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Materials and Manufacturing Processes

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A Hybrid Machining Process Combining Micro-EDM and

Laser Beam Machining of Nickel-Titanium Based Shape
Memory Alloy
ab

A. Al-Ahmari , M. Sarvar Rasheed , Muneer Khan Mohammed & T. Saleh

a

FARCAMT, Advanced Manufacturing Institute, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh,

Saudi Arabia
Accepted author version posted online: 11 Mar 2015.

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To cite this article: A. Al-Ahmari, M. Sarvar Rasheed, Muneer Khan Mohammed & T. Saleh (2015): A Hybrid Machining Process
Combining Micro-EDM and Laser Beam Machining of Nickel-Titanium Based Shape Memory Alloy, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2015.1019102
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2015.1019102

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A Hybrid Machining Process Combining Micro-EDM and Laser Beam Machining

of Nickel-Titanium based shape memory alloy
A. Al-Ahmari1,2, M. Sarvar Rasheed1, Muneer Khan Mohammed1, T. Saleh1
1

FARCAMT, Advanced Manufacturing Institute, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi

Arabia, 2Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud
University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract
Downloaded by [University of Western Ontario] at 11:23 12 April 2015

Micro-EDM is a slow process as compared to laser machining, on the contrary laser

machining lacks good surface quality. To overcome the drawbacks of both these
processes, this paper suggests a hybrid machining process which combines laser and
micro-EDM processes for drilling micro-holes in advanced engineering materials such as
Nickel-Titanium (Ni-Ti) based shape memory alloy. To achieve the objective of the
suggested hybrid process, pilot holes are drilled with laser machine and rimmed out by
micro-EDM drilling. The suggested process requires investigation of various
combinations of micro-EDM drilling process conditions to obtain optimum machining
parameters for the hybrid process. It has been found that the proposed hybrid machining
process resulted in 50-65% reduction in machining time without affecting the quality of
micro-holes as compared to the standard micro-EDM process.

KEYWORDS: Micro, holes, EDM, Laser, Machining, Shape, memory, Ni-Ti

INTRODUCTION
Among advanced engineering materials, Ni-Ti alloy is a special kind of material which
exhibits shape memory effect and other important features such as high strength, high

wear resistance, pseudo plasticity and outstanding biocompatibility for various

applications [1]. Ni-Ti based Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is also used in bio-medical
applications such as cardio-vascular systems (expandable stents) in minimal invasive
surgeries [2]. Ni-Ti SMA is highly sensitive to stresses and mechanical tensions which
makes it difficult to machine by conventional manufacturing processes and thus, results
in poor workpiece quality, increase tool wear and tear [3]. To overcome this difficulty
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non- conventional machining techniques such as laser machining and electrical discharge
machining (EDM) are used for Ni-Ti based SMA fabrication [4].

Micro-EDM is an application of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), which is a noncontact material removal process, where the material removal mechanism is by a series of
successive electrical discharges which are then converted into thermal energy by the
sparks generated between the tool and the workpiece in the presence of di-electric fluid.
The thermal energy generates the high temperature plasma which erodes the workpiece
material [5]. Micro-EDM differs from EDM due to its small tool size, low discharge
energy levels and axes motion at micron level [6]. It is used for machining micro-pins,
micro-nozzles, cavities and complex features [7]. This process is also considered as the
main process for fabrication of micro-holes (<200 m) in fuel injection nozzles, turbine
blades [8] and ink jet nozzles [9]. Micro-EDM has been used for fabricating micro-holes
on nickel alloy for MEMS applications [10]. Deep micro-holes of 50 m diameter with
10:1 aspect ratio were fabricated using micro- EDM [11]. EDM is also being used to
machine Ni-Ti SMA, studies have shown that the surface integrity is inversely
proportional to Material Removal Rate (MRR) and thus good surface quality can only be

obtained at low MRR [12]. MRR with brass electrodes is relatively higher during drilling
of micro holes in Ni-Ti alloy [13].

Laser beam machining is a layer by layer material removal process where a high energy
laser beam is focused on to the work piece which heats and transforms the material into
molten, vaporized state which is then removed by high pressure assist gases [14]. Laser
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processing of materials has proven to be an important tool for the development of micro
features due to its accuracy, flexibility and most importantly its ability to cut almost all
materials. However conventional laser machining is often associated with undesirable
effects such as HAZ, Spatter and Recast layer. The use of ultra-short pulse lasers has
shown very limited HAZ, however these ultra-short lasers are very expensive and also the
material removal rate is very low [15]. Laser machining of Ni-Ti SMA with Ti: sapphire
pulsed laser has shown advantages with laser machining related to the achieved
resolution, perpendicularity and minimizing the heat affected zone at femtosecond pulse
durations. However, these advantages of laser machining are obtained at the expense of
ablation rate which is extremely low owing to the very small power [16].

