Advanced manufacturing processes (ME F315)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

BITS Pilani K. K. Birla Goa campus
Instructor in charge: Dr. Biswajit Das
Office No.- E107
Tel: +91-832-2580381 (O)

BITS Pilani K. K. Birla GoaDr.campus

Manoj Kumar Pandey
High energy density processes
 Electron Beam Machining
Electron Beam Machining (Drilling) was first introduced in 1952
and EBW was introduced in industry in 1959.

Basic Process: EBM - Thermal process, similar to LBM

Material-heating: Striking of high-velocity electrons with
workpiece.
Kinetic energy of electrons  heat  Rapid melting and
vaporizing

Drilling, cutting, slotting, welding, annealing, milling, and rapid

Electron beam processing:
manufacturing Usually
by controlling doneoperating
various in vacuum unlike LBM.
parameters
In atmosphere: Frequent collisions with air molecules
Lateral dispersion due to Scattering, Energy loss,
Reduction in Power density at the work piece.

High Power with high Accelerating Voltage E-Beam –

Used in normal Atmosphere
* Energy of Electrons 
Electrons and lattice of material
through collisions.
* Energy transfer
Function of electron
energy.
e-energy, Transfer rate 
* Maximum rise in temperature-
At a certain depth, not at the
surface, unlike laser heating. Depth of penetration:
* Due to scattering of electrons, d = 2.6x10-17(V2 /) mm
its energy not localized within V=Accelerating Voltage (Volts)
the area determined by the r = Material density (kg/mm3)
diameter of beam – Poor
material removal efficiency Kinetic Energy of Electron
Typical range: V=50kV, = me.c2 [{1/(1-(v/c)2)1/2}-1] = e.V
 = 8g/cm3 v
 8m (km/s) ~ 600V1/2
me=9.1x10-31kg, e=1.6x10-19Coulomb.
Electron Velocity=10-50% of
Light velocity
KE is dissipated in the impinging material.
Electron Beam Drilling Process: Four Stages.

1. Work-piece: On an organic or synthetic backing

* E-beam focal spot diameter  Desired diameter

* Power density : ~108W/cm2, sufficient to melt &
vaporize materials of any thermal conductivity

2. Vaporization of a small fraction of melted

material
* Recoil pressure of escaping vapour pushes the
molten material aside creating a hole.

3. E-beam penetrates in till it reaches the bottom

surface of work piece.

4. As e-beam strikes the auxiliary support volume

in contact is totally vaporized resulting in the
explosive release of backing material vapour
* High velocity vapour carries along with it the molten walls of the capillary,
creating a hole in the work piece and a small cavern in the backing material.
Electron Beam Machine
Four sub-systems
Electron beam gun: Electrons are
generated by thermionic emission
from hot tungsten cathode.
In E-beam gun for
cutting & drilling applications,
there is a grid between anode &
cathode on which negative voltage
is applied to pulse / modulate the
e-beam. Rotating shutter
Mode of E-beam Operation:
Power supply: Up to 150kV,
For drilling and cutting-Pulsed electron beam
Current : 150A-1.5A.
Single pulse : A single hole in thin sheet;
Vacuum-chamber: 10-4-10-6 Torr Multiple pulses: To drill in a thicker material.
achieved by rotary pump backed
diffusion pump. For welding : DC electron beam
Parameters so chosen that loss of material due
Vacuum compatible CNC to vaporization is minimum.
workstation
Electron Beam gun
 EBM Gun generate free electrons

 Tantalum or tungsten cathode

 Repelling forces are there in

accelerate electrons towards the
workpiece
 Process parameters

• The accelerating voltage: Electrons are accelerated at high voltage

• The beam current: no. of electrons emitted by cathode (200µamp-1
amp)
• Pulse duration: 50 µs-15ms
• Energy per pulse
• Power per pulse
• Lens current
• Spot size: controlled by electromagnetic lens
• Power density: pulse duration and spot size
 Why vacuum chamber?

To avoid scattering of electrons: scattered electrons can loose their

energy when collide with the air molecules, and a reduction in
cutting ability is noted.
 Why vacuum chamber?

 Vacuum is achieved with the combination of rotary and diffusion

pump. Diffusion pump is attached to the diffusion pump port of the
EBM gun.

 Diffusion pump contains an oil heater. The oil vapor ruses upwards
when the oil is heated.

