Non-Traditional Machining

Module-2
Thermal Metal Removal Processes:
Electric Discharge Machining Presented by
Satish.P
M.Tech
GT & TC,
Bangalore - 560010
 Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)

• Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) is an electro-thermal

non-traditional machining process, where electrical energy
is used to generate electrical spark and material removal
mainly occurs due to thermal energy of the spark.
• EDM is a thermal erosion process whereby material is
melted and vaporized from an electrically conducive work
piece .
• Immersed in a liquid dielectric with a series of spark
discharges between the tool electrode and the work piece
created by a power supply.
• EDM is one of the most accurate and affordable mfg
process.
 Principle of Operation
• At the beginning of EDM operation, a high voltage is applied
across the narrow gap between the electrode and the work
piece.
• This high voltage induces an electric field in the insulating
dielectric that is present in narrow gap between electrode and
work piece.
• This cause conducting particles suspended in the dielectric to
concentrate at the points of strongest electrical field.
• When the potential difference between the electrode and the
work piece is sufficiently high, the dielectric breaks down and
a transient spark discharges through the dielectric fluid,
removing small amount of material from the work piece
surface.
Mechanism Of Metal Removal
 CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF EDM
CONSTRUCTION
• Fig shows the schematic layout of the electric discharge machining
process.
• The main components are the electric power supply, dielectric medium,
work piece, tool and a servo control mechanism.
• The work piece and the tool are electrically connected to a D.C. power
supply.
• The work piece is connected to the positive terminal of the electric source,
so that it becomes the anode. The tool is connected to the negative
terminal of the electric source, so that it becomes the cathode.
• The tool and work piece are submerged in a dielectric fluid medium such
as paraffin, white spirit or transformer oil having poor electrical
conductivity.
• The function of the servo mechanism is to maintain a very small gap,
known as 'spark gap' ranges of 0.005 to 0.05 mm between the work piece
and the tool.
Working :
• When the D.0 supply is given to the circuit, spark is produced
across the gap between the tool and the work piece.
• When the voltage across the gap becomes sufficiently larger
(more than 250 V), the high power spark is produced. So, the
dielectric breaks down and electrons are emitted from the
cathode (tool) and the gap is ionized.
• This spark occurs in an interval of 10 to 30 microseconds and
with a current density of 15-500A per mm2 approximately.
So, thousands of spark-discharge occur per second across the
gap between the tool and the work, which results in
increasing temperature of about 10,000°C.
• At this high pressure and temperature. Work piece metal is
melted, eroded and some of it is vaporized. In this way the
metal is removed from the work piece.
• The removed fine material particles are carried away by
dielectric fluid circulated around it.
• The metal removal rate depends on the spark gap
maintained. If anode and cathode are made of same
material, it has been found that the greatest erosion
takes place at anode. Therefore, in order to remove
maximum metal and have minimum wear on the tool,
the tool is made as cathode the work piece as anode.
• When the voltage drops to about 12 volts, the spark
discharge extinguishes and the dielectric fluid once
again becomes deionized. the condensers start to
recharge and process itself.
Dielectric fluids
• A dielectric fluid is a medium that does not conduct electricity. in
electrical discharge machining process, the tool and work piece are
submerged in a dielectric fluid medium. The dielectric fluids generally
used arc petroleum based hydrocarbon fluids, paraffin, white spirit,
transformer oil, kerosene, mineral oil or mixture of these
• Dielectric fluids must not be hazardous to operators or corrosive to
equipment.
• The choice of any dielectric fluid depends on the work piece size, type
of shape, tolerance, metal removal rate and surface finish. White spirit
is best suited for machining tungsten carbide.
• The dielectric fluid must circulate freely between the tool and work
piece
• The eroded particles should be flushed out at the earliest since it
reduces the further metal removal rate
• The various methods of flushing are pressure flushing, suction
flushing and side flushing which are shown in Fig
Flushing
• Dielectric fluid is flushed through the spark gap in the form
of jet or through tool
• It is the circulation of the dielectric fluid between the
workpiece and the electrode.
• If the machined particles are not flushed, they become
obstacles in the process.
• Various methods of flushing are:
1. Pressure flushing,
2. Suction flushing
3. Side flushing
The functions of the dielectric fluid are to:

