Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Effect of tube-electrode inner structure on machining performance in

tube-electrode high-speed electrochemical discharge drilling
Yan Zhang, Zhengyang Xu ∗ , Yun Zhu, Di Zhu
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Film cooling holes are required in many crucial and widely used structures. The creation of good film
Received 23 August 2015 cooling holes requires machining at high speeds with high accuracy and good surface quality. For this
Received in revised form purpose, a promising hybrid machining method combining electrical discharge machining and electro-
13 November 2015
chemical machining, called tube-electrode high-speed electrochemical discharge drilling (TEHECDD),
Accepted 16 December 2015
has been proposed, which can be used for machining difficult-to-machine superalloys. In TEHECDD, the
Available online 22 December 2015
flushing condition is considered as an important element. To improve the flushing condition and fur-
ther enhance the machining performance, improved tube-electrode structures, obtained by varying the
Keywords:
Film cooling hole
inner diameter and inner shape, are introduced. In this study, different inner structures are designed
Electrical discharge machining for the tube electrodes, whereby the mechanism of the enhanced TEHECDD performance for different
Electrochemical machining tube-electrode inner shapes are analysed and the effects of different tube-electrode inner structures on
Tube electrode the machining performance are investigated. The results show that an increase in the tube-electrode
Inner structure inner diameter results in a higher material removal rate, smaller average bore diameter, and smaller
Difficult-to-machine superalloy taper angle. However, for the single-hole tube electrode, a larger inner hole results in the formation of
a residual cylinder. Thus, the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes are proposed and found to be
effective in removing the residual cylinder. Finally, it is verified that the tube electrodes with improved
inner shapes can be used to further enhance the machining performance. The double-hole tube electrode
is confirmed to have the optimal structure.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The important components of turbine engines, including blades
and vanes, were required to be operated at excessively high turbine
inlet temperatures, which usually exceed the allowable metal tem-
perature, reported by Krewinkel (2013). Therefore, Yao et al. (2014)
stated effective cooling techniques were required to maintain the
temperature of the turbine blades and vanes within acceptable lim-
its. Currently, film cooling techniques are commonly accepted and
widely used; in these techniques, film cooling holes are employed
to decrease the incident convective heat flux on the surface and
protect the surface from hot gas exposure, reported by Bilgi et al.
(2004). Bamberg and Heamawatanachai (2009) proposed because
such film cooling holes were to be placed all over the body of the
blades and vanes at various injection angles, small and micro-sized
holes with high aspect ratios needed to be created. In addition,
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +86 25 84895912.
E-mail addresses: zhangyanzy@nuaa.edu.cn (Y. Zhang), xuzhy@nuaa.edu.cn
(Z. Xu), zhuyun youxiang@163.com (Y. Zhu), dzhu@nuaa.edu.cn (D. Zhu).
Fang et al. (2014) reported that the film cooling holes were to be
created in nickel-based superalloys, titanium alloys, single-crystal
alloys, and other difficult-to-machine materials. It was extremely
difficult and even impossible to machine such materials by conven-
tional processes. Hence, an efficient machining process for massive
film cooling holes was important for the fabrication of aero-engine
components. Besides, as turbines engines become more advanced,
more rigorous demands were placed on the surface quality of the
holes. Especially, recast layers and micro-cracks, which were usu-
ally generated after thermal machining, were not allowed to exist
on machined surfaces, reported by Wang et al. (2009).
For the fabrication of film cooling holes, tube-electrode high-
speed electrochemical discharge drilling (TEHECDD) was accepted
by many researchers as a novel hybrid process with high machining
efficiency and good surface quality, proposed by Zhang et al. (2015).
In this process, tube-electrode high-speed electrical discharge
drilling and electrochemical surface finishing were simultaneously
combined into the same process, whereby the advantages of these
two processes, including high efficiency and good surface quality,
were well exploited. For achieving the above-mentioned perfor-
mance in the TEHECDD process, a crucial factor is the appropriate

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2015.12.012
0924-0136/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49 39

Fig. 1. Mechanism of TEHECDD for different inner geometrical shapes.

