Journal of Materials Processing Technology 147 (2004) 241246

Mathematical modeling for controlled electrochemical deburring (ECD)

S. Sarkar , S. Mitra, B. Bhattacharyya
Production Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India Received 5 September 2003; accepted 7 January 2004

Abstract Deburring is the nishing technique required for manufacturing of precise components. In industry manual methods are commonly employed for burr removal. Deburring operation with high efciency and full automation is a very difcult task. Further, removal of internal burrs of various size and shape sometimes becomes extremely difcult task. In such situation electrochemical deburring (ECD) offers a potential solution to such problem. In case of ECD, burr is removed by electrochemical dissolution, rather than by mechanical force. Due to non-contact nature of the process there is no residual stress and thermal effect on the job surface. For successful utilization of ECD, in present day manufacturing, still demands for more intensive research, including the parametric analysis of the process. In the present paper the characteristics of ECD is analyzed through a developed mathematical model and main inuencing factors such as time, initial burr height, inter-electrode gap, voltage and base material removal have been examined. The present study proves that predictions based on the developed mathematical model are in very good agreement with the experimental results. The paper also highlights the scheme of the developed ECD system designed to operate within the parametric limits. The present paper through various parametric studies will act as a guideline for the operation of an ECD system. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Electrochemical deburring; Burr height; Deburring

1. Introduction Burrs are thin ridges, usually triangular in shape, that develop along the edge of a workpiece from various manufacturing operations, e.g. machining, shearing of sheet materials, trimming, forging, casting, etc. Burrs can lead to noisy, unsafe operation in assembled machine parts, produce friction and wear in the parts moving relative to each other, short circuits in electrical components and may reduce the fatigue life of components. During heat treatment, an edge crack into the parts can lead to breakdown with increasing tensile stress. Burr also increases leakage in hydro-pneumatic system. Furthermore burrs are usually sharp and as such they can be a safety hazard to personnel. Removal of burrs in the drilling process occupies more than 40% of total machining time and reduces production efciency, and increases cost [1]. In the case of the parts moving relatively to each other, friction and wear due to burrs not only reduce the edge quality but also produce noise and

Corresponding author. E-mail address: soumyasarkar@vsnl.net (S. Sarkar).

vibration. Common existing deburring process requires time, labor and other associated cost. Efciency can be realized through automation. But achieving a successful deburring process into manufacturing system with high efciency and full automation is an extremely difcult problem. There are several conventional procedures to remove burrs of various size, shape and properties. Commonly manual methods are often employed. But different internal burrs, which are complicated in shape, are difcult to be treated manually. For example, because of inaccessibility, it is difcult to remove burrs from an internal cross-hole, which is perpendicular to a main hole [2]. Electrochemical deburring (ECD) technique has been found as a potential solution for such an internal burr, which is difcult to access and difcult to remove, by common manual method. In case of ECM there are interactive, higher-order inuences of the various machining parameters, such as electrolyte concentration, inter-electrode gap thickness, voltage, etc., on different dominant machining criteria [3]. As the basic principles of material removal are similar for both ECM and ECD, it is apparent that the above machining parameters will also play an important role in ECD operation. In the present research mathematical models have been developed

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.matprotec.2004.01.002

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to show the variation of the burr height with respect to the various electrochemical machining parameters. The effect of the different process parameters, i.e. machining voltage, time, initial burr height and inter-electrode gap on deburring rate were also analyzed. Furthermore, an ECD system has been designed for the purpose of controlled deburring operation.

2. Fundamentals of the electrochemical deburring (ECD) Electrochemical deburring is based on the principle of anodic dissolution process. The machining rate is governed by the Faradays laws of electrolysis. ECD does not apply any mechanical force or any thermal effects because of the non-contact nature of the process. As in the case of electrochemical machining (ECM), the machining rate can be kept constant irrespective of the hardness and toughness of the material and physical and chemical properties of the machined surface is not changed after the machining process [4]. This is an attractive feature of ECD over other deburring process, because there will be no heat affected zone or residual stress on the job surface. The current density at the peak of the surface irregularities is higher than that elsewhere. Burrs are therefore removed preferentially, and the workpiece become smoothed. The electrolyte can be pumped rapidly through the inter-electrode gap, which sweeps away the waste product from the deburring zone. Electrochemical deburring is a very quick process. Owing to its speed and simplicity of operation, electrochemical deburring can often be performed with a xed, stationary cathode tool. The process can also be used in many applications.

