Diamond face grinding of WC-Co composite with spark assistance: Experimental study and parameter optimization

Electro-discharge machining (EDM) characteristics of tungsten carbide-cobalt composite are accompanied by a number of problems such as the presence of resolidified layer, large tool wear rate and thermal cracks. Use of combination of conventional grinding and EDM (a new hybrid feature) has potential to overcome these problems. This article presents the face grinding of tungsten carbide-cobalt composite (WC-Co) with electrical spark discharge incorporated within face of wheel and flat surface of cylindrical workpiece. A face grinding setup for electro- discharge diamond grinding (EDDG) process is developed. The effect of input parameters such as wheel speed, current, pulse on-time and duty factor on output parameters such as material removal rate (MRR), wheel wear rate (WWR) and average surface roughness (ASR), are investigated. The present study shows that MRR increases with increase in current and wheel speed while it decreases with increase in pulse on-time for higher pulse on-time (above 100 μs). The most significant factor has been found as wheel speed affecting the robustness of electro- discharge diamond face grinding (EDDFG) process.     

Application of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm for multi-objective optimization of electrical discharge diamond face grinding process

Hybrid machining processes (HMPs), having potential for machining of difficult to machine materials but the complexity and high manufacturing cost, always need to optimize the process parameters. Our objective was to optimize the process parameters of electrical discharge diamond face grinding (EDDFG), considering the simultaneous effect of wheel speed, pulse current, pulse on-time and duty factor on material removal rate (MRR) and average surface roughness (Ra). The experiments were performed on a high speed steel (HSS) workpiece at a self developed face grinding setup on an EDM machine. All the experimental results were used to develop the mathematical model using response surface methodology (RSM). The developed model was used to generate the initial population for a genetic algorithm (GA) during optimization, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was used to optimize the process parameters of EDDFG process. Finally, optimal solutions obtained from pareto front are presented and compared with experimental data.     

Experimental study and parameter design of electro-discharge diamond grinding

Electrical discharge diamond grinding (EDDG), which integrates diamond grinding and electro-discharge machining (EDM), is a new hybrid machining process for shaping electrically conductive very hard materials. The process employs synergetic interactive effect of electro-discharge action and abrasion action to increase machining performance. This paper presents an investigation on the experimental study and machining parameter design of electro-discharge diamond grinding (EDDG). The EDDG setup was designed and fabricated, and experiments were conducted on high speed steel (HSS) workpiece under varying current, pulse-ontime, duty factor and wheel speed. The settings of machining parameters were determined by using the Taguchi experimental design method. The level of the machining parameters on the MRR is determined by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum machining parameter combination was obtained by using the evaluated S/N ratio.     

ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MILLING AND MECHANICAL GRINDING COMPOUND MACHINING OF SILICON CARBIDE CERAMIC

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics have been widely used in modern industry. However, the manufacture of SiC ceramics is not an efficient process. This paper proposes a new technology of machining SiC ceramics with electrical discharge milling and mechanical grinding compound method. The compound process employs the pulse generator used in electrical discharge machining, and uses a water-based emulsion as the machining fluid. It is able to effectively machine a large surface area on SiC ceramics with a good surface quality. In this paper, the effects of pulse duration, pulse interval, peak voltage, peak current and feed rate of the workpiece on the process performance parameters, such as material removal rate, relative electrode wear ratio and surface roughness, have been investigated. A L₂₅ orthogonal array based on Taguchi method is adopted, and the experimental data are statistically evaluated by analysis of variance and stepwise regression. The significant machining parameters, the optimal combination levels of machining parameters, and the mathematical models associated with the process performance are obtained. In addition, the workpiece surface microstructure is examined with a scanning electron microscope and an energy dispersive spectrometer.     

An experimental study on micro wire-EDM of polycrystalline diamond using a novel pulse generator

This paper presents a new pulse generator for cutting of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) by micro wire electrical discharge machining (micro wire-EDM). The pulse generator using anti-electrolysis circuitry and digital signal processor-based pulse control circuit was developed to suppress damages on the machined surface of PCD while achieving stable machining. A novel pulse control method was proposed to provide high-frequency pulse control signals with a period of off duty cycle for reionization of the dielectric in the spark gap so as to reduce the consecutive occurrence of short circuits. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of open voltage on machining performance in terms of material removal rate, slit width, thickness of the damaged layer on machined surface, and surface finish. An increase of open voltage increases peak current, thus producing greater discharge energy and, thereby, contributing to improvements in material removal rate, but leading to larger slit width and thickness of the damaged layer and worse surface finish. Experimental results not only demonstrate that the developed pulse generator could achieve satisfactory machining results but also have verified the applicability of this new technique in micro wire-EDM.     

