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Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877

18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM XVIII)

Development of advanced Abrasive Electrical Discharge Grinding

(AEDG) system for machining difficult-to-cut materials

Jerzy Kozaka,*, Maria Zybura-Skrabalaka, Grzegorz Skrabalaka

a
Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 30-011 Kraków, ul. Wrocławska 37A, Poland

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +48-601-620-525 ; fax: +48-. E-mail address: jkozak64@wp.pl

Abstract

The paper reports the development of a new Abrasive Electrical Discharge Grinding (AEDG) system and investigations of
performance characteristic of machining difficult-to-cut materials. Developed machining system allows to perform following
machining processes: conventional grinding, AEDG process and conventional grinding with in-situ EDM grinding wheel
dressing. The first section of this paper describes thermal model to analyze the self-dressing phenomenon in AEDG. In the
second part, the modular abrasive-electro-discharge grinding machine with adaptive control system is presented. There are also
presented basic performance characteristics of the machining system achieved during machining of cutting tools made of PCD
compacts sintered on WC base. Presented machining system MESO 25 CNC allows performance of all operations needed for
production or regeneration of cutting tools with complex geometries. It is worth to notice that operations of rough and finishing
machining can be performed with the machining system using single clamping.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining
XVIII).
(ISEM XVIII)
Keywords: electrical discharges, abrasion, adaptative control, self-dressing, removal rate, surface roughness,

1. Introduction
The technological improvement of machining processes can
be achieved by combining different physico-chemical action
on the material being treated. In particular a mechanical
action, which is used in conventional material removal
processes can be combined with respective interactions
applied in unconventional manufacturing processes such as
electrical discharge machining (EDM), electrochemical
machining (ECM), laser beam machining (LBM) etc.
The reasons for developing a hybrid process are to make
use of the combined or mutually enhanced advantages, and to
avoid or reduce some adverse effects the constituent processes
produce when they are individually applied [1, 2].The most
numerous group make Abrasive Hybrid Machining (AHM)
processes, and they are the most commonly used in industry.
There can be distinguished three main subgroups: Abrasive
Electrical Machining (AEDM), Abrasive Electrochemical
Machining (AECM), and Abrasive Electro-Chemical-
Discharge Machining (AECDM).
Abrasive electrodischarge grinding (AEDG) is a hybrid
process, which combines EDM and grinding for machining
electrically conductive hard materials [3-8]. In the AEDG
process, metallic or graphite electrode used in electro-
discharge grinding (EDG) process, has been replaced with
metallic bond grinding wheel. The machining process can be
presented by “process conditions scheme”(PCS), which is the
diagram of condition features of machining and its conjugate.
The Fig. 1 shows the process condition scheme for AEDG
process[1, 2].