respectively, before deburring operation. After deburring operation for time t points A and B will be shifted to points A and B , respectively. Initial burr height and inter-electrode gap are h0 and y0 , respectively. After deburring operation for time t the reduced burr height is h and y is the measure of removal of base material or stock material as shown in Fig. 1. In case of electrochemical dissolution, the rate of change of gap between an electrode (tool) and a workpiece (burr) changes can be expressed as follows: dy = f dt y (1a)

where y is the inter-electrode gap after time t and f is the tool feed rate. The constant factor is determined by the particular combination of electrolyte uid, the workpiece material, supply voltage and can be expressed as = AKV ZF (1b)

where is the current efciency, A the gram atomic weight of the metallic ions, V the applied voltage, K the conductivity of electrolyte, the density of the anode, i.e. workpiece material, Z the valency of the cation and F is the Faraday (= 96,500 C). Now for the case of electrochemical deburring, tool is stationary, i.e. for a stationary tool, f = 0. Hence, Eq. (1) becomes dy = (1c) dt y and after integration y=
2 y0 + 2t

(2)

3. Development of mathematical models for controlled ECD operation The basic principle of ECD can be explained with the aid of Fig. 1. A and B are two points located on the tip of the burr and on the base material just adjacent to the burr,

Again from Fig. 1 it is seen that y = y0 + y (3a)

After substituting the value of y from Eq. (2) the expression for y becomes y=
2 y0 + 2t y0

(3b)

Workpiece ( + ) y B B A Burr after deburring ya A Burr before deburring

As exhibited in Fig. 1, ya is the distance of the point A after deburring from tool electrode surface and ya is the distance of the point A before deburring operation from the tool electrode surface. Hence,
Flowing electrolyte

ya = y0 h0 and ya =
2 ya + 2t

(4)

h0 ya

y0

(5a)

Tool electrode ( - )
Fig. 1. Mechanism of electrochemical deburring.

Substituting the value of ya in Eq. (5) ya = (y0 h0 )2 + 2t (5b)

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Again from Fig. 1 instantaneous burr height can be expressed as follows: h = y ya (6)

Table 1 Machining conditions and material properties for ECD Parameters Current efciency () Specic removal volume (Fe2+ ) Specic conductivity (K) Voltage (V) Electrolyte uid Value 100% 2.3 mm3 /A min 0.02 mho/mm 30 V NaNO3 (15%)

Combining Eqs. (2), (5b) and (6) following equation can be obtained: h= y0 + 2t (y0 h0 )2 + 2t (7)

Burr height (mm)

Squaring both sides of Eq. (7) and rearranging the following relation is obtained:
2 y0 h2 + (y0 h0 )2 + 4t 2 = 2 (y0 + 2t){(y0 h0 )2 + 2t}

2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 Time (min) 4 5 6

Initial inter electrode gap= 2mm Initial burr height = 1.5 mm

(8)

Again squaring both sides of Eq. (8) and simplifying, the following equation is obtained:
2 2 2 (y0 h2 )2 + (y0 h0 )4 + 162 t 2 + 2{(y0 h2 )(y0 h2 )2 2 + (y0 h0 )2 4t + 4t(y0 h2 )} 2 = 4[(y0 + 2t){(y0 h0 )2 + 2t}]

Fig. 2. Variation of burr height with respect to time.

(9)

After rearranging the above equation deburring time can be expressed as follows: t= h2 h2 0 8h2 {(h2 h2 ) + 4y0 (y0 h0 )} 0 (10)

From the above expression it may be observed that when h = 0 deburring time t becomes innite, i.e. it would take an innite time to remove the burr completely. It means it is not possible to remove the burr completely. However in practical situation burr height reaches the desired allowable limit within few minutes. Combining Eqs. (3b) and (10) removal of base material can be expressed as follows: y=
2 y0 +

h2 h2 0 4h2

{(h2 h2 ) + 4y0 (y0 h0 )} 0 (11)

Deburring time (min)

From the above expression it is clear that for a specied nal burr height, loss of base material is independent of voltage, workpiece material and conductivity of the electrolyte. This only depends on initial burr height nal burr height and inter-electrode gap. The above set of equations will be utilized to determine the burr height, deburring time and loss of base material for various parametric combinations in electrochemical deburring.

carried out to evaluate the effect of various process parameters, e.g. machining time, voltage, etc., on the burr height, removal of base material and deburring time. The machining conditions and workpiece material considered for this purpose are exhibited in Table 1. As evident from Fig. 2 that burr height reduces with increasing ECD time and theoretically it would take an innite time to remove a burr completely. In practice, however, as soon as the burr height goes below a pre-assigned allowable value the process is completed. In Fig. 2, slope of the curve indicating the removal rate of the burr and a sharp slope is corresponding to rapid removal of the burr. From Fig. 2, it is also observed that with increasing time removal rate of the burr reduces. From Figs. 3 and 4, it can be observed that deburring time as well as base material removal increases sharply with the increase in inter-electrode gap and both of them is undesirable. Hence in electrochemical deburring; it is economical to keep the gap between the workpiece and the tool electrode small, but too small a gap should be avoided because this causes electric sparks and shorts. Further inter-electrode gap also has signicant effect on the surface nish, surface topography and tribological characteristics of the workpiece surface [5].

