Presentation on

NON-CONVENTIONAL MACHINING
- EDM and EBM
 Electrical-Discharge Machining (EDM)

EDM is a machining method primarily used for hard metals or those that
would be impossible to machine with traditional techniques. One critical
limitation, however, is that EDM only works with materials that are
electrically conductive. EDM or Electrical Discharge Machining is
especially well-suited for cutting intricate contours or delicate cavities that
would be difficult to produce with a grinder, an end mill or other cutting
tools. Metals that can be machined with EDM include hardened tool-steel,
titanium, carbide, inconel and kovar.

EDM is sometimes called "spark machining" because it removes metal by

producing a rapid series of repetitive electrical discharges. These electrical
discharges are passed between an electrode and the piece of metal being
machined. The small amount of material that is removed from the
workpiece is flushed away with a continuously flowing fluid. The repetitive
discharges create a set of successively deeper craters in the work piece
until the final shape is produced.
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 There are two primary EDM methods:

 Ram EDM and

 Wire EDM.

The primary difference between the two involves the electrode that is used to
perform the machining. In a typical ram EDM application, a graphite electrode is
machined with traditional tools. The specially-shaped electrode is connected to the
power source, attached to a ram, and slowly fed into the workpiece. The entire
machining operation is usually performed while submerged in a fluid bath. In wire
EDM a very thin wire serves as the electrode. Special brass wires are typically used;
the wire is slowly fed through the material and the electrical discharges actually cut
the workpiece. Wire EDM is usually performed in a bath of water.

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 Ram Electro-Discharge Machining (EDM) Process : In this process, the
control of erosion of the metal is achieved by the rapidly recurring spark discharges produced
between two electrodes, one tool and the other work, and spark impinging against the surface
of the workpiece which must be an electrically conducting body. A suitable gap
(approximately 0.025 to 0.075 mm) known as spark gap, is maintained between the tool and
the work by a servomotor which is actuated by the difference between a reference voltage and
the gap breakdown voltage, which feeds the tool downwards towards the workpiece.

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 The metal removal rate depends on the spark gap maintained. If both electrodes are made of
same material, it has been found that the greatest erosion takes place upon the positive
electrode (anode). Therefore, in order to remove maximum metal and have minimum wear on
the tool, the tool is made cathode and the workpiece as anode. The two electrodes are
separated by a dielectric fluid medium. The spark is a transient electric discharge across the
gap between workpiece and tool. When the potential difference (voltage) across the gap
becomes sufficiently large, the dielectric fluid becomes ionized and breaks down to produce
an electrically conductive spark channel and the condensers discharge current across the
channel in the form of a spark. 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 the process repeats itself. The spark occurs in an
interval of from 10 to 30 microseconds and with a current density of approximately 15-500
amp/mm2. The repetitive sparks release their energy in the form of local heat, as a result of
which, local temperature of the order of 12000°C is reached at the spot hit by electrons, and
at such a high pressure and temperature some metal is melted and eroded. Some of it is
vaporized and under it fine material particles are carried away by dielectric medium (liquid)
circulated around it, forming a crater on the workpiece. The time interval between the sparks
is so short that the heat is unable to conduct into the tool and work. Fig.4.12 shows the
schematic representation of the process illustrating the various components involved in the
process.

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 Tool Material
The selection of the tool material depends upon many factors such as:
 It should have low erosion rate or good work to tool wear ratio
 It should be electrically conductive
 It should have good machinability
 It should have low electrical resistance
 It should have high melting point
 It should have high electron emission.
 One of the major draw back of EDM is the wear ratio of the tool. The wear ratio may be
defined as:
 Loss of tool material (volumetric) in a given time 
Wear ratio   
 Volume of matel removed from the work in the same time 

 The less the wear ratio, the better it is. Wear ratio for brass electrode is 1:1. For most
other metallic electrodes, it is about 3:1 or 4:1. With graphite (with the highest melting
point, 3500OC), the wear ratio may be range from 5:1 upto 50:1.

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 Tool Wear
 During the EDM process the tool (i.e. the cathode) also gets eroded which is undesirable
no doubt but unavoidable too. However the wear of the cathode is much less than that of
the anode, the reasons for this are given below:

The positive ions of the dielectric fluid strike the cathode whereas the electrons to the
anode. The mass of electrons is much less than that of the ions but it moves with
much greater velocity than the ions do. So the cathode gets eroded much less than
the anode.