2212-8271 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 18th CIRP Conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining (ISEM XVIII)
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2016.03.011
 Jerzy Kozak et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877
Interconnections between machining mechanisms, which take
part in metal removal process, cause the productivity of
hybrid machining to be much greater than summed up results
of the individual processes (assuming that the same
parameters, characteristic for relevant processes, are kept).
Fig.1. Process Condition Scheme (PCS) for AEDG process[2]
This synergic effect in material removal rate (MRR) of AEDG
is illustrated in Fig.2.
Fig.2. Schematic diagram for synergic effect in AEDG
Numerous investigations have been carried out in the field of
AEDG. Initial research in this field found that by combining
mechanical grinding with EDM, there has been a considerable
decrease in grinding forces. Additional benefits include lower
grinding wheel wear, and an effective method for dressing of
grinding wheel during machining process [4, 7]. Electro-
erosion process could also be applied in profiling of super-
hard metal bonded wheel. An increase in performance
measures of the AEDG process becomes evident when
machining super-hard materials, engineering ceramics,
sintered carbides and metal composites. AEDG of titanium
alloy (Ti-6Al-4V), Inconel 601, Al-SiC (DURALCAN
F3S.20D), PCD, and PCBN have been reported in references
[3, 5 and 6]. Main parameters influencing the process were
peak current, pulse on-time and wheel speed. The
enhancement of the material removal rate on introducing
abrasion into the process has been studied in comparison to
873
conventional EDM and EDM with a rotating graphite
electrode (EDG). The experimental results of DURALCAN
and Ti- 6Al-4V indicated that AEDG ( resulted in higher
material removal and better surface finish as compared to
EDM or EDG [5, 7, 8].
The first section of this paper describes the experimental
system and experiment conditions of AEDG process. The
experimental procedure and experimental results are
discussed in the second section. The study of the self-
dressing process and the tool wear during AEDG is discussed
in the last section.
2. Study of self dressing process During AEDG
During grinding process, the metal bonded wheel looses its
cutting ability after certain number of operations. Hence, to
resume the efficient grinding process, frequent re-dressing of
wheel becomes imperative. Conventional dressing methods of
metal bonded grinding wheels are time consuming and lead to
severe wear of the tool.
One of the most important benefits of AEDG process is self-
dressing, where the electrical discharges simultaneously erode
workpiece and tool (wheel). Therefore in AEDG the wheel is
being dressed continuously. As the dressing of the wheel is
continuous, there is no need to interrupt machining for
dressing the wheel, thus saving the productive machining
time.
Fig.3 shows a schematic diagram of work piece and wheel
contact region with abrasive grits, metallic bond and
embedded or lodged workpiece chips in the wheel. These
lodged chips melted due to the thermal energy generated by
series of electrical discharges and occasional short circuits.
Fig.3. Schematic diagram of electrical discharge and short circuit.
An experimental analysis of debris after machining has
indicated that the chips have been melted. It was also
observed that for certain values of pulse on-time and pulse
current, the material removed during AEDG was in the
powder form. These experimental observations indicate the
occurrence of melting of embedded chips, within certain time
that is less than applied pulse on-time.
To verify this hypothesis, following modeling and analysis
has been done. To estimate the time required for the chip
temperature to reach melting point, the thermal model of a
chip (length L under voltage U) has been developed (Fig.4).
Fig. 4. Model of a chip
Following assumptions are made in developing the model for
874 Jerzy Kozak et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877

the heating of chips during electrical short circuit: and 15ȝm.

1. The cross-sectional area A of the chip, which is changing
from A0 to A1.
2. The changes in temperature, current density and electrical
properties in the cross-section of the chip are negligible.
3. The changes in specific heat C and density ȡ of the chip
material with temperature are negligible.
4. The change in the electric resistivity of the chip material
is given by:
r = r 0 (1 + αθ ) , where: r0 and Į are the electrical resistivity
and the temperature coefficient of resistivity at temperature
T0, respectively, and ș = T – T0 is the increase in temperature
of the chip.
Considering the Joule heat, the increase in temperature of the
chip can be described as:
∂θ ∂ 2θ i2
=a 2 +r (1)
∂t ∂x ρ ⋅C
where i is current density, and a is the thermal diffusivity.
The current density can be determined from Ohm’s law as
follows:
§L ·
¨ ¸ (2)
³
dx
i ⋅¨ r + RC ¸ = U
¨ A( x ) ¸
©0 ¹
where A is the cross-sectional area of the chip and RC is
contact resistance.
At increasing temperature of the chip and the assumption that Fig.5. Temperature of chip vs. time
copper bond of wheel plays the role of a perfectly good
conductor, the contact resistance is approximately described For the examples considered above, required time for the chip
by expression [9]: temperature to reach melting point is less than 1 ȝs. Similar
2
RC = r0 (1 + α ⋅ θ s )A1 / d (3) estimates for different workpiece materials using machine
3 (pulse on time is from 16 ȝs to 120 ȝs and pulse current is
where d is the characteristic dimension of contact spot. from 5 Amp to 25 Amp) confirm that the embedded or lodged
chips melt well before the end of the pulse on time. Visual
Upon transformation of Eq. (2) and Eq. (3), the current
observation and analysis of AEDG debris also verified this
density can be estimated by:
conclusion. An absence of chips was noticed at the end of
i=
U (4)
ª L º
machining using AEDG as opposed to presence of chips after
1 + αθ
r0 «(1 + 2αθ s / 3 )A1 / d +
«
«¬ 0
³A (x )
dx »
»
»¼
the grinding operation.

