Non-Conventional

Machining
Name: Marwan Shehata Mohamed Zeitoun
Sec: 6

No: 134

EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining)

EDM is the thermal erosion process in which metal is removed
by a series of recurring electrical discharges between a cutting
tool acting as an electrode and a conductive workpiece, in the
presence of a dielectric fluid. This discharge occurs in a voltage gap between the electrode and workpiece.
Heat from the discharge vaporizes minute particles of workpiece material, which are then washed from the
gap by the continuously flushing dielectric fluid.
There are two main types of EDMs; the ram and the wire-cut. Each are used to produce very small and
accurate parts as well as large items like automotive stamping dies and aircraft body components. The
largest single use of EDM is in die making. Materials worked with EDM include hardened and heat-treated
steels, carbide, polycrystalline diamond, titanium, hot and cold rolled steels, copper, brass, and high
temperature alloys. However, any material to be machined with the EDM process must be conductive.

THE BENEFITS OF EDM

1- EDM is a non-contact process that generates no cutting forces, permitting the production
of small and fragile pieces
2- Burr-free edges are produced
3- intricate details and superior finishes are possible
4- EDM machines with built-in process knowledge allow the production of intricate parts with
minimum operator intervention
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDM
1- low metal removal rates compared to chip machining
2- lead time is needed to produce specific, consumable electrode shapes
RAM EDM
In ram EDM, the electrode/tool is attached to the ram which is connected to one pole, usually the positive
pole, of a pulsed power supply. The workpiece is connected to the negative pole. The work is then
positioned so that there is a gap between it and the electrode. The gap is then flooded with the dielectric
fluid. Once the power supply is turned on, thousands of direct current, or DC, impulses per second cross
the gap, beginning the erosion process. The spark temperatures generated can range from 14,000 to
21,000 Fahrenheit. As the erosion continues, the electrode advances into the work while maintaining a
constant gap dimension.
The finished EDM'd workpiece can exhibit several distinct layers. The surface layer will have small globules
of removed workpiece metal and electrode particles adhering to it, which are easily removed. The second
layer is called the white or recast layer where EDM has altered the metallurgical structure of the
workpiece. The third layer is the heat-affected zone or annealed layer. This layer has been heated but
not melted.

WIRE EDM
Wire EDM is a special form of EDM which uses a continuously moving conductive wire electrode. Material
removal occurs as a result of spark erosion as the wire electrode is fed, from a fresh wire spool, through
the workpiece. In most cases the horizontal movement of the worktable, controlled by CNC, determines the
path of the cut, as illustrated in Figure below.

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CAD of die

CAD of tool
electrode

Programming
for tool
electrode

A remarkable application includes the machining of

super hard materials such as polycrystalline diamond
(PCD) and cubic boron nitride (CBN) blanks, and
other matrix composites. Despite the wide use of
carbon fiber composites, in the aerospace, nuclear,
automobile, and chemical industries, their
conventional machining is difficult, owing to
delaminating, splintering, burr formation, and short
tool life.

Electrode
manufacturing

Programming
for die sinking

Die sinking

Wire EDM schematic

The wire EDM process uses a consumable,

electrically charged wire to effect very fine and
intricate cuts. The process is particularly useful in
cutting fine details in pre-hardened stamping and
blanking dies. A wire drive system constantly
presents fresh wire to the work so electrode wear is
not a problem. Typical wire diameters range from .
002 to .013 inches. These wires will produce a kerf
slightly larger than their own diameter. A .012 wire
will leave a .015 kerf, just .003 inches larger. Wire
EDMs can run for long periods without operator
attention.

The four basic wire EDM subsystems include:

the DC power supply

the dielectric system
the wire feeding system
The work positioning system

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Electrochemical Machining (ECM)

Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a modern machining process that relies on the removal of workpiece
atoms by electrochemical dissolution (ECD) in accordance with the principles of Faraday (1833). Gusseff
introduced the first patent on ECM in 1929, and the first significant development occurred in the 1950s,
when the process was used for machining high-strength and heat-resistant alloys.

PRINCIPLES OF ELECTROLYSIS
Electrolysis occurs when an electric current passes between two electrodes dipped into an electrolyte
solution. The system of the electrodes and the electrolyte is referred to as the electrolytic cell. The
chemical reactions, which occur at the electrodes, are called the anodic or cathodic reactions. ED of the
anodic workpiece forms the basis for ECM of metals. The amount of metal dissolved (removed by
machining) or deposited is calculated from Faradays laws of electrolysis, which state that

1- The amount of mass dissolved (removed by machining), m, is directly proportional to the

amount of electricity. m It
2- The amount of different substances dissolved, m, by the same quantity of electricity (It) is
proportional to the substances chemical equivalent weight . m
SETUP AND EQUIPMENT
The figure next page shows the main components of the ECM machine: the feed control system, electrolyte
supply system, power supply unit, and workpiece holding device. As shown in the figure, the feed control
system is responsible for feeding the tool at a constant rate during equilibrium machining. The power
supply drives the machining current at a constant dc (continuous or pulsed) voltage.

