Netaji Subhas Institute Of Technology

Seminar Report

Advanced Manufacturing Methods

Electro-chemical Discharge Machining

Subject code- MA-418

Submitted by
Lokesh kr. Gahlot
651/MP/12

CONTENTS

Abstract
Introduction
History
Comparison between ECM, EDM and ECDM
ECDM setup and principle
Discharge mechanism
Chemical reactions
Machining mechanism
Subsystems
Present status
Advantages and limitations
Applications
Future scope
References

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ABSTRACT
Electrochemical discharge machining is a very recent technique in
the field of non-conventional machining to machine electrically nonconducting materials using the electrochemical discharge
phenomenon. If a beyond-critical voltage is applied to an
electrochemical cell, discharge initiates between one tool of the
electrodes and the surrounding electrolyte, which is termed here
electrochemical discharge.
This report contain the description of the process its applications
and different theories reported by researchers.

INTRODUCTION

Electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) is a hybrid non-conventional

manufacturing process which combines the features of electrochemical
machining (ECM) and electro discharge machining (EDM).
ECDM is a very recent technique in the field of non-conventional machining to
machine electrically non-conducting materials using the electrochemical
discharge (KID) phenomenon. If a beyond-critical voltage is applied to an
electrochemical cell, discharge initiates between one tool of the electrodes
and the surrounding electrolyte, which is termed here electrochemical
discharge.
It can be successfully used for machining electrically non-conductive advanced
engineering materials such as glass and ceramics has shown the possibility of
drilling micro - holes by smaller electrodes efficiently and economically.
It has been found that the advanced materials are difficult to machine by the
conventional machining processes. It is no longer possible to produce parts
with better surface finish, close tolerances and complex shapes in advanced
materials by conventional machining methods. So far, it is still necessary to
provide more study for machining of non-conductive brittle materials since
they have become key materials in the MEMS field. For example, the glass or
quartz is usually bonded with the semi- conductive material due to their
transparency, properties and so on. Likewise, the engineering ceramic is also
used often in the high-tech apparatus [1].
ECDM is known by different names such as: ECSM- Electro Chemical Spark Machining (by V.K. Jain et al.)
SACE- Spark Assisted Chemical Engraving (by Fascio et al.)
ECAM- Electro Chemical Anode Machining (by Kubota).
DMNC - Discharge machining of Non-Conductors (by Cook et al.)
SAE- Spark Assisted Etching (by Daridon et al.)

HISTORY

1968
1973
1985
1990
1997
2000
2004
2008
2009
2011
2014

First report by Kurafuji and Suda

First characterization by Cook et al.
Extension to travelling wire-ECDM by Tsuchiya et al.
First functional devices
First models by Ghosh et al. and Jain et al.
Study of SACE in light if electrochemistry
SACE and nanotechnology
Systematic studies on SACE 2D machining
Machining structures less than 100um
Study of various tool geometries
First commercial machine by Posalux SA

[7]
The first work on electrode effect, anode or cathode was first reported by
Fizeau and his group of researchers and Foucault and his co researchers in the
year 1844, thus as a principal. So, this principles are very old that is of
nineteenth century.
The basic mechanism of the process is not yet completely understood and is
still a matter of research investigations.
Various researchers have put forth explanations of ECDM phenomenon based
on their experimental studies.
Crichton and McGough [6] performed streak photography to get insight into
the various stages of discharge by applying a 85 V pulse for a duration of 200
us.
They concluded that electrical discharge between cathode tool and electrolyte
interface occurs due to:
(i)

generation of electrolytic gas at the surface of electrodes;

(ii)

the growth of layers of low ionic concentration near the electrodes

and formation of oxide films on the anode surface;

(iii)

the local variations in the electrolyte flow pattern caused by flow

stagnation and eddy.