Fig. 2. Experimental system developed for TEHECDD with different tool electrodes.

use of the tube electrode. The working fluid is supplied to the
machining gaps from the interior of the tube electrode to cool down
the machining region and push the machining by-products, includ-
ing metal pieces, hydroxide precipitates, gas bubbles and Joule heat,
out of the gap between the workpiece and tube electrode.
However, Goodlet and Koshy (2015) found that in the electri-
cal discharge machining of the film cooling hole, because of the
narrow machining gap, the flow rate of the working fluid was lim-
ited to a low level; thus, the machining by-products and heat could
not be rapidly carried away from the machining zone, reported by
Kumagai et al. (2006). Especially in TEHECDD, the complex machin-
ing by-products include not only debris and Joule heat produced
in the electrical discharge erosion process but also hydroxides
and gas bubbles generated in the electrochemical dissolution pro-
cess. Hence, the risk of blockage in TEHECDD is greater than that
in any single process of electrical discharge machining (EDM) or
electrochemical machining (ECM). Thus, the flushing condition is
extremely important for the machining performance in TEHECDD.
Lonardo and Bruzzone (1999) described that under poor flushing
conditions, the increasing debris, hydroxides, and bubbles in the
working fluid might sometimes cause extra arc pulses, whereas
the abnormal discharge currents reduce the machining accuracy,
surface quality, and machining speed of the film cooling holes in
EDM process. In addition, Chen et al. (2014) found that the poor
removal of Joule heat might result in high electrode wear and cause
a thick recast layer to be formed on the EDMed surface. Further-
more, the blockage caused by the machining by-products leads
to an increase in the contaminant concentration in the working
fluid. Wong et al. (1995) noted that because of the poor decon-
tamination of the narrow gap and the mass residual Joule heat, the
electrochemical dissolution reactions fatally deteriorate, and con-
sequently, a good machined surface cannot be obtained. Hence, to
40 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49
Fig. 3. Design of tool electrode with different inner shapes: (a) dimensions of design and (b) fabricated tool electrodes.
improve the flushing condition, the tool electrode is always con-
sidered to be a vital component, especially in a hybrid process.
Nevertheless, the improvement of the tool electrode structure is
one of the most important and challenging tasks.
To enhance flushing in the drilling process, many researchers
have attempted different approaches involving the improvement
of the tool electrode. Plaza et al. (2014) found that by using a heli-
cal cylinder electrode with a helix angle of 45◦ and flute depth of
50 ␮m, machining times were reduced by 37% in the micro-EDM
drilling process. Yang et al. (2011) proposed using a cylinder elec-
trode with a spherical end, which reduced the face area between
the electrode and workpiece. This facilitated the flow of electrolyte
to the electrode end and enabled the rapid formation of a gas film,
resulting in efficient micro-hole electrochemical discharge drilling.
Nastasi and Koshy, 2014 introduced radial slot and helical features
into a rotating cylindrical tool in the electrical discharge drilling of
blind holes and compared the influences of three different geome-
tries of a solid tool electrode on the material removal rate (MRR).
They found that the slotted tool outperformed the helical and cylin-
drical tools in terms of material removal. However, the use of the
above-mentioned cylindrical tool electrode as a tool electrode in
the fabrication of film cooling holes limited the ability of the coolant
passing through the internal cavity to carry away the reaction
products, thus resulting in poor machining accuracy, surface qual-
ity, and machining stability, as well as a high tool wear ratio,
reported by Pham et al. (2007). Wang et al. (2010) used a wedged
tube electrode to machine an inclined hole in electrochemical
drilling and found that the wedged tube electrode can be used
to efficiently drill high-quality holes with large inclination angles
because the electrolyte flow is distributed more uniformly in ECM
process. Taken altogether, the use of the tube electrode can effec-
tively improve the machining performance, both in EDM and ECM.
Because inadequate gap flushing severely prevented the work-
ing fluid from carrying away the debris and bubbles, the flow rate
of the working fluid is an important factor that determines the
machining accuracy, surface quality, and machining stability of the
machining process, reported by Meena et al. (2012). To improve the
flushing condition, many researchers have intensively investigated
the influence of the tool electrode’s outer structure on the flow
rate. However, there still exist some disadvantages that need to be
overcome. First, the modification of the outer surface will affect
the machining stability and accuracy. Yang et al. (2010) found that
wettability, which varied with surface roughness of tool electrode,
was key determinant of gas film formation. The low surface rough-
ness led to poor wettability, further increased surface tension of gas
bubbles adhered on electrode surface, causing them to coalesce and
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49 41

Fig. 4. Effect of inner diameters of tube electrode on TEHECDD performance.