ECM Elements

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ECM System Components

PARAMETERS

Power supply. The dc power supply for ECM has the following features:
1. Voltage of 2 to 30 volts (V) (pulsed or continuous)
2. Current ranges from 50 to 10,000 amperes (A), which allow current densities of 5
to 500 A/cm2
3. Continuous adjustment of the gap voltage
4. Control of the machining current in case of emergency
5. Short circuit protection in a matter of 0.001 s
6. High power factor, high efficiency, small size and weight, and low cost

Electrolytes. The main functions of the electrolytes in ECM are to

1. Create conditions for anodic dissolution of workpiece material
2. Conduct the machining current
3. Remove the debris of the electrochemical reactions from the gap
4. Carry away the heat generated by the machining process
5. Maintain a constant temperature in the machining region
The electrolyte solution should, therefore, be able to
1. Ensure a uniform and high-speed anodic dissolution
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2. Avoid the formation of a passive film on the anodic surface (electrolytes containing anions
of Cl, SO4, NO3, ClO3, and OH are often recommended)
3. Not deposit on the cathode surface, so that the cathode shape remains unchanged
(potassium and sodium electrolytes are used)
4. Have a high electrical conductivity and low viscosity to reduce the power loss due to
electrolyte resistance and heat generation and to ensure good flow conditions in the extremely
narrow interelectrode gap
5. Be safe, nontoxic, and less erosive to the machine body
6. Maintain its stable ingredients and pH value, during the machining period
7. Have small variation in its conductivity and viscosity due to temperature rise
8. Be inexpensive and easily available

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Graphene
Graphene, a two dimensional monoatomic thick building
block of a carbon allotrope, has emerged as an exotic
material of the 21st century, and received world-wide
attention due to its exceptional charge transport, thermal,
optical, and mechanical properties. Graphene and its
derivatives are being studied in nearly every field of
science and engineering. Recent progress has shown that
the graphene-based materials can have a profound
impact on electronic and optoelectronic devices, chemical
sensors, nanocomposites and energy storage.
The 5th of October, 2010 was another beautiful day at Partin Elementary School in Oviedo. When Kaleb, a
6-year-old kindergartener, took out his pencil and started writing letters on a piece of paper, he did not
realize that he was using a material that caught the
attention of all scientific community that same day. The
Mechanical exfoliation of graphene using
Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded to Andre Geim
scotch tape from HOPG
and Konstantin Novoselov for ground breaking
experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene, a layer of graphite in the pencil.
Graphene, one of the allotropes (carbon nanotube, fullerene, diamond) of elemental carbon, is a planar
monolayer of carbon atoms arranged into a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice with a carboncarbon
bond length of 0.142 nm.
Electrons in graphene behave like massless relativistic particles, which contribute to very peculiar
properties such as an anomalous quantum Hall effect and the absence of localization.
Graphene has demonstrated a variety of intriguing properties including high electron mobility at room
temperature (250,000 cm2/Vs), exceptional thermal conductivity (5000Wm_1 K_1) and superior mechanical
properties with Youngs modulus of 1 TPa.
Its potential applications include single molecule gas detection, transparent conducting electrodes,
composites and energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries.
In addition, a distinct band gap can be generated as the dimension of graphene is reduced into narrow
ribbons with a width of 12 nm, producing semiconductive graphene with potential applications in
transistors.
here is no doubt that graphene has risen as a shining star in the horizon on the path of the scientists
searching for new materials for future electronic and composite industry.
These properties have generated tremendous interest among material researchers. The recent applications
in various fields such as in large scale assembly and field effect devices, sensors, transparent electrodes,
photodetectors, solar cells, energy storage devices, polymer composites, nanocomposites are still in
research.

HISTORY OF GRAPHENE
Although the usage of graphite started 6000 years ago, when Marican in Europe used it to decorate
pottery, the research about graphene, essentially an isolated single-atom plane of graphite, dates back to
the 1960s when surprisingly higher basal-plane conductivity of graphite intercalation compounds were
discovered compared to that of the original graphite.

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While the scientific community was excited about the discovery that might lead to a lighter, cheaper
substitute for existing metal conductors, they were puzzled by the cause of the high conductivity of
graphite intercalation compounds and cautious about the future applications.
The research of graphene has grown slowly in late 20th century with the hope to observe superior
electrical properties from thin graphite or graphene layers while obtaining graphene was considered to be
a formidable task in both theoretical and experimental aspect. In the graphite intercalation systems, large
molecules were inserted between atomic planes, generating isolated graphene layers in a threedimensional matrix.
The term of graphene was recommended by the relevant IUPAC commission to replace the older term
graphite layers that was unsuitable in the research of single carbon layer structure, because a threedimensionally (3D) stacking structure is identified as graphite. The recent definition of graphene can be
given as a two-dimensional monolayer of carbon atoms, which is the basic building block of graphitic
materials (i.e. fullerene, nanotube, graphite).

References
1- Graphene based materials: Past, present and future
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2011.03.003
2- Materials Science and Engineering, William D. Callister, Jr. & David G. Rethwisch, 8 th
edition.

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