Hybrid machining process, which is a combination of two or more machining processes,

has attracted special interest among researchers and practitioners for machining advanced
engineering materials. The problems associated with difficult to cut materials such as low
MRR and shorter tool life can be addressed with hybrid machining approaches in order to
improve MRR and tool life [17].

Usually, the performance of hybrid machining process is better than the sum of their
performance with the same parameter settings [18]. Research has been done on Hybrid
machining with combinations of processes such milling and grinding [19], Laser and
mechanical micromachining [20], Laser drilling and jet electrochemical machining [21],
ultrasonic machining and EDM in order to take the advantages of both the processes [22].

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In this paper, a study has been done to analyze the feasibility and characteristics of hybrid
process using a combination of laser and micro- EDM drilling process to machine micro
holes of diameter 200 m in Ni-Ti based SMA. In this hybrid process, pilot holes are first
drilled by a Nd:YAG laser and the laser drilled holes are then machined by -EDM for
finishing. Material removal rate and the quality of the micro-holes drilled by hybrid
process are compared and analyzed against the standard -EDM drilling processes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A special experimental set-up for Micro-EDM was used to study the micro-EDM
process, which is capable of performing both machining and investigation of the microholes without unloading the workpiece from the machine. This setup is based on [5].The
initial investigations of micro-holes were carried out by microscopic lens attached to the
equipment. Figure1 shows the schematic diagram of micro-EDM. Figure 2 shows the
electrical power supply circuit (RC circuit).

Figure 3 shows the used experimental set-up for micro-EDM process. It consists of a RC
type generator which can produce pulses in few tens of nanoseconds to few

microseconds, Optical microscope for investigating the machined holes and Di-electric
unit with workpiece holder and Kerosene as dielectric environment.

In this study a sheet of Ni-Ti based Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) with 500 m thickness
is used as the workpiece material, Circular rod of 200m diameter made of brass is used
as the electrode because of the fact that brass electrodes are less expensive, easy to
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machine and give relatively higher MRR compared to other electrodes. Experiments were
designed and the sample holes were produced at different parametric settings. According
to the capability of the machine two different voltages of 80v and 100v were used. Table
1 shows the experimental conditions of the micro-EDM. The micro-holes were machined
at different discharge energies by making variations in electrical parameters and then the
machined micro-holes were measured using scanning electron microscope (SEM).

The Laser machining setup used in this work consists of a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser
operating at a wavelength of 1064nm, Figure 4 shows the components of the laser unit.
The basic parameters of the laser are shown in Table 2.

laser beam is focused on to the workpiece and holes of diameter 150 m are machined
and the machining time is documented. The produced holes were then investigated using
SEM to measure hole diameter, HAZ and taper. Actual volume of material removed and
the machining time were used to calculate MRR.

SUGGESTED HYBRID MACHINING (LASER MACHINING AND MICROEDM (LEDM))

In micro-EDM process, mostly negative polarity electrode is preferred in order to achieve
maximum MRR, minimum TWR and minimum surface roughness. Positive polarity of
electrode is preferred for dressing the electrode to increase material removal [23] and it is

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done after machining each hole as the electrode gets tapered.

In this study, micro holes were machined on 500m thick Ni-Ti SMA workpiece using
200m brass electrodes by varying the discharge energy 7.525J at 100volts, 4.816 J at
80volts, 2.375 J at 100 volts and 1.52 J at 80 volts.

The performance is evaluated in terms of accuracy of micro-hole, Material removal rate

and surface quality of micro-hole produced. In micro-EDM, the accuracy of micro-holes
is important issue to be considered. It is determined based on overcut, taperness,
circularity of micro-holes produced. Overcut is defined as the expansion in micro-holes
caused during spark erosion process and it can be calculated as the difference between the
machined hole and the electrode diameter. The overcut was found to be less at lower
discharge energy levels as shown in figure 5 due to the fact that less material is removed
with small crater size and at high discharge energies the overcut is large because of
longer discharge column formation. At longer duration of discharge, the electron released
collides with the neutral particles in the dielectric fluid leading large ionization. This
electrons and ions collides with workpiece material and results in larger overcut [24].