Fig. 5. Mechanism of formation of residual cylinder for single-hole tube electrode.

form a thicker gas film, and resulted in poor machining stability and
largest hole diameter machined. Therefore, it can be supposed that
the modification of the outer surface can reduce machining stability
and diameter accuracy in TEHECDD. Second, in TEHECDD, the recast
surface of the film cooling hole machined by EDM is removed com-
pletely depending on the electrochemical dissolution occurring on
the outer surface of the tube electrode. Thus, the accuracy and sur-
face quality of the inner surface of the machined hole depends on
the smoothness and roughness of the outer surface. Hence, unlike
other machining process such as EDM and ECM, the outer surface
of the tube electrode should be kept smooth in TEHECDD.
To improve the flushing condition, keep the outer surface of
the tube electrode smooth, and hence improve the performance
of TEHECDD, this study innovatively proposes using tube elec-
trodes with different inner shapes and inner diameters. On the
one hand, the improved tube-electrode inner shape can ensure
better high-speed inner flushing and enhance the machining effi-
ciency compared to the common tube electrode. On the other hand,
instead of the modification of the tube-electrode outer surface,
the improvement of its inner geometrical shapes can prevent the
adverse effects of modifying the tube-electrode outer surface on the
machined surface of the hole. Hence, the improved tube-electrode
inner geometrical shapes can be used to achieve both high effi-
ciency and accuracy in TEHECDD.
In this study, tube electrodes with different inner shapes and
inner diameters are designed, whereby the effects of the tube
electrodes on the machining performance parameters, including
machining efficiency, machining accuracy, surface quality, and tool
electrode wear, are investigated. First, different inner diameters
of single-hole tube electrodes are compared to show the impact
of the tube-electrode inner diameter on the command variables.
However, it has been found that when using the single-hole tube
electrode, a newel remains at the center of the hole, which affects
the flushing condition to a certain degree until the hole is drilled
through. Thus, the varieties of residual cylinder by using differ-
ent inner diameter of tube electrode are studied, and the effects
of residual cylinder on the flow rate of working fluid are analysed.
Finally, to remove the residual cylinder, special inner shapes are
proposed for the tube electrode. Unlike the cylinder electrode, the
tube electrodes with a single hole, double holes, and multi-holes
are optimized according to the machining performance. Finally,
the effects of different inner shapes on the fabrication of the film
cooling holes are identified, and the optimal structure of the tube
electrode is chosen.
42 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49

2. Principle of TEHECDD for different tube-electrode inner Table 1

Machining conditions for TEHECDD.
geometrical shapes
Machining Value
TEHECDD is an innovative hybrid process combining tube- parameter
electrode high-speed EDM and ECM. During the entire process, the Pulse voltage/V 80 V
tube electrode is employed as the tool cathode, whereby a low- Pulse duration/Ton 12 ␮s
conductivity salt solution, which acts as the working fluid for EDM Pulse interval/Toff 36 ␮s
Peak current/I 12 A
and ECM, is continuously provided from the interior of the tube
Workpiece DZ125L superalloy
electrode. The low-conductivity salt solution can be exploited as a material
bi-characteristic working fluid, through which the EDM and ECM Thickness of 3 mm
processes can occur simultaneously. The improved tube electrode workpiece/L
Tool electrode Brass
can be used to effectively push the complex machining by-products
material
and heat out of the narrow machining gap, which is vital for improv- Tool electrode 1000 ␮m
ing the performance of TEHECDD. Fig. 1 illustrates the mechanism outer diameter/D
of TEHECDD for different inner geometrical shapes. Kind of 3 mS/cm NaNO3
working-fluid
Working-fluid 4 MPa
2.1. Frontal gap
pressure/P
Tube-electrode 100 rpm
Because of the continual feeding of the tool electrode toward rotation/R
the workpiece, the frontal gap is always kept in the micro-gap Inner diameter/d 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 ␮m
Inner shape Cylinder, single hole, double holes, and multi-holes
smaller than the theoretical maximum discharge gap of approxi-
mately 30 ␮m, as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, electrochemical dissolution
and electrical discharge erosion occur simultaneously in this gap,
electrode and tube electrodes, are investigated, which are fixed
whereby the materials are removed rapidly and higher drilling
onto the machine head and can be moved in the feed-rate direc-
speed can be achieved. However, as can be seen in Region 1 (Fig. 1),
tions through a linear guide using motors. Depending on the pump
in such a narrow gap, mass machining products, including electrical
used, the working fluid can be supplied to the machining zone via
discharge particles and electrochemical precipitates and bubbles,
the interior of the tube electrode continuously and steadily. For the
pose a high risk of jams. Poor flushing conditions more easily cause
cylinder electrode, the working fluid is filled in the tank and the
the jams and thereby deteriorate the machining efficiency and
electrode is immersed in the fluid. The pulse generator supplies
quality. Hence, the use of a tube electrode is considered to be impor-
energy for the entire machining process. The voltage detection unit
tant for the improvement of the flushing condition. For the cylinder
enables the machining voltage and current to be tested simultane-
electrode, the working fluid takes a long time to infiltrate from the
ously, so that the process can be controlled in a timely manner.
side to the center; this problem can be solved by using the improved
tube electrode, which effectively ensures the escape of products
and thereby facilitates high-speed material removal. 3.2. Design of tube-electrode inner geometrical shapes