 Nozzles change direction of motion of the oil vapor and the oil vapor
starts moving downward at a high velocity.

 High velocity jet of oil vapor entrained in air molecule present within
the gun. This oil evacuated by a rotary pump by via backing line.
 Power supply

 High voltage power supply used in EBM systems generates voltages of

up to 150 kV to accelerate electrons.

 Most powerful electron beam machining systems can deliver power to

operate the gun at average power levels upto 12 kW.

 Individual pulse energy can be upto 120 j/pulse

 High voltage section of the power supply are submerged in an

insulating dielectric oil.
Current Control:
Hot cathode emits electrons and the thermionic emission is given by the
Richardson- Dushman equation:
j = A T2 exp(-eW/kT)
Where
j = Current density (amp/cm2) from the cathode surface
W = Work function of the cathode material (Volts)
T = Absolute Temperature of cathode (K)
e = Electron charge (Coulomb)
k = Boltzmann constant (1.3x10-23J/K)
A = Constant (~120Amp/cm2.K2)
Temperature T  - j 
Electrons emitted from cathode are in thermal equilibrium at temperature T
and their velocity is govern by Maxwellian distribution. This is reflected in
focusing the electrons on the work-piece.
Cathode Material: Tungsten or thoriated tungsten
Effect of Electron Beam Process Parameters:

The process parameters, which directly affect the machining

characteristics in EBM are:
 Accelerating Voltage
 E-Beam Current
 Pulse duration
 Energy per pulse
 Peak power
 Lens current which determines the focusing & focal length
 Spot size
 Power density
 Beam deflection signal

Beam Energy is increased preferably by increasing current than

accelerating voltage to avoid more scattering at higher electron
energy and slower coupling of energy.
Process Parameters:
Electron Acceleration Voltage : 10-150kV
Electron beam current : 100A – 1.5A
Electron beam Power delivered
(Accelerating Voltage x Beam Current) : 30W-100kW
Process Medium /Environment : Vacuum, 10-4-10-6 Torr
(mm of Hg)
Wavelength  of an electron of a velocity V:

where h – Planck’s constant, me – electron mass, e-electron charge & Ve is

accelerating voltage

Similar to the laser beam, the theoretical limit of the focal spot diameter ~ 
However, the actual focal spot size is influenced by
(a) e-beam divergence
(b) Mutual repulsion between electrons
(c) Spherical aberration of lens and
(d) Spread in electron velocity.

These factors in turn depend on the electron energy i.e. accelerating

voltage and electron beam current.

Typical spot diameter for e-beam cutting, drilling & welding:

m - mm.

In electron beam lithography: E- beam is focused down to a few tens

of Angstroms.
Pulse mode operation- Pulse duration: 50s - 15ms
by controlling modulation voltage on the biased cathode grid
Beam pulse duration   Pulse energy 
 Depth and Diameter 
Beam current: 100 A -to 1A
 Pulse energy 
Energy in excess of 120J/pulse can be delivered and rapid
drilling of very deep and large hole are obtained.

Lens current: Determines the focal point of electron

gun (the working distance) and the size of the focused
spot on the work piece.
Lens current   Focal distance & Spot size 

Tapered, straight, inversely tapered,

and bell-shaped holes by adjusting the location of the
focal point with respect to the top-surface of the work-piece

Hole of non-circular shape by deflecting

E- Beam Welding
the beam by energizing the deflection coil. Speeds/Depth of
Beam deflection is limited within ~6mm. Penetration
Process Capabilities :
EBM:
* A wide range of materials, such as stainless steel, Cu, Al, Ni and cobalt alloys,
super alloy, titanium, tungsten, ceramic, leather and plastic.
* Cutting up to a thickness of 10mm : material removal by vaporization
* Hole-diameter ranging from 0.1- 1.4mm in thickness up to 10mm.
* High aspect (depth to diameter) 15:1
* Holes at very shallow angle from 200-900
* No much force to the work-piece, thereby allowing brittle and fragile materials
to be processed without danger of fracturing.
* Hole diameter accuracy + 0.02mm in thin sheets