In micro-EDM process, the main reason for dimensional inaccuracy in micro-holes is

taperness. The taperness in micro-holes is caused due to electrode tool wear at the corner.
It is significantly important when deep holes are machined as seen in figure 6. It can be
concluded that the taperness increases with increase in discharge energy. At higher
discharge energy levels large craters are formed on the surface of the workpiece which
may result in unexpected secondary sparking which results in short-circuiting and arcing
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and causes larger micro-holes. Another reason for taperness is due to debris produced
during micro-EDM process which causes secondary sparking along the side of electrodes
and the micro-holes get enlarged at the top side because of moving debris from bottom
and eject out from top of the hole. This debris is difficult to remove until a proper
flushing technique and pressure is applied which can also effects the micro-EDM
process. However, when discharge energy is reduced the enlargement in micro-holes is
negligible. Taperness also depends upon the thermal and electrical properties of the
material and the aspect ratio [25].

The material removal rate (cubic millimeter per minute) is computed as the ratio of
volume of the removed material to the related machining time. In micro-EDM, discharge
energy, thermal and electrical properties of the material and electrode contribute in
determining machinability. MRR is considered to be an important characteristic in all
machining processes. Figure 7 illustrates that the MRR increase with increase in
discharge energy. While machining the discharge energy is converted into thermal energy
which in turn increases the workpiece temperature subsequently leading to material
removal by melting and evaporation. Variations in MRR are observed when there is

improper supply of discharge energy by RC type pulse generator. The charge stored in
the capacitor is discharged as the dielectric breaks down and then the machining starts.
Partially charged capacitor influences the MRR as it cannot discharge the maximum
charge needed which results in poor MRR [24]. Reduction in MRR is also observed
because of small working gap where proper flushing is not possible and results in short
circuiting and arching. In -EDM process, the other things which influence the MRR are
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the physical and thermal properties of workpiece material, more frequent short circuiting
and adhesion results in lower MRR. However, in this study though there is not much
shorting at optimum discharge energies but due to high aspect ratio, the MRR reduced as
the flushing becomes difficult in drilling deeper holes.

In manufacturing the surface quality generated after machining process is of significant

importance. In this work, the surface quality of micro-holes is investigated by observing
the quality of rim surface around the micro-holes. The SEM images in the figure 8 shows
the HAZ and other surface irregularities at the rim surface of micro-holes for various
energy levels. The surface quality of micro-holes at lower discharge levels is better as
compared to higher discharge but at the expense of MRR which is low at lower discharge
energy levels. All the holes obtained are free from burr and recast layer at the rim surface.
However, slight craters are formed at the rim surface when the holes are drilled at higher
energy levels.

Sometimes, the poor surface quality of micro-holes is due to the low thermal conductivity
where heat is not rapidly dissipated. Thus, the machined surface doesnt smoothen when

it gets cooled and may cause distortion at the rim of the micro-holes. Moreover, if the rim
of micro hole is more heat affected then it can expand the micro hole and reduce the
circularity of the hole. However in the present study we have observed burr free, less
expanded, good quality micro-holes on Ni-Ti SMA material.

Laser micro machined holes demonstrated low circularity, high degree of taper, HAZ,
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recast layer and spatter around the periphery of the holes as shown in figure 16 b.
However the material removal rates were very high. The taper in laser-drilled holes is
caused by the expulsion of molten and vaporized material from the hole. The high degree
of taper here is also because of the collision of the laser beam with the wall of the hole
resulting in excessive cut at the top surface.

A thin layer is formed (recast layer) by molten material on the cavity side walls. Spatter
is the re-solidified and adhered molten metal and vapor at the edge of the hole. Spatter
cannot be completely removed but can be reduced based upon the optimal selection of
process factors. Shorter pulse width and proper selection of parameters provide less HAZ
and reduce the deposition of spatter area.

It can be concluded From Figure 9 and 10 that EDX analysis after laser machining shows
significant changes in the material composition around the machined area (heat effect
area), it can be seen that Ni and Ti have significantly reduced by 10% and adding other
elements such as O, Si, Cr, Ca and a small amount of C. This may affect some of the

properties of the SMA material like strength and hardness around the periphery of the
micro-hole produced by laser.