2.2. Lateral gap
In the material removal mechanism, a transition phase exists
from EDM/ECM to pure ECM. Near the front part of the electrode,
the material removal mechanism is the same as that in the frontal
gap, as shown in Region 1 (Fig. 1). Depending on both EDM and ECM,
the lateral gap is enlarged rapidly. Until the lateral gap exceeds the
critical discharge value, EDM stops completely and ECM begins to
be the unique machining process, with mass hydroxide precipitates
and bubbles being generated in the lateral gap, as shown in Region
2 (Fig. 1). In this region, the lateral gap formed after EDM is con-
sidered to be the initial gap for material dissolution, and the rough
surface generated by EDM is removed by electrochemical dissolu-
tion in the lateral gap. However, mass by-products generated from
the lateral gap as well as the frontal gap assemble and stagnate in
the micro-lateral gap, which is also associated with poor surface
quality. Hence, using an improved tube electrode to enhance the
flushing condition is also extremely important for ensuring good
surface quality.
3. Experimental procedures
3.1. Experimental setup
The experimental system specially developed for TEHECDD with
different electrode structures is schematically illustrated in Fig. 2.
All the experiments in this study are conducted using this system.
This system consists of tube-electrode clamp and flushing units, a
power supply cell, a current/voltage detection unit, and a machin-
ing region. In this study, a series of electrodes, including a cylinder
Different tool electrode designs can change the flow of the
working fluid to the electrode end by different degrees, which
would directly affect the MRR and surface quality. Hence, this
study focuses on the design of the tool-electrode inner geometrical
shapes and uses the tube electrodes with improved inner geomet-
rical shapes to enhance the machining performance of TEHECDD.
The design improvement has been carried out from two aspects:
inner diameter and inner shape. All outer diameters are set to the
same value (D = 1000 ␮m), whereas five different inner diameters
are considered: 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 ␮m. Besides, for the
different inner shapes (Fig. 3), the interiors of the tube electrode
are designed to have different shapes, namely, no hole, single hole,
double holes, and multi-holes. The dimensions of the design are
shown in Fig. 3(A), and the tube electrodes fabricated according to
the design are presented in Fig. 3(B).
3.3. Machining procedures and conditions
In this study, experiments have been conducted to investi-
gate the effects of different tube-electrode inner structures on the
machining performance parameters of TEHECDD, including the sur-
face quality, MRR, average bore diameter, and taper angle. The main
machining conditions are listed in Table 1. First, different inner
diameters of the tube electrodes are studied, and their effects on
the machining performance are analysed by comparative experi-
ments. Thereby, the optimal inner diameter of the tube electrode
is confirmed. However, it has been found that when using a single-
hole tube electrode for drilling, a newel remains in the center hole
of the tube electrode, which affects the flushing condition to some
degree until the film cooling hole is drilled through the workpiece.
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49 43

Fig. 6. Comparison of residual cylinders produced for different inner diameters.

To overcome this defect, special inner shapes are proposed for ˚ = 0 ␮m), single-hole tube electrode, double-hole tube electrode,
the tube electrode. Through experiments, four special inner tube- and multi-hole tube electrode. The improvement in the machining
electrode shapes are compared: cylinder electrode (inner diameter performance of TEHECDD when using the special tube-electrode
44 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49

Fig. 7. Removal of residual cylinder using double and multi-hole tube electrodes.

