Electro Discharge

Machining (EDM)
Learning Outcomes

▪ Students can understand the working principles and

design the steps for making products using the EDM
sinking and WEDM processes.

▪ Students can analyze the effect of process parameters

on the quality and productivity of EDM sinking and
WEDM processes.
EDM

What are the fundamental differences between EDM and

other non-conventional machining?

EDM is a machining process that converts

electrical energy into sparks, and MRR
occurs because of the thermal energy in
the material when the spark occurs.
Key Applications of EDM

❑ Aerospace: Machining turbine blades, cooling holes, and high-

precision parts.
❑ Automotive: Molds and dies for engine parts, transmission
components.
❑ Medical: Machining implants, surgical instruments, and precision
devices.
❑ Tool and Die Making: High-precision molds for plastic injection molding
or metal forming.
EDM Comparison with ECM
and CNC
ECM vs EDM -1/2

▪ There is a maskant that serves to protect non-

machining parts
▪ ECM tolerance is ±2𝜇𝑚 while EDM is ±50𝜇𝑚.
Why?
▪ Spark in EDM often causes burrs.
▪ On the ECM, there is a corrosion problem.
ECM vs EDM -2/2

NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering) is a cost incurred once in the early stages of

developing a new product or manufacturing process.
Types of EDM - Wire EDM

▪ Requires feeding wire

▪ The machining gap will be equal to the diameter of the wire.

Types of EDM : Small Hole EDM
Drilling

▪ A hollow electrode is used to make a hole in the workpiece material's

surface.
Products of EDM
Types of EDM : Die – Singkin
EDM/Ram EDM

▪ Also called Ram EDM, Sinker EDM, Vertical EDM, Plunge EDM.

▪ Usually used to make molds, as shown in the following figure.

EDM Sinking Animation
EDM Sinking Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GinrpIvwRRE
Schematic Diagram of EDM
(1/2)

Main parts of EDM

1. Electrical Power
supply
2. Work piece & tool
3. Dielectric medium
4. Servo control unit
Schematic Diagram of EDM
(2/2)

Fungsi Rectifier?
The EDM’s Sytems
Components
Basic Principles of EDM
(1/3)
▪ Tool (-) and workpiece (+) are conductive and immersed in a dielectric
liquid (e.g., kerosene or deionized water)

▪ A high-voltage voltage is applied to the tool and workpiece and creates

an electric field in the gap.
Basic Principles of EDM
(2/3)
▪ When the voltage difference is high enough, electrons will be
released from the tool to the workpiece through the dielectric fluid,
called cold emission.

▪ The resistance current flowing at the cathode is greater than at the

anode

▪ This process causes a larger voltage drop around the cathode

▪ This process causes electrons to escape at high speed and ionize

the gas around the cathode
Basic Principles of EDM
(3/3)
▪ When the energy is higher, there will be collisions between electrons
and dielectric liquid (neutral atoms).

▪ An ionization process occurs where the number of electrons and

positive ions increases to form plasma.

▪ The electrical resistance in the plasma channel is very low a spark

occurs (electrons strike the workpiece)

▪ The kinetic energy of the electrons and ions will be converted into
heat material removal.
 Sparks

▪ The electrons then spark and throw away the

material on the surface of the workpiece through
the melting/vaporizing process.

▪ Local temperature 10-15000 oC

▪ The material release process is carried out by

controlling pulsating (ON/OFF) through a
generator.

▪ In the off mode, molten on the surface of the

workpiece will be flushed and removed from the
surface of the workpiece
Spark step by step (1/9)

A charged electrode is brought near the workpiece. Between them is an

insulating oil, known in EDM as dielectric fluid.
Spark step by step (2/9)

As the number of ionic (charged) particles increases, the insulating

properties of the dielectric fluid begin to decrease along a narrow
channel centered in the strongest part of the field. Voltage has reached
its peak, but current is still zero.
Spark step by step (3/9)

A current is established as the fluid becomes less of an insulator.