4. Parametric analysis of the ECD process Based on the developed mathematical model of electrochemical deburring process a parametric analysis has been

12.5 Initial inter electrode gap = 1.5 mm 10 Initial burr height = 0.45 mm 7.5 5 2.5 0 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Inter electrode gap (mm)

Fig. 3. Deburring time with various gaps between the electrode and workpiece.

244
Base material removal(mm) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1.7 1.9

S. Sarkar et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 147 (2004) 241246

Initial burr height =1.5mm

Base material removal (mm)

Final burr height = 0.45mm

Initial burr height=1.5mm Final burr height=0.45mm

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 Initial burr height (mm)

2.1

2.3

2.5

Inter electrode gap (mm)

Fig. 4. Variation of base material removal with respect to inter-electrode gap.

Fig. 7. Variation of base material removal for different initial burr height.

20
Deburring time (min)

Initial inter-electrode gap = 2 mm Initial burr height = 1.5 mm Final burr height=0.45mm

5. Design of the ECD setup Fig. 8 shows the design of the electrochemical deburring system to carry out deburring operations on various jobs. Among the different deburring operation deburring of internal cross-hole, perpendicular to main shaft is particularly attractive. The operation has been shown schematically. Workpiece and the deburring tool are being securely held by a three-jaw chuck and a collet chuck, respectively, with good accuracy. Both the tool and work holding devices are insulated from the main body in order to focus an electrochemical reaction between tool and workpiece only. A sufcient electrolyte ow between the tool and the workpiece is necessary to carry away the heat and the products of machining and to assist the deburring process at the required rate, producing a satisfactory surface nish. ECD tooling design demands some special consideration [6]. It is difcult to provide good electrolyte ow around burrs as they always have sharp corners. In the present research work the deburring tool is specially designed to supply sufcient electrolyte to the burr position through the internal cross-hole as shown in Fig. 9 and cross-holes are drilled in mutually opposite direction to avoid undue deection of tool during the ow of the electrolyte. Undesired machining is restrained through partial insulation of the electrode. The electrode is made of copper. Both the tool and the workpiece are placed in machining chamber to avoid the electrolyte splashing over other members of the ECD setup. The work holding device is made of titanium to avoid anodic attack. The metal in contact has been chosen in such a way that they do not differ much in their electrochemical behavior. The slide ways cannot be protected permanently, and so they are heavily coated with grease. The electrolyte ow system consists of a lter, pump, electrolyte storage tank, pressure gauge and ow-measuring device, etc. The function of this system is to ensure adequate amount of clean electrolyte ow in the deburring zone. The tank, pipe lines, valves are made of PVC. The pump is corrosion resistant centrifugal type pump. Another important sub-system of this ECD setup is the power supply system. This power supply system is equipped

15 10 5 0 10 15 20 25 Voltage (V)
Fig. 5. Inuence of voltage on deburring time.

30

35

40

Fig. 5 exhibits the effect of voltage on deburring time. It is observed that with increase in voltage deburring time reduces considerably, but voltage cannot be raised beyond a certain value due to onset of sparking which will damage both the workpiece and the tool. Effect of initial burr height on deburring time and base material removal are exhibited in Figs. 6 and 7. It is observed from the gures that for a specied nal burr height deburring time as well as base material removal are more with higher initial burr height. In practice there are limitations on base material removal. Due to this constraint it is difcult to remove heavy burrs by ECD because in such situation major amount of base material will also be removed along with burr.

7 Deburring time (min) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0.6

Inter-electrode gap=2mm Final burr height=0.45mm

0.8

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Initial burr height (mm)

Fig. 6. Variation of deburring time with various initial burr heights.

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Fig. 8. Schematic view of the designed electrochemical deburring setup.

0.6 Burr height (mm) 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

Fig. 9. Schematic view of the deburring tool.

Gap=0.5mm,Experimental Gap=0.5mm,Theoretical

4 Time (min)

to supply different types of power like low voltage high current plain dc, pulse dc of different ranges.

Fig. 10. Theoretical and experimental values of burr height variation with respect to time (inter-electrode gap = 0.5 mm).