Fig. 8. Comparison of flow rates at different machining depths and for different tube electrodes.

inner shapes is identified. Finally, the effects of different inner
shapes and inner diameters on the fabrication of the film cooling
holes are analysed, and the optimal structure of the tube electrode
is identified. The entrance and inner surface of the bore holes, as
well as the inner shapes of the tube electrode, were observed using
a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the bore diameters were
measured using a Leica digital microscope.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Analysis of TEHECDD performance for different
tube-electrode inner diameters
Fig. 4 shows the effect of the inner diameters of the tube
electrode on the flow rate of the working fluid and TEHECDD
performance, including the MRR, average bore diameter, and taper
angle. As shown in Fig. 4(A), with an increase in the tube-electrode
inner diameter, the flow rate of the working fluid supplied to the
machining gap steadily increases. Therefore, by using a large inner
diameter, the flushing condition can be effectively improved. The
by-products and heat are washed out from the gap. Both the elec-
trochemical and electro-discharge reactions are promoted in this
process. In Fig. 4(A), it can also be seen that with an increase in the
tube-electrode inner diameter, the MRR increases linearly, which
improves the flushing condition. With regard to the average bore
diameter and taper angle, as shown in Fig. 4(B), an increase in
the inner diameter decreases the hole diameter and taper angle.
Based on the MRR analysis, where the machining time is short-
ened by using a large inner diameter, the results for the average
bore diameter and taper angle can be explained as follows: as the
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49 45

Fig. 9. SEM images of holes machined by four kinds of tool electrodes: (a) cylinder, (b) single-hole, (c) double-hole, and (d) multi-hole.

inner diameter increases, the machining duration on the lateral gap
reduces and the MRR in the lateral gap decreases. Thus, a larger
inner diameter results in a smaller average bore diameter and taper
angle. Hence, if the outer diameter is not changed, the average
bore diameter and taper angle can be decreased as expected by
increasing the inner diameter of the tube electrode.
Overall, the machining performance for different inner diam-
eters of the tube electrode shows that with an increase in the
tube-electrode inner diameter, the MRR increases sharply and lin-
early. A larger inner diameter results in a smaller average bore
diameter and taper angle. Hence, for our experiments, the optimal
inner diameter can be chosen as 600 ␮m.
4.2. Analysis of residual cylinder and its effect on flow rate
Based on the above-mentioned results, it is found that an
increase in the inner diameter improves the machining perfor-
mance in TEHECDD. However, a critical defect is observed for the
single-hole electrode. As shown in Fig. 5, the use of a tube electrode
with a single hole results in the formation of a residual cylin-
der in the center of the machining zone until the hole is drilled
through. The residual cylinder increases in height and enters into
the hole of the tube electrode as the machining process proceeds.
The entrance of the residual cylinder into the tube electrode affects
the flushing condition considerably and deteriorates the machining
performance.
46 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49

Fig. 10. Comparison of surfaces machined by four kinds of tool electrodes: (a) cylinder, (b) single-hole, (c) double-hole, and (d) multi-hole.

Fig. 11. Effects of inner shape of tube electrode on MRR.

Fig. 6 compares the effects of different inner diameters on the
residual cylinder. It is found that the residual cylinders grow higher
and thicker as the inner diameter increases. In addition, as the
machining depth increases, the residual cylinders also increase in
height. This indicates that for a large inner diameter, as the machin-
ing depth increases, the residual cylinders enter higher into the
hole of the tube electrode. For a small inner diameter, the residual
cylinders reduce in height but are not removed completely.
To remove the residual cylinders, double-hole and multi-hole
tube electrodes are proposed, which are expected to improve
the flushing conditions and further enhance the machining per-
formance. Fig. 7 shows the residual cylinders obtained for holes
machined by the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes. It is
found that the residual cylinders are effectively removed by using
the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes. Even when the
machining depth is as large as 1000 ␮m, no residual cylinder is
found. Hence, the use of the double-hole and multi-hole tube elec-
trodes effectively remove the residual cylinders.
In TEHECDD, the flow rates of the working fluid at different
machining depths are examined. The experimental results for dif-
ferent inner shapes of the tube electrode are shown in Fig. 8. It is
found that at the beginning of the TEHECDD process (machining
depth of 0 ␮m), the flow rate offered by the single-hole tube elec-
trode is considerably higher than those offered by the double-hole
and multi-hole tube electrodes. After the tube electrode is drilled
into the workpiece (machining depth of 500 ␮m), the flow rate in
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49 47

Fig. 12. Effects of inner shape of tool electrode on average bore diameter.