Due to the spark a compressive force is created on the cathode which helps in
reduction of cathode erosion.

The dielectric fluids are usually hydrocarbons. Due to its pyrolysis, gases evolve
which produce carbon particles. These particles get deposited on the heated cathode
as a thin layer which protects the tool from wear.

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 Dielectric Fluid
Purpose
 It acts as a coolant for the workpiece and the tool
 It acts as an insulating medium during charging operation of the condenser and provides
the correct condition for efficient spark discharge and its conduction when ionized
(during discharging).
 It carries away the eroded metal particles.
 It acts as a coolant in quenching the spark and helps arcing to be prevented.
Essential Requirements
 It should have an optimum viscosity. Because lower viscosity unable the fluid to carry
away the metal particle efficiently at a flow velocity. Whereas higher viscosity imposes
restriction on the velocity of liquid itself.
 It should not react with the work material, the tool or the container etc.
 It should be inflammable, cheap and easily available
 It should not evolve gases and toxic vapors during operation
 It must be a hydrocarbon.

The various dielectric fluids are; kerosene, transformer oil, white spirit, oil etc: Some conducting
powers such as aluminum or fine and light density graphite if added to the dielectric fluid, the metal
removal rate increases.
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 Advantages, Disadvantage and Applications

Advantages
 Metal of any hardness, toughness or brittleness could be machined by this process
provided they are conductor of electricity.
 Dies of harder materials like alloy steels tungsten carbide etc., for molding, forging,
extrusion and press tools could be reproduced.
 Dies can be machined even in the hardened state
 Any complicated shape that can be made on the tool can be reproduced on a workpiece
 Very fine holes can be drilled accurately since the cutting forces are too small
 The accuracy of work produced can be as high as 0.005 mm on finishing operations
 More suitable for producing surfaces that are to be used for wear resistance because the
surface produced has micro-craters (appear as shot blasted surface) which can contain
lubricants effectively
 There is no physical connection between the tool and the workpiece. There is no cutting
force except the blasting pressure. So cylinder and fragile workpieces could be machined
without causing any damage to them
 The machining time especially for harder work materials is much less than conventional
machining process.

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 Disadvantages
 The power requirement is very high compared to conventional processes (120 J/mm 2)
 Some of the materials may become brittle at room temperature and there is some chance
of surface cracking
 Sometimes a layer of 0.01 to 0.10 mm containing 4% carbon may get deposited on steel
workpieces
 The metal removal rate is comparatively low (75 mm 3/sec)
 It is difficult to reproduce sharp corners
 In some cases the microstructure of the workpiece surface gets distorted necessitating
subsequent etching.
Applications
 EDM is widely used for machining burr free intricate shapes, narrow slots and blind
cavities etc., for example, sinking of dies for molding, die casting, plastic molding, wire
drawing, compacting, cold heading, forging, extrusion and press tools. Almost any
geometry (negative of tool geometry) can be generated on a workpiece if a suitable tool
can be fabricated (the use of punch as a tool to machine its own mating die is commonly
employed in EDM method). EDM is particularly useful for machining of small holes,
orifices or slot in diesel-fuel injection nozzles, or in aircraft engines, air brake valves etc.

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 Wire Electrical Discharge Machining: The wire-cut EDM uses a very thin wire
0.02 to 0.3 mm in diameter as an electrode and machines a workpiece with electrical
discharge like a band saw by moving either the workpiece or wire. Erosion of the metal
utilizing the phenomenon of spark discharge is the very same as in conventional EDM. The
prominent feature of a moving wire is that a complicated cutout can be easily machined
without using a forming electrode.

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 Wire-cut EDM machine basically consists of a machine proper composed of a
workpiece contour movement control unit (NC tension; a machining power supply
which applies electrical energy to the wire electrode; and a unit or copying unit),
workpiece mounting table and wire driver section for accurately moving the wire
at constant tension; a machine power supply which applies electrical energy to the
wire electrode; and a unit which supplies a dielectric fluid (distilled water) with
constant specific resistance. The various features of wire cut EDM process are:

 Forming electrode adapted to product shape is not required

 Electrode wear is negligible
 Machined surfaces are smooth
 Geometrical and dimensional tolerances are tight
 Relative tolerance between punch and die is extremely high and die life is extended
 Straight holes can be produced to close tolerance
 EDM machine can be operated unattended for long time at high operating rate
 Machining is done without requiring any skill.