Basak and Ghosh [7] treat the discharge phenomenon as a switching off
process due to bubble bridges.
According to these authors, when hydrogen bubbles become sufficiently large
in number, the resistance at the toolelectrode interface increases
substantially due to constriction effect.
This leads to ohmic heating of electrolyte in that region, causing generation of
vapour bubbles. When the nucleation site density of bubbles increases, the
bubbles cover the maximum possible area of the tool, a blanketing of tool
occurs, creating a switching off situation for a short time with zero current.
Jain et al. [1] have considered each gas bubble as a valve, which after its
breakdown due to high electric field produces discharge in the form of arc. In
proposing their valve theory several assumptions regarding diameter of the
bubble, electric field intensity, frequency of spark, etc. have been made.
It seems that with overall increase in hydrogen bubble number, the equivalent
parallel resistance offered by these valves reduces, which is in contrast with
the statement that the overall resistance increases [1].

ECDM SETUP AND WORKING PRINCIPLE

In electrochemical discharge phenomenon, two electrodes are dipped inside

an aqueous electrolyte. The cathode is chosen with a much smaller surface
than the anode. When the D.C. voltage is applied electrolysis happens and
Hydrogen gas bubbles are formed at the tool-electrode (cathode) and oxygen
bubbles at the counter electrode (anode).
When the voltage is increased, the current density increases too and more and
more bubbles grow forming a bubble layer around the electrodes. When the
voltage is increased above the critical voltage, bubbles coalesce into a gas film
around the tool-electrode.
Sparking phenomena is observed in the film where electrical discharges
happen between the tool-electrode and the surrounding electrolyte. Similar
behaviour can be obtained by inverting the polarity of the electrodes and by
changing the electrolytes. Fig 1 explains the ECDM phenomenon [3].

Discharge Mechanism
The discharge in ECDM process can be compared to the arc discharge in
gases. When a DC voltage greater than the threshold value that is needed to
produce the discharge is applied to the ECDM cell, electrolysis reactions take
place.

Reduction of electrolyte at cathode results in hydrogen gas bubbles. These

bubbles get accumulated at the cathode tip immersed in electrolyte.
Bubble generation goes on increasing, leading to combining of bubbles into a
single large bubble which isolates the tip completely from the electrolyte. This
causes the local electric field gradient between the tool and the electrolyte
interface to go beyond the breakdown limit of 25 V/m leading to an arc
discharge [2].

Based on the time dependence of current, fig.-2 describes the discharge

mechanism pictorially.
Column 1 in the figure shows the physical situation existing in the ECDM
cell.
Column 2 shows the voltage distribution or potential gradient in the
ECDM cell under respective conditions indicated in column one.
Column 3 shows portions of the experimentally obtained current versus
time plot from which the situations in columns 1 and 2 are inferred.
The time sequence of the events occurring can now be described as
follows.
1. When a DC voltage V is applied, the potential drop across the cathode
electrolyte interface appears (Fig.2 (a)) and a small ionic current flows
(see column 3, current versus time).
2. Hydrogen gas bubbles evolve causing the cathode electrolyte interface
resistance to increase and hence current is reduced as seen in Fig. 2(b)
columns 1, 2 and 3.
3. The number and size of bubbles within the interface region grow over
time as shown in Fig. 2(c).
4. The cathodeelectrolyte interface resistance further increases with
resulting voltage distribution as seen in column 2 of Fig. 2(c).
This results in further decrease in current as seen in the column 3.
5. Bubble generation goes on increasing, leading to combining of bubbles
into a single large bubble which isolates the tip completely from the
electrolyte as shown in column 1 of Fig. 2(d).

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When an isolating film of hydrogen gas bubble covers the cathode tip
portion in the electrolyte, the tip is covered by a gaseous layer. At this
time a large dynamic resistance is present and the current through the
circuit becomes almost zero ( column 3, Fig. 2(d)).
6. A high electric field of the order of 10 V/m gets generated causing an
arc discharge within the gas layers covering the tip (column 3, Fig. 2(d)).
The arc should occur between the tip of the tool and the inner surface of
the electrolyte. At the instant when discharge occurs, a huge number of
electrons caused by ionization of gas flow towards anode. Thus a large
current spike flows through the highly conducting spark channel (Fig.
2(e)) for a very short duration of time (of the order of few milliseconds).