Fig. 13. Effects of inner shape of tube electrode on taper angle.

the narrow machining gap is sharply reduced for the single-hole
tube electrode. Especially, when the machining depth is increased
to 1000 ␮m, the flow rate for the single-hole tube electrode is lower
than those for the other two tube electrodes. For the double-hole
and multi-hole tube electrodes, the flow rates remain constant in
the entire process. This indicates that for the single-hole electrode,
the residual cylinder considerably limits the flow rate of the work-
ing fluid in the narrow machining gap. The larger the machining
depth, the more severe is the obstruction of the flow. The use of
the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes results in the con-
tinuous removal of the residual cylinder in the machining process.
Thus, the flow rates of the working fluid are not affected by the
residual cylinder. In Fig. 8, it is also seen that compared with the
multi-hole tube electrode, the double-hole tube electrode is more
likely to supply sufficient high-speed working fluid to the narrow
machining gap.
4.3. Improved performance for different inner shapes of tube
electrode
Based on the experimental results, it is verified that the double-
hole and multi-hole tube electrodes effectively remove the residual
cylinders. In this section, the machining performance of these elec-
trodes is compared with that of the single-hole tube electrode. In
addition, experimental results for the three above-mentioned elec-
trodes are compared with those for the cylinder electrode, which is
the conventionally used tool electrode and which does not produce
residual cylinders.
48 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49
4.3.1. Comparison of holes and removal of machining products
provided by tube electrode with different inner shapes
In Fig. 9, the holes machined by four kinds of tool electrodes are
shown, and the rims of the hole entrances are magnified. Compared
with the other tool electrodes, the double-hole electrode produces
the best performance in terms of not only the roundness but also
the stray corrosion. In addition, the magnified images show that the
inner surface machined by the cylinder electrode is covered with
a thick recast layer, including massive cracks. This layer might be
formed by the rapid cooling of the molten machining by-products
and workpiece materials in the lateral gap. Because of poor flush-
ing, these molten particles are not washed out of the lateral gap
and get attached to the surface of the hole. For the single-hole tube
electrode, the surface is improved to a certain degree; however, a
few by-products exist that cannot be flushed away; consequently, a
crude surface is formed, as shown in Fig. 9(B). When the tube elec-
trode with an improved inner shape is used, the surfaces around
the entrances of holes are clearly improved. Especially, the sur-
face obtained for the double-hole electrode is the best, as shown in
Fig. 9(C).
4.3.2. Comparison of surface quality machined by tube electrode
with different inner shapes
The hole surfaces machined by TEHECDD with different tool
electrodes are further analysed (Fig. 10). As shown in Fig. 10(A),
the machined surface using the cylinder electrode is covered with
a recast layer, which is in accordance with the result of Fig. 9(A).
As shown in Fig. 10, for the single-hole electrode, the machined
surface is improved to some degree and the cracks are swept away
because of the electrochemical dissolution properties in TEHECDD.
However, some scaly appendages can still be seen attached to
the surface. This implies that because of the residual cylinder, the
unsatisfactory flushing condition affects the removal of the machin-
ing by-products, and parts of the machining by-products cohere
on the surface under the high temperature and rapid cooling pro-
cess. When the electrodes with modified inner shapes (double-hole
and multi-hole electrodes) are used, the surface qualities improve
remarkably and the entire machined areas become smoother. The
magnified image shows that surface defects such as cracks and scaly
appendages also disappear. This illustrates that when the residual
cylinder is removed, flushing is considerably improved, whereby
the machining products are flushed out of the machining gap with-
out obstruction and the machining stability is effectively enhanced.
Hence, the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes effectively
improve the surface qualities because they produce no residual
cylinders.
4.3.3. Effects of inner shape of tube electrode on MRR
Fig. 11 shows the effects of the inner shape of the tube electrode
on the MRR. It is seen that the MRRs obtained for the double-
hole and multi-hole tube electrodes are clearly greater than that
obtained for the single-hole tube electrode. Especially, in the case
of the double-hole tube electrode, which gives the maximum MRR,
there is an approximately ten-fold improvement in the machin-
ing efficiency compared to that of the cylinder electrode. This
demonstrates that compared to the cylinder electrode, the opti-
mal single-hole tube electrode produces a considerably improved
MRR.
4.3.4. Effects of inner shape of tube electrode on average bore
diameter
Fig. 12 shows the average bore diameter for different inner