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 Advantages
 Saving of stages in sequential tools, due to absence of split lines in the die, hence
permitting more punch opening per stage.
 Molded parts will not have flashes, as the moulds with draught can be made without
vertical divisions.
 Tool manufacturing and storage is not required.
 Heat treatment distortions are totally avoided, as the workpieces are hardened before
cutting.
 Cycle time for die manufacture is shorter, as the whole work is done on one machine.
 Inspection time is reduced, due to single piece construction of dies with high positioning
accuracy.
 The time utilization of wire cut EDM is high, as it can cut right through the day
 Economical, even for small batch production, including prototypes, as most of the
programming can be easily done.
 High surface finishes, with low thermal affected zone depths are obtained. This reduces
the manual finishing operation time
 Avoids rejections, due to initial planning and checking the program

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 Electron Beam Machining (EBM)

The source of energy in electron beam machining is high velocity electrons, which
strikes the surface of the workpiece and generate heat. In electron beam
machining, electrons emitted by a hot surface and accelerated by a voltage of 50 to
200 kV are focused to a very small areas on the workpiece. This stream of high
energy electrons posses a very high energy density (of the order of 104 kW / mm2)
and when this narrow stream strikes the workpiece (by impact), the kinetic energy
of the electrons is converted to powerful heat energy which is quite sufficient to
melt and vaporize any material. Even though, the electrons can penetrate metals to
a depth of only a few atomic layers and can melt metal to a depth of 25 mm or
more. The electron beam which travels at about half to three-fourth the velocity of
sound is focused on the workpiece by electro-static or electro-magnetic lenses.
Electron beam machining done in a high vacuum chamber to eliminate the
scattering of the electron beam as it contacts the gas molecules on the workpiece.
Figure in the next slide shows schematic view of electron beam machining
process.

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 Schematic illustration of the electron-beam machining process. Unlike LBM, this process
requires a vacuum, so workpiece size is limited to the size of the vacuum chamber.

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 For observing the process of machining an optical viewing system consisting of
lens and prism is also incorporated. The beam can be controlled very accurately
and focused on a width as small as 0.002 mm. The electrons on impingement over
the workpiece heat it up and raise its temperature to a value as high as 5000°C.
Due to this the material melts and vaporizes locally.

Recent developments have made it possible to machine outside the vacuum

chamber. In this arrangement, the necessary vacuum is maintained within the
electron gun proper by removing gases as soon as they enter. The fully vacuum
system is more costly, but it has the advantage that no contaminating gases are
present and the electron gun can be located at a considerable distance from the
workpiece.

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 Advantages, Disadvantages and Applications

Advantages
 Very hard, heat resistant materials could be machined or welded easily
 No physical or metallurgical damage results in the workpiece.
 Close dimensional tolerance could be achieved since there is no cutting tool wear.
 In electron beam welding there is virtually no contamination and close control of
penetration is possible.
 Holes as small as 0.002 mm diameter could be drilled.
Disadvantages
 The equipment costs high and operator of high skill is required for carrying out
operations.
 The power consumption is exceedingly high
 It is not very suitable for sinking deep holes, if the sides must be parallel. In other words,
it is not possible to have perfectly cylindrical deep holes by this method.
 Unless special care is taken the bottom of a thorough hole would become cone-shaped.
 It is most suitable for machining operation where much less material is to be removed.
The material removal rate being of the order of a fraction of a milligram per sec.
 The electron beam operation can be carried out only in vacuum.

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 Applications
 It is used for drilling synthetic jewels in the watch industry.
 Holes as small as 0.002 mm diameter can be produced in hard synthetic sapphires.
 Electron beam can be suitably used for welding small pieces of highly reactive and
refractory metals.
 For making fine gas orifices in space nuclear reactors and turbine blades for supersonic
aero engines, it is used
 Wire drawing dies, flow orifices could be produced by this process.
 Fine copper wire can be welded to in transistors.

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