Voltage begins to decrease.
Spark step by step (4/9)

Heat builds up rapidly as current increases and the voltage continues to

drop. The heat vaporizes some of the fluid, workpiece, and electrode,
and a discharge channel begins to form between
the electrode and workpiece..
Spark step by step (5/9)

A vapor bubble tries to expand outward, but its expansion is limited by a rush of
ions towards the discharge channel. These ions are attracted by the extremely
intense electromagnetic field that has built up. Current continues to rise, voltage
drops.
Spark step by step (6/9)

Near the end of the on-time, current and voltage have stabilized, heat
and pressure within the vapor bubble have reached their maximum, and
some metal is being removed.
Spark step by step (7/9)

At the beginning of the off-time, current and voltage drop to zero. The
temperature decreases rapidly, collapsing the vapor bubble and causing
the molten metal to be expelled from the workpiece.
Spark step by step (8/9)

Fresh dielectric fluid rushes in, flushing the debris away and quenching
the surface of the workpiece. Unexpelled molten metal solidifies to form
what is known as the recast layer.
Spark step by step (9/9)

The expelled metal solidifies into tiny spheres dispersed in the dielectric
oil along with bits of carbon from the electrode. The remaining vapor
rises to the surface. Without a sufficient off-time, debris would collect
making the spark unstable. This situation could create a DC arc which
can damage the electrode and the workpiece.
The Characteristic of
Workpiece

The spark effect on the layer's surface of the workpiece and the sub-layer.
• Spattered EDM coating of molten workpiece and tool easy to be removed
• Laser paint From un-expelled molten very hard, brittle reduced by polishing CNC
• HAZ only heated, not melted
Pulsing Spark

▪ Periodically generate sparks >100,000 sparks/sec

▪ High machining accuracy

▪ On-off time control for result optimization

Tool in EDM (1/2)

▪ Erosion occurs in the tool due to the

positive impact of ions on the tool.

▪ Causing the machining accuracy to

decrease.

▪ Higher density

▪ High electrical and thermal conductivity extends tool life.

▪ Higher melting point and good electrical conductivity

▪ Easy to be manufactured & low cost

▪ Type of tool : graphite, electrolyte oxygen free copper, brass

Tool in EDM (2/2)

No Material Advantages
1 Graphite fair wear characteristics and is easily
machinable
2 Copper good EDM wear and better conductivity for
better finishes in the range of 0.5 μm Ra
3 Copper tungsten for making deep slots under poor flushing, it
and silver tungsten has high machining rates as well as low
electrode wear
4 Brass Stable sparking conditions
Physical Properties of EDM
tools
 Operating Parameters

▪ The rotating tool rotates about

its axis, while the orbiting tool
moves to follow a specific path.

▪ The function of rotating and

orbiting is

1. For producing a smooth

surface

2. To keep the tool wear

uniformly
Electrode Polarities for Different
Workpiece Materials
Electrode wear
Electrode Wear

▪ Depending on the melting point

▪ It is categorized as an end, side, corner, and volume wear
▪ It depends on voltage, current, electrode material, and polarity
Wear on Electrode (tool)

The tool wear is formulated by the following formulation:

Dielectric Solution

▪ Allows spark to occur by

setting the dielectric
resistance

▪ Medium for preventing

oxidation and rush

▪ Cooling medium

▪ For releasing chip during

machining
The characteristic of
Dielectric fluids

▪ Usually contains additives to prevent gas bubbles and de-

adoring

▪ Adequate viscosity,

▪ high flash point, why?

▪ good oxidation stability,

▪ minimum odor,

▪ low cost,

▪ good electrical discharge efficiency

Dielectric Fluid
The Function of Dielectric
Fluids

▪ Flush the eroded particles from the machining gap

▪ Provide insulation between the electrode and the workpiece

▪ Cool the section that was heated by the discharging effect

Flushing – 1/2

The flushing function in EDM is as follows:

1. It prevents chip accumulation in the gap which will cause a short

circuit.