Estimation of the magnitude of terms in the right side of Eq. 3. The modular abrasive electro-discharge grinding
(5) for typical condition of AEDG, lead to conclusion that the machine MESO 25 CNC
first term, which is connected with heat conduction along axis
x, can be neglected. The Eq. (1) after substituting of Eq.(4) The modular abrasive-electro-discharge grinding machine
and transformation, becomes: MESO 25 CNC, which was designed and manufactured at the
Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, is
∂θ r0 ⋅ U 2
= 2 (5)
presented in Fig.6.
∂t ª L º MESO 25 CNC is appropriated for the PCD, PCBN and TC
1 + 0 . 7α ⋅ θ c 1+ α ⋅θ
ρ ⋅ C ⋅ A (x ) « »
³
2
+ dx cutting tools grinding in such operations as: Electro-Discharge
« d A (x ) » Grinding (EDG) with the rotary metallic electrodes, Abrasive-
¬« 0 ¼»
Electro-Discharge Grinding (AEDG) and Abrasive Grinding
with initial condition ș(t=0) = 0. (AG) with diamond grinding wheels without electric erosion
In the equation (5), variable of x is treated as parameter and support.
solution can be obtained using iterative procedures. To achieve an efficient AEDG process, an accurate pulse
The sample of numerical results for machining cobalt matrix monitoring strategy and a precise control are both required. In
composite (such as PCD, tungsten carbides). are shown in order to improve the efficiency and stability of the machining
Fig.5. The data needed for estimation were as follows: density process, an adaptive control system was developed. A high-
3
ȡ = 8900 kg/m , specific heat C = 0.42 kJ/kgK, specific speed EDM pulses monitoring system based on wavelet
–8
electrical resistance r = 5.81×10 ȍm, melting point T = transform is implemented to measure the gap status, whose
0 m output is adopted as the feedback signals of the adaptive
1768 K, thermal coefficient of electrical resistance Į = 0.004 control system. Among feedback signals, mean voltage across
1/K, voltage at short circuit U = 2.5 V, grit size of 240 (grain the electrode/workpiece gap and discharge delay time are
size of 63 ȝm) and the chip with L = 16 and ȝm and d = 10 used. Control of the servo response is simplified to a single
 Jerzy Kozak et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877
adjustment of the servo gain, feed rate adjustment not being
required from the operator. MESO 25-CNC can operate in 4
basic modes:
- standard tool grinder,
- standard tool grinder with in situ EDM grinding wheel
dressing,
- tool grinder using hybrid AEDG machining process;
- EDM machine working with rotating tool electrode;
Fig.6. Abrasive-electro-discharge griding machine MESO 25 CNC [9]
Developed for the needs of MESO 25 CNC and AEDG allows
fast and reliable control of the working tool electrode
movement during machining processes using electrical
discharges. In case of conventional grinding tool travels with
programmed speed. In Figure 7 are presented runs of
interelectrode voltage used as the process feedback signal
(Fig. 7a) and controller response – tool travel speed measured
at the control system output (Fig. 7b). Developed control
system adapts to the gap condition, enabling conducting the
EDM process with constant gap size.
b
Fig. 7. Interelectrode voltage (a) and linear grinding wheel travel speed (b)
during machining of tungsten carbide (H10S) with metal bonded cBN wheel
(adaptive reverse control mode vr=±60mm/min, Iz=5[A], Ir=7[A], ti=40[µs],
t0=16[µs], Uzadane=40[V], n=3000[rpm], pd=33[uS], Urrz=80[V], Ira=2[A],
q=0,02[mm], l0=90[mm]
Developed system bases on the SINUMERIK 840D CNC
controller. It allows machining with interpolation in 5 axes.
875
Process controller used for EDM and AEDG processes also
allows 5 axis machining of complex shapes – which is very
useful especially while shaping and regenerating sophisticated
cutting tools.
Hybrid processes of abrasive electrodischarge machining use
the phenomena of synergic machining and correlation
between the grinding wheel grain size and the interelectrode
gap. On one hand the electrode/workpiece gap depends
mainly on the energetic parameters of the process (directly
influencing the EDM phase removal rate), whilst on the other
it is also dependant on the non-conducting parts of the grains
protruding from the grinding wheel surface.
Figures 8-9 present the results of researches aimed at
determining influences of the grinding wheel type on the
surface roughness (Ra) of PCD layer and tungsten carbide
base of cutting tools. Applied processes concerned initial
grinding supported with EDM discharges (AEDG) and the
finishing conventional grinding. Hybrid AEDG process was
performed using following parameters:
- grinding wheel peripheral speed: 8, 10, 16 m/s;
- gap voltage: Uo = 160 i 250 V;
- table travel speed: vf = 500 mm/min
- step / approach: a = 0,01 mm/double table stroke.
The dielectric liquid, IONOGRIND from OelHeld was
flushed to the interelectrode gap. The liquid works in closed
circulation system with stabilized temperature on the range
20-22°C. [9]
Figure 8 concerns grinding wheel of 6A2 100x10x2x32 D76
C100 type (containing 5% of A additives and with no
additives). Figure 9 concerns grinding wheel of
6A2 100x10x2x32 D57 C100 (containing 5% of A additives
and with no additives).
b
876 Jerzy Kozak et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877