Analysis of rotary electrical discharge machining characteristics in reversal magnetic field for copper-en8 steel system

The material removal rate (MRR), along with the electrode wear rate (EWR), plays an important role in analysing machine output during electrical discharge machining. This work focuses on the improvement of machine output by introducing an induced magnetic field on the workpiece during rotary electrical discharge machining (REDM) of EN-8 steel with a rotary copper electrode. The workpiece was placed inside the induced magnetic field, wherein polarity of the magnetic field gets reversed periodically. Using Taguchi’s recommended design of experiments, we initially conducted experiments with eight input parameters at different levels . Significant parameters were identified with the help of the signal-to-noise ratio and ANOVA. Finally, another set of experiments was conducted for analysis of the process and development of empirical expressions for MRR and EWR. Experimental results established that rotary electrical discharge machining with a polarity reversal magnetic field delivers better machining output than machining in a non-magnetic field. Thus, this work benefits the EDM process by reducing the machining costs and by producing better geometrical trueness on workpieces, as MRR increased and EWR decreased.     

电火花机械复合磨削技术的研究进展

电火花机械复合磨削集合了机械磨削和电火花加工两种加工工艺,能够提高加工效率和加工质量,广泛应用于导电难加工材料的加工。本文对电火花机械复合磨削机理和研究现状进行了系统阐述,在分析现有研究成果的基础上,针对大口径Si C反射镜非球面成形磨削中存在的加工效率低、砂轮磨损严重等问题,提出了将电火花机械复合磨削应用于大口径Si C反射镜非球面成形磨削加工的观点,以提高其成形加工效率。     

单晶硅的磨削辅助电火花线切割机理研究

针对目前磨削辅助电火花线切割(A-WEDM)微观切割机理尚不明确的问题,以单晶硅为加工对象,通过设计电路对最大放电间隙进行了测量。通过采集和分析加工中的放电波形、观测加工后工件表面形貌同时比较磨粒出刃高度与放电间隙的大小,研究了A-WEDM材料去除机理。考察了4个因素(脉冲宽度、占空比、进给速度和线锯速度)对A-WEDM切割单晶硅的材料去除率和表面粗糙度的影响。实验结果表明,A-WEDM切割单晶硅的最大放电间隙为57μm,在加工的初始阶段先产生放电腐蚀作用;当加工处于稳定阶段时,在每个脉冲宽度内,工件材料在放电腐蚀与金刚石颗粒磨削的耦合作用下被去除;而在每个脉冲间隔内,放电腐蚀作用停止,金刚石颗粒的磨削作用仍然存在,从而去除了放电产生的部分重铸层与电蚀坑。     

The skin-effect in ferromagnetic electrodes for wire-EDM

In wire electrical discharge machining (wire-EDM) material is removed by the thermal energy of an electric spark that has been initiated between two electrodes (the wire and the workpiece), submerged in demineralised water. The use of high frequency current pulses for sparking leads to excellent machining performance, in terms of the work piece roughness, the material integrity of the cut and the material removal rate. To reach the highest frequencies, the wire-EDM generator mostly consists of a voltage source with an as low as possible internal inductance. The working current delivered to the spark and, hence, the material removal rate of the process depends on the total impedance of the electrical circuit. In this article the importance of the wire’s impedance will be shown. Due to the skin-effect, this impedance depends on the frequency of the current signal, especially for ferromagnetic wires, such as steel wire. Coatings will prove to be primordial to prevent the machining speed from dropping significantly.     

Electrical discharge machining of ceramic matrix composites with ceramic fiber reinforcements

Ceramic matrix composites (CMC) are considered the next generation of advanced materials used in space and aviation due to their high-temperature strength, creep resistance, chemical resistance, low porosity, and low density. However, these materials are difficult to process owing to the large cutting force and high cost on tool consumption. electrical discharge machining (EDM), featured by the negligible machining force and acceptable tooling cost, is a potential nontraditional machining technique for CMC. In this paper, EDM was used to process a new class of advanced CMC, that is, those with continuous ceramic fiber reinforcements. The challenge is its low material removal rate (MRR) due to the low workpiece conductivity and debris evacuation efficiency. Electrode vibration and dielectric deep flushing were used to promote debris evacuation, and an increase of MRR and surface quality without sacrificing tool wear ratio was observed. Gap voltage, peak current, pulse duration, and duty ratio were studied using design of experiments for deeper understanding of the process. The effect of these parameters was investigated, and an analysis of variance was conducted. The optimal condition was also predicted and experimentally validated. It was found that a high gap voltage or low duty ratio leads to a high machining rate due to improved debris evacuation efficiency. The material removal mechanism was found to be cracking due to thermal expansion of the matrix and breakage of the nonconductive fibers.     

