VIBRATION ASSISTED ELECTRO

DISCHARGE MACHINING
NEED FOR VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• The need for machining hard and brittle material is steadily
increasing in many applications

• EDM has a major drawback of low efficiency of sparking and the

formation of open circuit, which are nonproductive with respect
to the material removal rate
NEED FOR VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• On the other hand, ultrasonic machining can tackle hard and
brittle materials, which have difficulty withstanding the cutting
forces during conventional machining

• The interaction between machining mechanisms of EDM and US

vibration in one machining process (EDMUS) has a greater
productivity than the sum of the productivities of the individual
EDM and USM
SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF EDMUS
WORKING OF VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• The working is similar to USM with the dielectric (deionized
water) replacing the abrasive slurry as the machining medium.
The ultrasonic vibration of the tool or workpiece together with
the low-cost dc power supply generates the discharges across
the machining gap

• The material removal mechanism employs the electro discharge

phase for melting and evaporation of the workpiece material, by
the plasma channel, in a similar way to normal EDM
WORKING OF VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• The intensity of the discharging action depends on the working
conditions such as gap voltage, amplitude, and frequency of
ultrasonic vibration as well as the gap flushing conditions.

• Because of the ultrasonic vibrations of the tool, its front surface

moves down toward the workpiece surface and the electric field
intensity increases
WORKING OF VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• The electric field, however, causes the ultrafine particles (metal
debris ejected from the formed crates) in the machining medium
to be suspended and form a bridge across the gap.

• At a very small gap size, deionization or breakdown of the

working fluid occurs and the plasma channel is formed. When
the tool front moves up, the gap voltage rises, current drops,
and the plasma channel collapses, at large gap sizes. The process
begins again when the tool moves down.
WORKING OF VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• The flushing action has been reported to increase with vibration
amplitudes

• With the application of ultrasonic vibration the machining rate

and surface finish improved significantly, and although the tool
wear rate increased, the wear ratio was not influenced
significantly
WORKING OF VIBRATION ASSISTED EDM
• It is reported that the increase of tool vibration up to 100 μm
enhanced the erosion rate due to the improved flushing action
and hence the sparking efficiency. The presence of too much
debris in the electrode gap causes continued arcing and short
circuits which makes the process unstable
COMPARISION BETWEEN EDM,USM,EDMUS
ADVANTAGES OF EDMUS OVER EDM
• It can be concluded that the EDMUS material removal rate is
about 3 times greater than that of USM and 2 times greater than
that of conventional EDM.
• Moreover, the surface roughness of the hybrid process is greatly
reduced to one-third of normal EDM by the introduction of US
vibration to the tool or workpiece.
• Surface roughness produced by normal USM is 40 percent of
those machined by EDMUS
ADVANTAGES OF EDMUS OVER EDM
• Consequently, the structure modifications are minimized; less
microcracks are observed, which increases the fatigue life of the
machined parts if compared to normal EDM.
REFERENCE
• Advanced machining process by Hassan Abdel-Gawad El Hofy