FLUSHING EFFICIENCY OF

PLASMA CHANNEL IN EDM

PROCESS

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 ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING (EDM)
• Extensively used spark machining
method

• Pulsed arc discharges occur in the gap

filled dielectric medium like

i. Hydrocarbon oil
ii. De-ionized (de-mineralized) water
between tool electrode and work
piece.
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Classification of EDM includes:

1. Sinking EDM 2. Wire EDM

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EDM MECHANISM

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 PLASMA CHANNEL
• In EDM, discharge duration is normally over several μs and current
density is 108 - 109A/m2, the established discharge is an arc
discharge.

• An arc discharge is sustained by electron emission from the

cathode spot which is due to the
a) Secondary emission
b)Thermionic emission
c) Field emission

• The plasma channel thus created is due to ionisation of neutral

species by these electrons ,causing an electron avalanche
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RELEVANCE OF PLASMA FLUSHING EFFICIENCY
 Plasma flushing efficiency - considered as the key element
affecting EDM output parameters such as :

• Material removal rate

• Tool wear ratio
• Surface texture features

 Output parameters of EDM can be effectively controlled by

understanding
• The behaviour of plasma channel
• Efficiency of removing molten material from molten puddle
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Plasma flushing efficiency is dependent on the input parameters,
prominently :

1. Pulse current

2. Pulse on-time

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EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

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 MATHEMATICAL MODELLING
1. Differential equation for heat transfer without internal
heat generation term is used as the base equation

1 𝜕 𝜕𝑇 𝜕2𝑇 𝐶 𝜕𝑇
𝑟 + 2
= 𝜌.
𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑧 𝑘 𝜕𝑡

T : Temperature
t : Time
ρ : Density of electrode
k : Thermal conductivity
C : Specific heat capacity of the electrode
materials

r and z are the coordinate axes Thermal model of EDM 9

 For t > 0 ,
• Domain is a small cylindrical portion of the ℎ𝑐 𝑇 − 𝑇0 𝑟>𝑅
electrodes around the spark. 𝜕𝑇
𝐵𝐶𝑠 ∶ 𝑘 = 𝑞 𝑟 𝑟 ≤ 𝑅 𝑜𝑛 𝐵1
𝜕𝑧
0 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
• In the domain the heat flux is applied on
the surface B1 . 𝜕𝑇
= 0 𝑜𝑛 𝐵2 , 𝐵3 , 𝐵4
𝜕𝑛

2. The radius of the discharge channel, called the equivalent heat input radius
R(t)
𝑅 𝑡 = 2.04 × 𝐼0.43 × 𝑇𝑖 0.44

I : pulse current
Ti : pulse on-time 10
3. Gaussian heat distribution has been employed as it provides more
accurate results.

Heat flux q(r) at radius r

𝐹𝑈𝑏 𝐼 𝑟 2
−4.5
𝑞 𝑟 = 4.5 × 𝑒 𝑅 𝑡
𝜋𝑅2 𝑡
Where,
Ub : Discharge voltage
f : Energy distribution to electrodes

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 PROCEDURE
ABAQUS is used for simulating temperature distribution
i. Temperature dependency of material is considered

 Crater cavity volume at end of each discharge is calculated by

plotting isothermal contour graph at melting point.

1
𝑉𝑐 𝐹𝐸𝑀 = 𝜋𝐷𝑐 𝑅𝑐 2
2

DC : Depth of the crater

RC : Radius of the crater

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Plasma Flushing Efficiency (PFE) is obtained as

𝑉𝐶 𝐸𝑋𝑃
%𝑃𝐹𝐸 = 100 ×
𝑉𝐶 𝐹𝐸𝑀

VC = Actual material volume removed per pulse

Vc(EXP) = 𝑀1 − 𝑀2 𝑁𝑁 × 𝜌
Where, M1 =Weight of electrodes before machining
M2 =Weight of electrodes after machining
NN = No. of normal pulses (oscilloscope)

Recast Layer Thickness from the model is obtained as

𝑅𝐿𝑇 = 𝐷𝐶 − 𝐷𝐶 × %𝑃𝐹𝐸
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 RESULTS

Surface plot Flushing efficiency vs Pulse on-time vs Pulse current

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• The Plasma Flushing Efficiency depends on

a) Discharge energy (W)

b)Gradient of energy (dW/dt)

c) Geometrical dimensions of gap and molten material crater

d)Pressure of gap(P)

e) Gradient of pressure (dP/dt)

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• PFE of tool (anode) << PFE of work piece (cathode)

• For a constant pulse on-time ,

Plasma Flushing Efficiency with pulse current

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 VALIDATION
• Model validated by comparing:

Recast Layer Thickness (EXP) vs Recast Layer Thickness (FEM)

RLT EXP RLT FEM

I(A) Ti(𝜇𝑠) %PFE RLTEXP RLTFEM Error (%) I(A) Ti(𝜇𝑠) %PFE RLTEXP( RLTFEM( Error (%)
(𝜇𝑚) (𝜇𝑚) 𝜇𝑚) 𝜇𝑚)
8 200 14.643 30.1 29.79 1.03 24 200 .239 52 46.708 10.18
24 200 39.894 28.4 27.22 4.15 32 25 5.838 24.1 24.321 0.92
32 100 67.48 19.5 19.812 1.60 32 100 0.661 44.90 45.514 1.95
48 12.8 63.16 6.4 5.931 7.32 48 12.8 8.917 21.7 20.858 3.88
48 50 52.324 13.2 13.135 0.49 48 200 0.4095 71.3 69.593 2.40

RLT on work piece RLT on tool

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 REFERENCES

• Mathematical and numerical modelling of the effect of input-parameters on the

flushing efficiency of plasma channel in EDM process by Shabgard M., Ahmadi R.,
Seyedzavvar M., Oliaei S.N.B

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890695512001873

• Advancing EDM through Fundamental Insight into the Process by M. Kunieda, B.

Lauwers, K. P. Rajurkar, B. M. Schumacher

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007850607600201

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