Experimental modeling and optimization of electric discharge diamond face grinding of metal matrix composite

Machining of metal matrix composites (MMCs) has been a big challenge for manufacturing industries due to its superior mechanical properties. Unconventional machining methods have become an alternative to give desired shapes with intricate profiles and stringent design requirements. The present research investigates the grinding performance of copper–iron–graphite MMC using electric discharge diamond face grinding (EDDFG), which is electric discharge machining-based hybrid machining process. Experiments have been performed on a self-developed experimental setup of EDDFG with scientifically designed experiments. Effects of process input parameters on two important performances, material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR), have been analyzed. Genetic algorithm-based optimization of MRR and SR models show considerable improvements in both characteristics, as confirmed by verification experiments. Results reveal that peak current is a common significant factor for both MRR and SR.     

Thermal modeling of the material removal rate and surface roughness for die-sinking EDM

The die-sinking electrical discharge machining (EDM) process is characterized by slow processing speeds. Research effort has been focused on optimizing the process parameters so as for the productivity of the process to be increased. In this paper a simple, thermal based model has been developed for the determination of the material removal rate and the average surface roughness achieved as a function of the process parameters. The model predicts that the increase of the discharge current, the arc voltage or the spark duration results in higher material removal rates and coarser workpiece surfaces. On the other hand the decrease of the idling time increases the material removal rate with the additional advantage of achieving slightly better surface roughness values. The model’s predictions are compared with experimental results for verifying the approach and present good agreement with them.     

Ultrasonic slot machining of a silicon carbide matrix composite

Rotary ultrasonic slot machining (RUSM) of ceramic matrix composites is explored. A comparison is made between RUSM and conventional diamond grinding by studying the effects of material removal rate (MRR) on process forces, tool wear and surface roughness. It was shown that RUSM leads to a significant decrease in process cutting forces and tool wear in comparison to the conventional machining process. Furthermore, the influences of diamond tool characteristics on surface roughness and tool wear are also ascertained.     

Grinding-aided electrochemical discharge machining of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites

A grinding-aided electrochemical discharge machining (G-ECDM) process has been developed to improve the performance of the conventional ECDM process in machining particulate reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs). The G-ECDM process functions under a combined action of electrochemical dissolution, spark erosion, and direct mechanical grinding. The tool electrode has a coating containing a hard reinforcement phase of diamond particles. The MMC employed in this study was Al₂O₃ particulate reinforced aluminum 6061 alloy. The material removal mechanism of this hybrid process has been analyzed. The results showed that the grinding action can effectively remove re-cast material deposited on the machining surface. The surface roughness (R _a) measured for the G-ECDM specimen was ten times smaller than that of the specimen machined without grinding aid (i.e., ECDM alone). Moreover, the material removal rate (MRR) of G-ECDM was about three times higher than that of ECDM under the experimental conditions of this study. The voltage waveform and crater distribution were also analyzed, and the experimental results showed that the G-ECDM process operates in a stable condition. The relative importance of the various processing parameters on MRR was established using orthogonal analysis. The results showed that MRR is influenced by the machining parameters in the order of duty cycle?>?current?>?electrolyte concentration. This study showed that the G-ECDM process is superior to the ECDM process for machining particulate reinforced MMCs, where a higher machining efficiency and a better surface quality can be obtained.     

On the temperature and specific energy during electrodischarge diamond grinding (EDDG)

Electrodischarge diamond grinding (EDDG) is a hybrid machining process comprising conventional grinding and electrodischarge machining (EDM) as its constituent processes. It has the potential of shaping advanced engineering materials. Temperature of the workpiece and material removal rate are chosen as responses in full factorial (3³) design with current, pulse-on time, and wheel speed as process parameters. Specific energy is a vital consideration for any machining process. EDM is known for its inefficiency. Experiments were conducted with a specially fabricated bronze disk as tool electrode to evaluate specific energy in EDM, and the results were compared with that of EDDG. It has been found that specific energy required in EDDG is less than that in EDM with a rotating disk electrode.     