1 Burr height (mm)

Gap=1mm,Experimental Gap=1mm,Theoretical

6. Results and discussion To verify the developed mathematical model, relevant result published by previous researchers Choi and Du Kim [7] has been utilized. The workpiece material used is SCM-4, the tool electrode is made of copper, dc current is supplied at 30 V and the electrolyte is NaNO3 diluted to 15%. It was reported that with NaNO3 electrolyte current contributing to electrochemical dissolution remain steady, i.e. current remain constant with respect to time. Average current density for this experiment was 3.5 A/cm2 . From the current efciency versus current density curve for NaNO3 electrolyte it is found that current efciency () is only about 2% for a current density of 3.5 A/cm2 [8]. Other data required for burr height calculation for SCM-4 is available in Table 1. Now from Eq. (1b) the value of becomes 0.0276. This value of has been utilized to calculate the various process criteria yield. A comparative study of the theoretical and the experimental values of the variation of burr height with respect to time for different inter-electrode gaps are shown in Table 2. The result has also been shown graphically in Figs. 1013 for different gaps between tool and workpiece. It is observed that the developed model matches extremely well with the experimental results. The theoretical curves and experimental curves are almost overlapped to each other.

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 2 Time (min) 4 6

Fig. 11. Theoretical and experimental values of burr height variation with time (inter-electrode gap = 1 mm).

1 Burr height (mm) 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0 2 Time (min)

Gap=1.5mm,Experimental Gap=1.5mm,Theoretical

Fig. 12. Theoretical and experimental values of burr height variation with time (inter-electrode gap = 1.5 mm).

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Table 2 Comparative study of experimental and theoretical burr height variation with time Experiment no. Inter-electrode gap (mm) 0.5 1 1.5 2 Initial burr height (mm) 0.49 0.93 0.89 1.3 Experimental burr height (mm) After 4 min 0.2 0.62 0.8 1.25 After 6 min 0.15 0.56 0.76 1.2 Theoretical burr height (mm) After 4 min 0.22 0.63 0.8 1.21 After 6 min 0.18 0.57 0.77 1.17

1 2 3 4

Gap=2mm,Experimental

Burr height (mm)

1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0 2 Time (min)

Gap=2mm,Theoretical

(5) Loss of base material is independent of electrolyte type, concentration, voltage and workpiece material. It is only function of inter-electrode gap setting, initial burr height and nal desired burr height. (6) The developed mathematical model is quite powerful and capable of predicting the results with good accuracy. The model can be effectively utilized for controlled, automated ECD operation in modern manufacturing industries. Future scope of the work includes extensive experimental investigation to study the effect of the electrolyte concentration, type, the tool geometry and other aspects on deburring time, burr height and base material removal. The present paper through various parametric analyses will act as a guideline to the manufacturing engineers for the application of ECD system more efciently in actual practice. Acknowledgements Authors would like to thank the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Government of India, for their nancial support to this work. References
[1] I.-H. Choi, J. Du Kim, Electrochemical deburring system using electroplated CBN wheels, Int. J. Mach. Tools Manufac. 38 (1998) 2940. [2] J.M. Stein, D.A. Dorneld I, Burr formation in drilling miniature holes, Ann. CIRP 46 (1) (1997) 63. [3] B. Bhattacharyya, S.K. Sorkhel, Investigation for controlled electrochemical machining through response surface methodology-based approach, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 86 (1999) 200207. [4] H. Tipton, Dynamics of ECM process, in: Proceedings of the Fifth International MTDR Conference, Birmingham, September 1964, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1965, pp. 505502. [5] S.K. Sorkhel, B. Bhattacharyya, Parametric control for optimal quality of the workpiece surface in ECM, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 40 (1994) 271286. [6] E. Hakim, et al., ECD tooling design, Int. J. Mater. Prod. Technol. 13 (36) (1998) 167183. [7] I.-H. Choi, J. Du Kim, A study of the characteristic of the electrochemical deburring of a governor-shaft cross hole, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 75 (1998) 198203. [8] J.A. Mc Geough, Advanced Method of Machining, Chapman & Hall, London, 1987.

Fig. 13. Theoretical and experimental values of burr height variation with time (inter-electrode gap = 2 mm).

7. Conclusions The present research studies make it clear that successful adaptation of electrochemical deburring system demands for development of controlled ECD system. A mathematical model has been developed and veried with the experimental result. The developed mathematical model is quite powerful to analyze and determine the deburring time as well as base material removal for a given parametric combination. This model can be effectively utilized in manufacturing industry for controlled deburring operation through suitably designed ECD setup. From the developed model and analysis the following observations conclusions can be made: (1) The rate of deburring is initially high and it reduces gradually with respect to time. Theoretically it would take an innite time to remove the burr completely. However a few minutes of deburring operation are sufcient for all practical purpose. (2) It is desirable to keep the gap between the workpiece and tool as small as possible because it reduces the loss of base material as well as deburring time. (3) Higher voltage should be used to reduce the deburring time. (4) Higher initial burr height means more deburring time this will also increase the loss of base material. Hence it is difcult to remove thick burr by ECD because it results in major loss of base material, which is not desirable.