shapes of the tube electrode and the comparison of these diameters
with that for the cylinder electrode. Compared with the cylinder
electrode, the tube electrode more effectively decreases the average
bore diameter. This can be attributed to the better decontamination
of the machining gap through inner flushing. Further, comparing
the three kinds of tube electrodes, the average bore diameter is
minimum for the double-hole tube electrode whereas it is max-
imum for the single-hole electrode. This indicates that the use
of the improved tube-electrode inner shape keeps the machining
region free of the residual cylinder. The by-products and heat are
completely flushed away from the narrow lateral gap. Thus, the sec-
ondary discharges, which occur in the lateral gap and excessively
enlarge the hole diameter, can be effectively avoided. Hence, from
the experimental results, it can be affirmed that to obtain the aver-
age minimum diameter, the double-hole shape should be selected
as the optimal shape.
4.3.5. Effects of inner shape of tube electrode on taper angle
Process-related, there exists a difference between the entrance
and the exit diameter of the bore hole. Because of the longer pro-
cedure of the electrode at the entrance, a taper angle between
entrance and exit exists. The results of the taper angle for different
inner shapes of the tool electrode are shown in Fig. 13. The cylin-
der electrode gives the maximum taper angle, which is almost five
times that for the tube electrode. Comparing the other three kinds
of tube electrodes, the double-hole electrode produces the mini-
mum taper angle whereas the taper angle for the single-hole tube
electrode is larger than those for the double-hole and multi-hole
tube electrodes. The reason behind this phenomenon is that the
by-products generated from the EDM and ECM processes produce
massive secondary discharges between the machining by-products
and workpiece. Especially at the entrance, all the by-products
produced in the lateral and frontal gaps concentrate because of
the poor flushing condition. Hence, the diameter of the entrance
becomes larger than that of any other regions, and hence, the taper
angle increases. For the cylinder electrode, because of the poor
flushing condition and the long drilling duration, the taper angle
is larger than those for the other three electrodes. For the single-
hole tube electrode, the flushing condition clearly improves and the
taper angle decreases considerably. However, because of the resid-
ual cylinder, the flushing condition is affected to some degree, and
compared to the double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes, the
taper angle is still relatively larger. Hence, the use of an electrode
with an improved inner shape reduces the taper angle. Especially,
the optimal taper angle can be obtained by using the double-hole
tube electrode.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, improved tube electrodes are proposed for use
in the TEHECDD process. All outer diameters are set to the same
value (D = 1000 ␮m), whereas the inner diameters of the electrodes
are designed as 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 ␮m, and the interiors
of the electrodes are designed to have different shapes, namely,
no hole, single hole, double holes, and multi-holes. The mecha-
nism of the enhanced TEHECDD performance when using different
tube-electrode inner shapes is analysed, and the effects of differ-
ent tube-electrode inner shapes on the machining performance are
investigated. The following conclusions can be drawn:
1 An analysis of the machining performance for different inner
diameters of the tube electrode shows that with an increase in the
tube-electrode inner diameter, the MRR increases sharply and
linearly. A larger inner diameter results in a smaller average bore
diameter and taper angle. The optimal inner diameter is found to
be 600 ␮m.
2 In TEHECDD, a critical defect for the single-hole electrode is found
to be the formation of a residual cylinder, which affects the flush-
ing conditions and the machining performance. To overcome
 Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 231 (2016) 38–49
this problem and further enhance the machining performance,
improved inner shapes are proposed for the tube electrode. The
double-hole and multi-hole tube electrodes are found to be able
to remove the residual cylinder effectively.
3 A comparison of the machining performance for different
inner shapes demonstrates that compared to the cylinder and
single-hole tool electrodes, the tube electrodes with improved
inner shapes considerably improve the machining performance
parameters, including the machining speed and accuracy as well
as the surface quality. Finally, it is found that the best perfor-
mance is obtained for the double-hole tube electrode.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge financial support provided by the
China Natural Science Foundation (51475237), the National
High-Tech Research and Development Program of China
(2013AA040101), the Program for New Century Excellent Tal-
ents in University (NCET-12-0627), and the Funding of Jiangsu
Innovation Program for Graduate Education (KYLX 0232).
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