12% of A additive and peripheral speed vs = 10 m/s (Fig. 9b).

c
Fig. 8. Surface roughness of PCD and WC layer of Compax 1300 workpiece
after conventional grinding with various peripheral speeds of grinding wheel:
a) vs=8 m/s; b) vs=10 m/s; c) vs=16 m/s, where: II - grinding wheel of
6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M type; III - grinding wheel of
6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M type + 5% additive A; IV - grinding wheel a
of 6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M+ 12% additive A

In case of conventional grinding with grinding wheel built of

D76 grains, the lowest surface roughness of PCD (Ra =
0,06 µm) layer was achieved for grinding wheel No. III with
12% of A additive and peripheral speed vs = 16 m/s (Fig. 8c).

b
Fig. 10. Comparison of surface roughness of PCD and WC layers of Compax
1300 sample after hybrid AEDG machining with interelectrode voltage of
U0=160 V and various grinding wheel peripheral speeds: a) vs=8 m/s; b)
a vs=16 m/s

Fig. 9. Surface roughness of PCD and WC layer of Compax 1300 workpiece

after hybrid AEDG process with various peripheral speeds of grinding wheel:
a) vs=8 m/s; b) vs=10 m/s; c) vs=16 m/s, where: II - grinding wheel of
6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M type; III - grinding wheel of
6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M type + 5% additive A; IV - grinding wheel
of 6A2 100x10x2x32 D76 C100 M+ 12% additive A.
b
Fig. 11. Comparison of surface roughness of PCD and WC layers of Compax
In case of hybrid AEDG grinding with grinding wheel built of
1300 sample after conventional grinding depending on the grinding wheel
D76 grains, the lowest surface roughness of PCD (Ra = type and and various grinding wheel peripheral speed: a) vs=8 m/s; b) vs=16
0,010 µm) layer was achieved for grinding wheel No. III with m/s
 Jerzy Kozak et al. / Procedia CIRP 42 (2016) 872 – 877
When analyzing results presented in Figures 10 and 11 it can
be noticed, that application of EDM during grinding process
increases significantly roughness of machined surface. In
Figure 12, there is presented comparison of material removal
rate for grinding and hybrid machining processes achieved
during machining of samples prepared of PCD and WC
(H10S). Tests were performed using MESO 25 CNC machine
with adaptive controller active. It is noticeable that removal
rates of the machining with AEDG process are significantly
higher than in case of grinding.
Fig. 12. Comparison of material removal rate of PCD and WC samples during
conventional rough and finishing grinding operations and hybrid AEDG
machining process [10, 11]
However hybrid AEDG process has significantly higher
machining efficiency, achievement of high quality surface
finishing requires additional machining – conventional
grinding. From the total machining efficiency point of view it
is important to perform both processes / operation at the same
stand – not to lose time for additional clamping and
positioning [10].
4. Conclusions
Presented hybrid machining process of Abrasive
Electrodischarge Grinding (AEDG) may be very useful for
precise and efficient machining of difficult to machine
materials. Application of EDM during the grinding process
allows to increase significantly machining process efficiency
and reduce need of grinding wheel dressing during machining
process. These two effects are especially important, when
relatively large volumes of material are supposed to be
removed – rough machining.
The AEDG process produces worse surface finishing than
conventional grinding. It requires finishing operations – i.e.
conventional grinding. In this case it is important to perform
877
all processes at the same machining system (i.e. presented
MESO 25 CNC). Conducting all the operations at the same
machine allows to reduce time needed for additional clamping
of workpiece and additional positioning. It also allows to
prevent mistakes in final shape resulting from
misspositioning.
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