In the suggested Hybrid machining (Laser Machining and Micro-EDM (LEDM)), it is

found that the taperness i.e., diameter differenece between entrance and exit of microholes machined by LBM is large as compared aginst micro-holes produce by LEDM, as
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illustrated in Figure 11. The diameter at entrance and exit for micro-hole produced by
LBM are 170.703 m and 71.926 m and for LEDM the diameter at the entrance of
micr-hole is about 233.3765 m and the minimum diameter at the exit is 215.7492 m

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Dimensional Accuracy Of Micro-Hole
Overcut is considered as one of the important aspects in measuring the dimensional
accuracy of micro-hole. Overcut is the difference between the diameter of micro-hole
produced and the actual diameter of tool electrode. Figure 12 shows that in micro-EDM
process, overcut increases as the discharge energy increases because at higher energy
levels the spark carries higher amount of energy which decomposes large amount of
dielectric, releasing more amount of oxygen, which influences the machining efficiency
and results in secondary sparks between the sides of tool electrode and the hole inner
surface because of improper flushing out of debris. Figure14 also shows that the Overcut
is less in LEDM process as compared to micro-EDM process. In LEDM process, while
electro discharge machining it was observed that due to proper flushing of dielectric

10

along the laser drilled hole helps in flushing out debris which is between tool electrode
and the hole and reduces the secondary sparks between them.

In evaluating accuracy of micro-holes, taper angle is also an important characteristic. In

micro-EDM, corner tool wear is one of the reasons for taperness in the micro-holes.
Taperness in micro-EDM increases when discharge energy increases, because at higher
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energy levels the material removal rate is high resulting in faster tool wear at the corners
and expansion of holes at the entrance. Another reason for taperness is due to secondary
sparking between the debris and the workpiece material in the machined region. Figure
13 indicates that the taper angle in LEDM process reduced significantly than in the
micro-EDM process. The main reason is that it reduces the large amount of deposition of
debris in the machined zone between the workpiece and tool electrode because of proper
flushing out of debris particles, which moves out of the machined zone easily through the
laser drilled hole while EDM process.

Material Removal Rate

It is obvious that -EDM process is a slow process as compared to laser machining.
However, laser machining process lacks in surface quality as most of the holes are
positive tapered. Therefore in order to overcome the flaws of two micro machining
technologies, a hybrid machining process is proposed in this paper. Initially a pilot hole
of diameter 150m was first drilled with laser machine as the main target is achieve 200
m diameter hole and rimmed out by micro-EDM drilling for finishing. Various
combinations of laser and micro-EDM drilling conditions have been studied and the

11

optimum machining parameters for laser and micro-EDM are selected for drilling microholes in advanced engineering materials. Fig. 14 shows the combined laser and EDM
drilling. The laser drilled hole diameter, size of heat affected zone and the final hole
diameter requirement determine the size of EDM electrode diameter. In hybrid machining
process, general Volume formula was considered for MRR in workpiece as Volume of a
conical frustum over the machining time which includes machining time of LBM and
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micro-EDM to make through hole as follows:

Material Removal Rate MRR

Rt2

Rt Rb

Rb2 * p / t LBM

t EDM

Where:
Rt is the radius at the entrance of the micro-hole produced.
Rb is the radius at the bottom of the micro-hole produced.
p is the thickness of workpiece material.
tLBM is the machining time during LBM process and tEDM is the machining time during
EDM process to make a micro-hole.

It is concluded that the material rate in hybrid process is much improved than in standard
-EDM process, as illustrated in Figure 15. Table 3 shows the material removal rate for
different machining processes. The reason for large MMR in hybrid machining is because
of low short circuiting and arcing while machining and debris formed in the pilot hole
will be flushed away by the dielectric.

12

Tool Wear
In micro-EDM process, it was observed that tool wear is slightly higher at low energy
levels and it gradually increases as the discharge energy increases. At low voltages low
spark gap is generated which prevents the proper flushing and results in deposition of
debris causing arcing and short circuiting which leads to higher electrode tool wear.

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At higher discharge energy levels material removal rate increases which in turn cause the
increase of debris deposition in machined region and results in large crater size. This
causes difficulties in flushing process of dielectric. In addition to secondary sparking due
to debris, tool wear also depends upon the tool electrode and workpiece materials
thermal conductivity, melting point and aspect ratio.

