Effect of process parameters on MRR

▪ When gap is too small, the

discharge voltage is small
and, though the frequency is
high and MRR remains low.
▪ When the gap is too large,
though discharge voltage is
large, frequency falls down
drastically and that leads to
low MRR

Effect of voltage and current on MRR Effect of spark gap on MRR

(Ghosh & Mallik, East-West Press, 2nd Ed.,) (Ghosh & Mallik, East-West Press, 2nd Ed.,)

(a)
(b)

Ra = 1.1 µm

Ra =0.8 µm

Effect of circulation of dielectric fluid on (a) MRR and (b) Surface roughness
(Ghosh & Mallik, East-West Press, 2nd Ed.,)
169
 Challenges associated with EDM
1. Tapercut and Overcut :
➢ Spark occurs between the two nearest point on the
tool and workpiece
➢ Thus, machining may occur on side surface as well
➢ Upper portion of hole wall experiences more Schematic of tapercut in EDM process
number of sparks (Ghosh & Mallik, East-West Press, 2nd Ed.,)

➢ The presence of wear debris in peripheral gap may

enhance the possibility of Tapercut or Overcut

Solution:
✓ Proper insulation to the side surface of the tool
Schematic of overcut in EDM process
✓ Forced circulation of dielectric fluid (Ghosh & Mallik, East-West Press, 2nd Ed.,)

✓ Proper tool design

170
 Challenges associated with EDM
2. Tool wear :
➢ It is important to assess tooling cost, machining accuracy and
machining time
➢ Wear ratio (rQ) (ratio of material removed from job & tool)
can be correlated with melting point ratio of job and tool (rθ).
rQ ≈ 2.25 rθ-2.3
Solution : ➢ Selection of suitable tool materials
➢ Optimization of process parameters
Tool wear in EDM
(Mishra, P. K., Narosa Publication, 22nd Ed.,)
3. Sub-surface layers :
➢ Un-expelled molten metal re-solidify in the crater to
form recast layer
➢ The last layer is the heat-affected zone (HAZ) or
Altered metal
zone (AMZ)
annealed layer
Solution : ➢ Post-processing is required
➢ Optimization of process
Surface layers after EDM parameters
(Kumar et al., 2009, vol. 209)

171
 Recent advancement in EDM
1. EDM with ultrasonic vibration:
➢ Ultrasonic vibration is employed to the electrode
➢ Dielectric circulation enhances and that facilitates the debris removal
➢ Difficult to machine material can be processed with comparatively higher MRR
2. Rotary EDM
➢ A rotational motion is employed to the EDM tool
➢ High centrifugal force provided efficient flushing of debris from spark gap
3. Dry EDM:
➢ Thin walled pipe is used as electrode
➢ High-pressure gas or air is supplied to machining zone through the pipe
➢ Generation of harmful vapor and wastage are reduced
4. Powder mixed EDM :
➢ Electrically conductive powder is mixed with dielectric fluid
➢ Reduces dielectric strength of fluid and increases spark gap
➢ This made process more stable and better surface finish is obtained

172
 Recent advancement in EDM
5. Micro-EDM
➢ Evolution of micro-EDM arises to meet the need of miniaturization
➢ Micro-EDM is capable of machining of micro-hole, micro-shaft, micro-channel, complex
3D micro-cavities

6. EDM of Ceramic
➢ Ceramic materials are mostly non-conductive
➢ EDM of ceramic is possible by employing
❖ an assistive electrode
❖ doping secondary conductive phase into the ceramic materials

7. New Electrode materials

➢ To reduce tool wear, different tool materials are being developed
➢ A few newly developed composite materials for tool materials such as Cu-ZrB2, Cu-
MWCNT, Al-Cu-Si-TiC, Cu-TiC, etc.