2. Supplying clean dielectric fluid for machining process optimization.

3. To waste chips during machining.

4. Poor flushing causes arcing that reduces tool life and increases
production time.
Flushing - 2/2

(a) Contamination in EDM (Lissaman and Martin, 1982) and (b) effect of
flushing on MRR (Youssef, 2005)
Type of Flushing (1/2)
Type of Flushing (2/2)
Power Generator

Several types of power generators used in EDM include:

1. Resistance capacitance (RC) relaxation generator

2. Rotary impulse generator

3. Electronic pulse generator

4. Hybrid EDM generator

Resistance capacitance (RC)
relaxation generator
The Basic Principle of RC
Relaxation

▪ The voltage stored in the capacitor is charged from a DC source

▪ If the capacitor's voltage is smaller than the breakdown voltage

of the dielectric, then the voltage continues to be charged.

▪ If the capacitor's voltage is bigger than the breakdown voltage, it

generates a spark during voltage's discharging.

▪ When the remaining voltage can't be used to produce a spark,

the capacitor will be re-charged.
Current pulse during charging
and discharging in EDM
Formulation in EDM (1/2)

𝑡𝑐
𝑉𝑐 = 𝑉𝑜 1 − 𝑒 𝑅𝑐 𝐶

𝑡𝑐
𝐼𝑐 = 𝐼𝑜 𝑒 𝑐𝐶
𝑅

𝑉𝑐
𝐼𝑑 =
𝑅𝑚
Formulation in EDM (1/2)

Total energy discharged through gap is formulated by

1
Energy total = 2 𝐶𝑉𝑐 ∗2 where 𝑉𝑐 ∗ = 0.716 𝑉𝑜
Other types of Generator
Parameters of Process (1/2)
Parameters of Process (2/2)
MRR and Surface Roughness in
EDM

MRR on EDM can be formulated as follow:

40 𝐼
𝑀𝑅𝑅 = sedangkan 𝑅𝑎 = 0.0225 𝑖𝑝 0.29 𝑡𝑝 0.38
𝑇𝑚 1.23

Dimana
I = current (amp)
𝑇𝑚 = melting temperature of workpiece (oC)
𝑖𝑝 = pulse current (A)
𝑡𝑝 = pulse duration (𝜇s)
Effect of Current on MRR and
surface Roughness
Effect of pulse on-time on MRR
and surface Roughness
Parameter Affecting on EDM
performance
EDM removal rates and
Roughness for different materials
The EDM’s Characteristic
(1/2)
The EDM’s Characteristic
(2/2)
Advantages of EDM

❑ By this process, materials of any hardness can be machined;

❑ Almost no burrs are left in machined surface;

❑ One of the main advantages of this process is that thin and

fragile/brittle components can be machined without distortion;

❑ Complex internal shapes can be machined

❑ Non-contact machining ➔ good for brittle material

❑ Good surface finish

Disadvantages of EDM

❑ This process can only be employed in electrically conductive

materials;

❑ Unwanted erosion and over cutting of material can occur (Overcut

is formed);

❑ Rough surface finish when at high rates of material removal.

❑ SLOW MRR

❑ Power consumption high

❑ Wear on electrode

❑ Brittle HAZ
Hazard during EDM's
Machining
Implementation
EDM Proses Variation :
Magnetic assistance

▪ The use of a magnetic field serves to direct the movement of chips.

▪ Flushing is generated by dielectric flow and magnetic force. In this
condition, chips are easily removed, and the MRR becomes higher.
EDM Proses Variation :
Vibration assistance

1. It serves to prevent the accumulation of chips in the gap. The

presence of chips in the gap causes the arc on time to be longer, so
that the surface of the working material becomes rougher.
2. Improve efficiency and improve surface quality