CHEMICAL REACTIONS
At larger electrode and electrolyte interface (anode) are shown below:
Mz+ + Ze-

M
Mz+ + Z(OH)-

M(OH)z
(This insoluble metal hydroxide precipitates)

2H2O

O2 + 4H+ +4e-

(acidic)

4(OH)-

2H2o O2 4e-

(alkaline)

The chemical reactions at the smaller electrode & electrolyte interface are as
shown:
2H2O + 2e-

H2

2H+ + 2e-

H2

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(hydrogen bubble
generation)

Illustration of the electrochemical discharge phenomena.

Two electrodes are dipped into an electrolyte. The voltage is progressively increased
from 0 to 40 V. At around 25 V the cathode effect starts and at around 30 V the
discharges are clearly visible. (a) 0 V (b) 7.5 V (c) 15 V (d) 30 V

.MACHINING MECHANISM

(i) Melting and vaporisation due to electrochemical discharges

(ii) High temperature dissolution
(iii) Differential expansion of constituents.
(iv) Random thermal stresses and micro-cracking.
(v) Mechanical shock due to expanding gases and electrolyte movement

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MAIN SUBSYSTEMS
The Machine: usually it is a table top fabricated machine or a specialized set-up
comprising of all the necessary features.
The Power Supply : Consisting of AC to DC converter and Voltage modulator or
pulsed modulator.
The tool must be continuously dipped in the electrolyte so as to complete the
circuit. The current required is generally, in the range of 5 to 20 ampere and
voltage is varied in the range of 25 to 150 volts. The electrolyte circulation
system can have a filter sludge removal system and treatment units

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PRESENT STATUS
Studies on gas film in ECDM. Some researchers Cheng and his group and all
have shown that, the quality of the gas film is the dominant factor that
determines the geometric accuracy, in ECDM surface finish and repeatability in
this ECDM process.
Whereas, Bhattacharya and his co researchers have reported that the critical
voltage depends on the concentration of the electrolyte, the conductivity of
the electrolyte and the tool geometry.
Cao Xuan and his team of researchers have worked on stabilizing these gas
films, necessary to control the sparking by reducing the required voltage.
They used load cells and small immersion tool depths, this helped to generate
high aspect ratio structures along with high resolution.
Now, there are one or two variant processes also in ECDM one is wire ECDM
also called WECDM. This is a combination of wire EDM and ECDM. This is the
hybridization of one hybridized process already and the basic EDM.
Wherein a continuous moving wire is controlled by a spool feeder, which
moves over a non conducting work-piece, dipped in an electrolyte the sparking
causes the material removal.
Basak and Ghosh added extra inductance in the circuit and found that, there
was a substantial increase in material removal rate on normal glass slides.
Yang and his group added silicon carbide abrasives in the electrolyte, and
found increased performance in terms of improvement in the overcut quality.
In traveling wire ECDM it was also found that stronger pulse current has better
machining affects, while slicing glass and quartz.
Some experiments on ceramics using gas filled process reported saving, an
amount of electrochemical energy and increase in material removal rate.
Kurita and Hattori they have developed a combined EDM, ECM lapping
technique to improve the surface finish, in which they have achieved surface
finish of 0.2 micrometer of average roughness, which was improved from 1
micrometer to 0.2 micrometer.

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Zain and his group have used alumina glass composite ceramic material, and
found that the machining rate is greatly affected by porosity of the samples.
The results also show that the material removal occurs by attacking, the green
boundaries most probably due to the etching process.
Liu has reported that the craters formed in the ECDM process, are almost same
as those formed in the EDM process along with some recast effects, which is
mainly due to the sparking action.

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ADVANTAGES
ECDM can produce significantly smoother surfaces due to the presence
of high-rate ECD.
The depth of the heat-affected layer can be significantly reduced or
eliminated.
High machining rates are also possible thereby increasing the productivity
and reducing the unit production cost.
The erosion of tool electrodes is reduced by a factor of 4 to 5 percent
compared to that of pure EDM.
Burrs at the edges are particularly absent due to the existence of the
ECD phase.