It was also observed that the overall tool wear rate is higher in pure Micro-EDM than that
in hybrid process, where the tool wear rate is reduced by 30-45%. In LEDM process the
proper flushing of debris along the laser drilled hole reduces the secondary sparking due
to the debris there by reducing the tool wear rate.

Surface Morphology
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the morphology and
microstructure of micro-holes drilled. The surface quality of micro-holes can be seen
from the SEM images as shown in Figure16. We can see significant improvement in
micro-hole quality in hybrid process as compared to laser process and the quality of holes
is as good as standard micro-EDM. The SEM image shows the heat affected zone

13

surrounds the micro-holes produced in laser machining process which depends upon the
type of laser used. As there is 20m HAZ surrounds the micro-hole of diameter 160 m.
In order to reduce this heat affected area a minimum diameter of 190 m is required.

Using the hybrid process, it is observed that the taperness is significantly reduced and
holes are more parallel as seen in standard -EDM. The average hole diameter produced
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is 224 m at entrance and 215 m at exit. The radial gap is reduced in hybrid machining
as less material has to remove from the pilot hole as it increasing the drilling speed. In
standard -EDM process, the debris particles in the dielectric fluid promote machining in
the narrow gaps. Where as in hybrid machining, this effect is eliminated by pilot hole as
debris and dielectric flows through these pilot holes.

CONCLUSIONS
In this present study, micro-holes were produced on Ni-Ti based shape memory alloy
using laser and micro-EDM. It has been observed that during the laser machining of
micro-holes the material removal rate was very high but the quality of micro-holes
produced was not good. On the other hand the micro-holes produced by micro-EDM
were of high quality with good surface morphology but however the material removal
rate was very low. Therefore, in order to overcome this problem and to take the
advantage from the both the machining processes (high MRR during laser machining and
good surface morphology with micro-EDM) a novel hybrid machining procedure was
developed using laser and micro-EDM. Where in the micro-holes were first machined
with laser there by removing most of the material and then the same micro-holes were

14

rimmed out by micro-EDM drilling in comparatively lesser time but at the same time
keeping the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of micro-hole same as -EDM.

Therefore, the proposed hybrid machining process has resulted in the 50-65% reduction
of machining time and about 40% to 65% increase in material removal rate (MRR)

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without effecting the quality of micro-hole.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
This project was financially supported by King Saud University, Vice Deanship of
Research Chairs.

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Table 1: Micro-EDM Experimental Conditions

Process Conditions

Values

Electrode material and diameter

Brass, Diameter =200m,

Workpiece material

Ni-Ti alloy (SMA)

Polarity

Electrode= -ve, workpiece= +ve

Pulse generator Type

RC

Dielectric fluid

Kerosene

Discharge voltage

80 V, 100 V

Capacitor

155pF, 475pF

19

Table 2: Laser parameters

1064 nm

Pulse duration

10 us

Frequency

30 KHz

Laser spot diameter

30 um

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Wavelength

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Table.3 MRR comparison in -EDM, Laser, Hybrid Machining

-EDM

Laser Machining

Hybrid Machining

MRR(mm3/min)

0.001422

0.002674

0.002082

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Machining Type

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Figure 1 Schematic diagram of Micro-EDM

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Figure 2 Electrical Power Supply R C Circuit

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Figure 3 Micro-EDM Experimental Set-up based on Masuzawa, 2000

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Figure 4 Components of the laser unit

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Figure 5 Variation of Overcut with Discharge energy

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Figure 6 Variations of Taperness with Discharge energy

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Figure 7 Variation of Material removal rate with Discharge Energy

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Figure 8 SEM images showing hole diameter at entrance (left) and exit (right) for

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different energy levels (a) 7.525J (b) 4.816J (c) 2.375J (d) 1.52J.

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Figure 9 EDX analysis of Shape memory alloy before laser machining and its

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composition

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Figure 10 EDX analysis of Shape memory alloy after laser machining and its

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composition

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Figure 11 Comparison of micro-holes diameter at entrance and exit produced by (a) LBM

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and (b) LEDM

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Figure 12 Comparison of Overcut in -EDM and LEDM (Hybrid Process)

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Figure 13 Comparison of Taper angle in -EDM and LEDM (Hybrid Process)

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Figure 14 Illustration of Hybrid machining

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Figure 15 Comparison of Material Removal Rates in -EDM and LEDM (Hybrid

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Process)

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Figure 16 SEM images of micro-holes produced on (a) standard -EDM, (b) Laser

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machining (c) Hybrid Machining

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