 Act as an insulator between the tool and the work

piece.
 It cools the spark region and helps in keeping the tool
and work piece cool.
 It carries away the eroded metal particles along with it.
 It maintains a constant resistance across trio gap.
 It remains electrically non conducting until the required
breakdown voltage has been reached.
 It breakdown electrically in the shortest possible time
once the breakdown voltage has been reached
TOOL ( ELECTRODE )
• The tool materials generally used can be classified as metallic
materials(copper, brass, copper-tungsten etc ), non-metallic
materials (graphite) and combination of metallic and non-metallic
materials (copper — graphite).
• Electrodes for EDM process usually are made of graphite, brass,
copper and copper tungsten alloys, Copper, yellow brass, alloys of
zinc, copper tungsten, silver tungsten, tungsten carbide.
• For commercial applications, copper is best suited for
fine machining, aluminum is used for die-sinking and cast
iron for rough machining.
 The three most commonly used materials are given below.
Graphite
• Graphite is a non-metallic which is generally used as a tool material in Electrical
Discharge Machining processes. A wide range of grades are available in graphite
and these are used for variety of applications.
• A big advantage of graphite is though it is abrasive, it can be produced by several
methods like machining, moulding, milling, grinding etc. Graphite can generally
achieve better metal removal rates and fine surface finishes than metallic tool
materials. One disadvantage of graphite is; it is costlier than copper.
Copper
• Copper is a second choice for using as tool material in Electrical Discharge
Machining processes. It can be produced by casting or machining. Copper tools
with very complex features are formed by chemical etching or electro forming.
Copper — tungsten
• Copper — tungsten tool material is difficult to machine and it has low metal
removal rate. It is costlier than graphite and copper.
The selection of proper tool material is
influenced by
• Size of electrode and volume of material to be removed.
• Surface finish required.
• Tolerance required.
• Nature of coolant application etc.
The basic requirements of any tool material are
• It should have low erosion rate.
• It should be electrically conductive.
• It should have good machinability.
• Melting-point of the tool should be high.
• It should have high electron emission
Tool wear
• As the tool does not come into contact with the work,
life of tool is long and less wear and tear takes place.
• The tool wear ratio is defined as the ratio of volume
of work material removed to the volume of electrode
(tool) consumed.
• Wear ratio = Volume of work material removed
Volume of electrode consumed
• The wear ratio for brass electrode is 1:1, for copper is
2:1 and for copper tungsten is 8:1 for non metallic
(graphite) wear ratio may vary from 5:1 to 50:1.
METAL REMOVAL RATE (MRR) AND SURFACE FINISH
• The metal removal rate is generally described as the volume of metal
removed per unit time.
• Metal removal rate depends upon current density and it increases with
current. But high removal rates produce poor finish. Therefore, the usual
practice in EDM is, a roughing cut with a heavy current followed by a
finishing cut with less current.
• Metal removal rates upto 80mm3/s can be achieved and surface finishes of
0.25 pm can be obtained at very low cutting rates.
• The material being cut will affect the metal removal rate. The experiments
indicate that the metal removal rate (MRR) varies inversely with melting
point of the metal.
• The approximate value is MRR 2.44
( Melting point °C) 115
• Tolerances of the order of + 0.05 to 0.13 mm are commonly achieved by
EDM in normal production and with extra care, tolerances of + 0.003 to
0.013 mm are possible.
Factors Affecting The Metal Removal Rate (Mrr)

Metal removal rate increases with forced circulation of

dielectric fluid.
It increases with capacitance.
It increases upto optimum value of work-tool gap, after
that it drops suddenly.
It increases upto optimum value of spark discharge time,
after that it decreases.
 Metal removal rate is maximum when the pressure is
below the atmospheric pressure.
 Advantages Of Edm Process
• It can be used for machining various materials such as tungsten
carbides, electrically conductive materials, and other hard materials.
• It gives good surface finish.
• Machining of very thin section is possible.
• It does not leave any chips or burrs on the workpiece.
• It is well suited for complicated components.
• Since there is no cutting forces act on the job, error due to elastic
deformation is eliminated.
• High accuracy is obtained.
• Fine holes can be easily drilled.
• It is a quicker process.So harder materials can also be machined at
much faster rate than conventional machining.
• The process once setup does not need constant operators attention.
 Disadvantages (Limitations)
• I It is only used for machining electrically conductive
materials. So non-metallics such as plastics, ceramics
or glass can not be machined by EDM.
• It is suitable only for machining small work pieces.
• Electrode wear and over cut are serious problems.
• Perfectly square corners cannot be made by EDM
process.
• Metal removal rate is slow.
• Power requirement is very high.
• In many cases, the surface machined has been found
to have micro cracks.
 Applications
• This is the most widely used machining process among
the non-traditional machining methods. Its applications
are as follows
• Production of complicated and irregular shaped profiles.
• Thread cutting in jobs.
• Drilling of micro holes.
• Helical profile drilling.
• Curved hole drilling.
• Resharpening of cutting tools and broaches.
• Remachinine of die cavities without annealing.