173
 Electro Chemical Machining
➢ Electrochemical Machining (ECM) is a non-traditional machining (NTM) process belonging to Electrochemical category.
➢ ECM is opposite of electrochemical or galvanic coating or deposition process. It is based on the principle of electrolysis
➢ ECM can be thought of a controlled anodic dissolution at atomic level of work piece that is electrically conductive by a shaped tool
due to flow of high current at relatively low potential difference through an electrolyte which is water based neutral salt solution.

Schematic principle of Electro Chemical Machining (ECM)

174
 ECM process
➢ During ECM, there will be reactions occurring at the electrodes
i.e., at the anode or workpiece and at the cathode or the tool
along with within the electrolyte.
➢ Let us take an example of machining of low carbon steel which
is primarily a ferrous alloy mainly containing iron.
➢ For electrochemical machining of steel, generally a neutral salt
Schematic representation of electro-chemical reactions
solution of sodium chloride (NaCl) is taken as the electrolyte.
➢ The electrolyte and water undergoes ionic dissociation as shown
below as potential difference is applied.

➢ As the potential difference is applied between the work piece (anode) and the tool (cathode), the positive ions move
towards the tool and negative ions move towards the workpiece.
➢ Thus, the hydrogen ions will take away electrons from the cathode (tool) and from hydrogen gas as:

➢ Similarly, the iron atoms will come out of the anode (work piece) as:
➢ Within the electrolyte iron ions would combine with chloride ions to form iron chloride and similarly sodium ions would
combine with hydroxyl ions to form sodium hydroxide
175
 ECM process
➢ In practice FeCl2 and Fe(OH)2 would form and get precipitated in
the form of sludge.
➢ In this manner it can be noted that the work piece gets gradually
machined and gets precipitated as the sludge.
➢ Moreover, there is not coating on the tool, only hydrogen gas
evolves at the tool or cathode.
Schematic representation of electro-chemical reactions
➢ As the material removal takes place due to atomic level
dissociation, the machined surface is of excellent surface
finish and stress free.

➢ The voltage is required to be applied for the electrochemical reaction to proceed at a steady state.
➢ That voltage or potential difference is around 2 to 30 V. The current will be few thousand amperes
➢ MRR is independent of material hardness and the process is suitable for machining of low machineability material

176
 ECM Machine
The electrochemical machining system has the
following modules:
• Power supply
• Electrolyte filtration and delivery system
• Tool feed system
• Working tank

Schematic diagram of an electrochemical drilling unit

177
 Modelling of MRR in ECM
➢ In ECM, material removal takes place due to atomic dissolution of work material. Electrochemical dissolution is governed by
Faraday’s laws.
➢ The first law states that the amount of electrochemical dissolution or deposition is proportional to amount of charge passed through
the electrochemical cell, which may be expressed as:

➢ The second law states that the amount of material deposited or dissolved further depends on Electrochemical Equivalence
(ECE) of the material that is again the ratio of the atomic weight and valency of the material. Thus

Current (I) = Charge (Q) / time (t)

This expression is applicable for pure homogeneous materials

178
 Modelling of MRR in ECM
For Alloys (presence of multiple elements in alloys like steel, Inconel, etc.,)
➢ The engineering materials are quite often alloys rather than element consisting of different elements in a given proportion

m = QA/F v

Each element present in the alloy takes a certain amount of charge to dissolve
The total charge passed

This model is suitable for alloys

179
 Numerical in ECM

2000

180
 Applications
➢ ECM technique removes material by atomic level dissolution of the same by electrochemical action.
➢ Thus, the material removal rate or machining is not dependent on the mechanical or physical properties of the work material.
➢ It only depends on the atomic weight and valency of the work material and the condition that it should be electrically
conductive.
➢ Thus, ECM can machine any electrically conductive work material irrespective of their hardness, strength or even thermal
properties.
➢ Moreover, as ECM leads to atomic level dissolution, the surface finish is excellent with almost stress free machined surface
and without any thermal damage.

181
 ECM Process parameters

182