EBW (welding):
* Deep penetration welding up 300mm in high (10-6Torr)vacuum, 50mm ( 10-4Torr)
* High depth to width aspect ratio 10-25:1
* Various weld geometry: Butt, Lap, T- joints
* Owing to very high power density a wide range of metals can be welded:
steel, copper, nickel based alloys, aluminum alloys and refractory such as
zirconium, tantalum, titanium and niobium.
E-Beam Welding in Air
High Power and High Accelerating Voltage
Air Temperature , Air density, Beam Dispersion minimum
Experimental results :
E-beam energy = 50-60kW, Voltage -150-175kV
Stand off distance =1-5cm
304 Steel Welding : Butt Joint Thickness 50mm
Welding Speed = 1-7cm/s  Low heat conduction loss
Weld width  with Welding Speed
 Higher Efficiency up to 55%
Application Examples:
EB Drilling: Suitable where large no. of holes is to be drilled
where drilling holes with conventional process is difficult due to
material hardness or hole-geometry.
Used in aerospace, instrumentation, food , chemical & textile industries.
Thousands of tiny holes (0.1- 0.9+0.05mm) in
Turbine (steel) engine combustor.
Cobalt alloy fiber spinning heads.
Filters & Screens used in food processing.
Perforation in artificial leather to make shoes for air-breathing:
0.12mm hole made at 5000/s.

EBW: Welding with minimum distortion- Finished components

Parts of target pistols,
Bimetal strips,
Dissimilar metals,
Aircraft gas turbine components,
Automobile catalytic converter, etc.
25KW Output Typical Autogeneous
(no filler added) Welds
Advantages of EBM:
Drilling & Cutting
 Any material can be machined
 No cutting forces are involved so no stresses imposed on part
 Exceptional drilling speeds possible with high position accuracy and form
 Extremely small kerf width, little wastage of material
Little mechanical or thermal distortion
 Computer-controlled parameters
 High aspect ratio
 High accuracy

EBW (welding)
 Minimum thermal input
 Minimum HAZ & Shrinkage
 High aspect ratio & Deep penetration
 High purity, no contamination
 Welds high-conductivity materials
Disadvantages of EBM :

 High capital cost

 Nonproductive pump down time
 Recast at the edges
 High level of operator skill required
 Maximum thickness that can be cut about 10mm (3/8”)
 A suitable backing material must be used
 Ferrous material to be demagnetized as otherwise could affect the e-beam
 Work area must be under a vacuum

 High joint preparation & tooling costs for welding

 X-ray shielding required
 Seam tracking sometimes difficult.
Numerical Problems:

1. Estimate the penetration depth of electron beam accelerated at 100kV

impinging in steel having density of 7.6g/cc.

2. Electron Beam power required for machining is proportional to material

removal rate: P =C.Q, where C is constant of proportionality & Q is MRR in
mm3 /min.
Typical energy requirements for cutting are,

Determine the cutting speed to cut a

250 micron wide slot in a 0.5mm
thick tungsten sheet using a 1kW
electron beam
Numerical Problems:

1. Estimate the penetration depth of electron beam accelerated at 100kV

impinging in steel having density of 7.6g/cc.
= 2.6x10-17(V2 /) mm, V in Volts &  in kg/mm3
 = 0.034m

2. Electron Beam power required for machining is proportional to material

removal rate: P =C.Q, where C is constant of proportionality & Q is MRR in
mm3 /min.
Typical energy requirements for cutting are,

Determine the cutting speed to cut a

250 micron wide slot in a 0.5mm
thick tungsten sheet using a 1kW
electron beam

C = P/Q  12 W/mm3/min = 1000W / ( 250x10-3x0.5xV in mm/min)

V in mm/min = 1000/(12 x 0.25x0.5) = 667mm/min =11mm/s
Numerical Problems:

A 10mm thick titanium sheet is welded with an electron beam at 8mm/s welding speed. The
weld width is 3mm. What is the power of electron beam if 20% of the beam power is utilized
in the weld, and the melt temperature reaches to the boiling point during welding and 5%
molten material gets evaporated in the keyhole formation process?

Assuming that the weld width is equal to the sum of the thermal diffusion length and the e-
beam size at the surface, calculate the e-beam diameter.

The thermo-physical properties of titanium are as the following:

Electron beam power coupling efficiency = 0.4; Density = 4510 kg/m 3,
Specific heat =520J/kgC, Boiling temperature = 3260C, Latent heat of
fusion = 437kJ/kg. Latent heat of vaporization = 9000 kJ/kg, Thermal
conductivity = 19 W/mK.
Thank you
for
your patience

26