结合在线电解修锐高效磨削陶瓷密封件研究

本文通过设计制作金属结合剂金刚石磨具，结合电解修锐技术对Al2O3陶瓷密封进行了研磨式磨削实验在实验过程中通过检测磨具表面的磨粒出露高度及陶瓷材料的去除量，评价该磨削工艺在陶瓷材料密封件加工中的应用效果。结果表明，电解修锐可有效地修锐金属结合剂金刚石磨具，在加工过程中使磨具保持良好的切削能力，因此材料去除量较大，加大工时短，陶瓷密封件的加工成本得到控制。     

金刚石砂轮金属结合剂的气中单脉冲电火花放电去除机理

针对金属结合剂金刚石砂轮修锐困难的问题,提出采用气中电火花接触放电修锐的方法。为有效地实现微细金刚石砂轮的修锐,建立单脉冲电火花放电去除加工的试验系统,研究金属结合剂的气中和液中电火花放电去除机理。在试验研究中,主要分析无负荷电压和放电极性对脉冲放电电流、脉冲放电间隙、脉冲放电去除量、电极磨耗比等的影响。结果表明,正极性不易发生短路现象,而且气中的脉冲放电间隙小于液中的 ,适应于微细金刚石砂轮的修锐。此外,在气中放电中存在由绝缘破坏引起的火花放电向附有电弧柱的电弧放电转变的临界无负荷电压,且电火花放电的去除量可以明显小于电弧放电的去除量,但是当无负荷电压小于某一定值时电极消耗比会快速增加。修锐的试验结果显示,利用气中单脉冲电火花放电去除加工条件可以实现金属结合剂微细金刚石砂轮的修锐,产生较好的砂轮出刃形貌,改善磨削表面质量。     

Influence of discharge energy on machining characteristics in EDM

The machining characteristics of electrical discharge machining (EDM) directly depend on the discharge energy which is transformed into thermal energy in the discharge zone. The generated heat leads to high temperature, resulting in local melting and evaporation of workpiece material. However, the high temperature also impacts various physical and chemical properties of the tool and workpiece. This is why extensive knowledge of development and transformation of electrical energy into heat is of key importance in EDM. Based on the previous investigations, analytical dependence was established between the discharge energy parameters and the heat source characteristics in this paper. In addition, the thermal properties of the discharged energy were experimentally investigated and their influence on material removal rate, gap distance, surface roughness and recast layer was established. The experiments were conducted using copper electrode while varying discharge current and pulse duration. Analysis and experimental research conducted in this paper allow efficient selection of relevant parameters of discharge energy for the selection of most favorable EDM machining conditions.     

Optimization of the EDM parameters on machining Ti–6Al–4V with multiple quality characteristics

In this paper, parameter optimization of the electrical discharge machining process to Ti–6Al–4V alloy considering multiple performance characteristics using the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis is reported. Performance characteristics including the electrode wear ratio, material removal rate and surface roughness are chosen to evaluate the machining effects. The process parameters selected in this study are discharge current, open voltage, pulse duration and duty factor. Experiments based on the appropriate orthogonal array are conducted first. The normalised experimental results of the performance characteristics are then introduced to calculate the coefficient and grades according to grey relational analysis. The optimised process parameters simultaneously leading to a lower electrode wear ratio, higher material removal rate and better surface roughness are then verified through a confirmation experiment. The validation experiments show an improved electrode wear ratio of 15%, material removal rate of 12% and surface roughness of 19% when the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis are used.     

Single discharge thermo-electrical modeling of micromachining mechanism in electric discharge machining

In this study, single discharge thermo-electrical model of workpiece material removal in electrical discharge machining (EDM) was developed. Developed model includes generation of energy in liquid media, variation of plasma channel radius and transfer of heat from the channel by the electrical discharge. Effect of generated energy in plasma channel on workpiece removal was theoretically investigated by using different experimental parameters used in literature. The developed model finds the temperature distribution in the workpiece material using finite element solver ANSYS Workbench (v.11) software. It’s assumed that the workpiece material reaches the melting point of workpiece material was removed from the surface. Electrical discharge process was simulated by using transient thermal analysis. The developed model has also been validated by comparing the theoretically obtained material removal values with the experimental ones.