DISADVANTAGES
The produced accuracy is low.
There is difficulty in handling the electrolyte.
The process cannot produce internal and external sharp edges.[8]

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APPLICATIONS

ECDM is hybrid micro-machining technology for production of:

Through and blind micro-holes

Micro grooves
Micro-slots
Micro-channels
Complex shaped micro-contours in electrically non-conductive materials.
Miniature features for turbine blades(micro- cooling holes)
Filters for food and textile industries
Micro fluidic channels in non conducting materials (quartz, glass and
ceramics)
Micro-electro-seam welding of copper plates and foils
Micro-fabrication of an array of holes in micro filters
Fabrication of electrodes for pressure micro-sensors and resonance
detection micro-sensors
Turning and bracing of metal mounded grinding tools.
In micro-pumps, micro-accelerometers and 3 dimensional fissures in
glass substrate.

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FUTURE SCOPE
Micro-holes are widely used, and their machining process is vital to
modern manufacturing, especially for materials that are difficult to
machine.
Tube electrode high-speed electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM)
combines electrochemical machining (ECM) and electrical discharge
machining (EDM) and is considered a promising hybrid machining
method for the fabrication of micro-holes in difficult-to-machine
materials.
However, because of the characteristics of the hybrid process, it
produces not only debris and heat but also hydroxides and bubbles. The
removal of these complex machining by-products constitutes a
challenge.
To address this issue, super-high-pressure interior flushing, which
utilises more than twice the pressure traditionally used for interior
flushing, was applied to ECDM.
The micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) field is growing
constantly. MEMS emerged in the late 1980s with the development of
integrated circuits fabrication processes. If silicon remains the most
widely used material, glass becomes more and more important.
Machining high-aspect ratio micro-holes in glass would open several
new possibilities in the MEMS field.

Combining with other technologies and practical realisations it is

possible to combine ECDM with other micromachining technologies.
Esashi et al. used ECDM in combination with clean room technologies for
micro-fabricating an absolute pressure sensor.
Guerin et al. used ECDM together with excimer laser micro-machining
and clean room technologies to manufacture a miniature oneshot .

Travelling wire electrochemical discharge machining TW-ECDM An

extension to wire machining, called travelling wire electrochemical
discharge machining (TW-ECDM), was proposed by Tsuchiya et al. and
studied further on by Jain et al. [1] and Peng et al. TW-ECDM may be
used as well for 2D contours cutting .
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Few researchers suggest that, the tool positioning control system is a key
factor and discussed its control, stability and robustness. Thus we have seen in
most of the aspects, in this process are at the research stage only, and the
things are to be yet to be concretized and different groups and different
countries are working in this process.

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REFERENCES

[1]. V.K. Jain, S. Adhikary On the mechanism of material removal in electrochemical spark
machining of quartz under different polarity conditions journal of materials processing
technology vol.200 (2008), pp 460470.
[2] H.W. Ott, Noise reduction techniques, Wiley, New York, 1976
[3]. R. Wuthricha, V. Fasciob, Machining of non-conducting materials using electrochemical
dischargephenomenon An overview International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture,
vol.45 (2005), pp 10951108.
[4] An experimental study of discharge mechanism in electrochemical discharge machining
A. Kulkarni, R. Sharan, G.K. Lal Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, UP, India.
[5] I.M. Crichton, J.A. McGough, Studies of the discharge mechanisms in electrochemical
arc machining, Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 115 (1985) 113119.
[6] I. Basak, A. Ghosh, Mechanism of spark generation during electrochemical discharge
machining: a theoretical model and experimental investigation, Journal of Materials
Processing Technology 62 (1996) 4653.
[7]Micromaching using Electrochemical Discharge Phenomenon by Rolf wuthrich , Jana D
Abou Ziki.(google books)
[8] Advanced Machining Processes Nontraditional and Hybrid Machining Processes by
Hassan El-Hofy Production Engineering Department Alexandria University, Egypt
Module - 3 Advanced Machining Processes Lecture - 11 Electro Chemical Discharge
Machining (ECDM) NPTEL lectures.

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