrode, (b) a Cu thin film deposited on a WC

A B C D A B C D
-19 -3.0
S/N ratios of grey relation
S/N ratios of overcut

-20 -3.5

-21 -4.0

-22 -4.5

-23 -5.0

-24 -5.5

-25 -6.0

-26 -6.5
0.2 0.5 1 6 13 25 3 6 13 5 10 15 0.2 0.5 1 6 13 25 3 6 13 5 10 15

Fig. 4 The S/N response graph for the overcut Fig. 5 The Grey relational grade graph
1862 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864

Table 5 The results of the confirmation experiment for multiple

performance characteristics with an orthogonal array and optimal
predicted deposition parameters

Level Orthogonal Grey theory Improvement

array prediction design rate (%)
A1B1C1D1 A1B3C1D1

EWR (10−6 mm3/min) 8.00 4.00 50

MRR (10−4 mm3/min) 1.94 1.96 1.0
Overcut (10−3 mm) 7.50 7.30 2.67

A1B3C1D1: 0.2 A discharge current, 25 μs pulse duration, 3 μs pulse off,

and 5 mm jumping distance

electrode and (c) an Ag thin film deposited on a WC electrode.

Figure 8 shows the SEM micrographs for the micro EDM
machined surface and the EDS analysis. For the purposes of
comparison, the surface roughness, EWR, MRR, and overcut
for different electrode coatings are shown in Table 6, for the
grey theory prediction parameters (A1B3C1D1). These exper-
iments were repeated three times. The electrical and thermal
properties of Ag are better than those of Cu and WC. Greater
electrical conductivity in the electrode allows a better spark
distribution during the EDM process [23], so the surface for
the micro EDM with a WC-coated Ag electrode exhibits the
best uniformity and the lowest surface roughness.
The experiments show that the MRR depends on the elec-
trode material (electrical and thermal properties) and the di-
electric breakdown. For a higher MRR, the dielectric break-
down must initiate earlier or the breakdown voltage must be
lower [24]. Table 6 shows that the WC-coated Cu electrode
provides the highest MRR, followed by the WC-coated Ag
and WC electrodes. This may due to the fact that WC has a
higher atomic mass and hardness, so WC has the highest
breakdown voltage, followed by Ag and Cu [24].

Fig. 7 The electrode surface of a a WC electrode, b a WC electrode

coated with a Cu thin film, and c a WC electrode coated with a Ag thin
film

The EWR depends on the electrical and thermal properties

Fig. 6 The SEM micrograph of the micro EDM milling surface at the
optimal Grey relational grade (A1B3C1D1)
of the electrode material. The evaporation point, the melting
point, the thermal conductivity, and the thermal diffusivity are
the properties that most affect electrode wear [25]. The wear to
the WC electrode is least, because it has the highest melting
point of the three electrodes (Table 6).
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 78:1857–1864 1863

Fig. 8 SEM micrographs the work-piece surface, after micro EDM and EDS analysis, using a a WC electrode, b a WC electrode coated with a Cu thin
film, and c a WC electrode coated with a Ag thin film

4 Conclusions results for the multiple performance characteristics for the

This paper presents the optimization of the multiple perfor-
mance characteristics for the micro EDM of high-speed steel
alloy using tungsten carbide (WC) electrodes, using a L9 (34)
orthogonal array and a grey-Taguchi method. The ANOVA
micro EDM show that the discharge current has a significant
effect, as determined by grey relational analysis. In the con-
firmation run, the electrode wear rate (EWR) is 4.0 ×
10−6 mm3/min, the material removal rate (MRR) is 1.96×
10−4 mm3/min, and the overcut is 7.3×10−3 mm. Thin films

Table 6 A comparison of the micro EDM milling performance (A1B3C1D1) for different electrode coatings

Surface roughness Ra (μm) EWR (10−6 mm3/min) MRR (10−4 mm3/min) Overcut (10−3 mm)

WC electrode 0.182 4.00 1.96 7.30

WC electrode coated with a Cu film 0.152 5.62 4.28 8.12
WC electrode coated with a Ag film 0.131 7.26 3.15 7.90

The experiments were repeated three times

1864
with better electrical and thermal properties are coated onto
the tool electrodes (WC), using pulsed direct current magne-
tron sputtering with silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) metal targets.
The WC-coated Ag electrodes produce the lowest surface
roughness, and the WC-coated Cu electrodes achieve the
highest MRR and the WC electrodes exhibit the lowest wear.
It is seen that this technique greatly simplifies the optimization
procedure for the multiple performance characteristics and the
effectiveness of the electrode coating method.
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