Modelling

Modelling of ECM and EDM processes
S. Hinduja (1)
a,
*, M. Kunieda (1)
b
a
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, UK
b
Department of Precision Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan
1. Introduction
Because of their ability to machine tough, hard and heat-
resistant materials with complicated shapes, electro-chemical and
electrical discharge machining (ECM and EDM) processes were
rst applied for the machining of aerospace alloys and die and
mould making in the 1950s. Although both processes are
categorized as electrical machining to differentiate them from
conventional mechanical processes and both have similar machine
tool structures and applications, their principle and machining
characteristics are signicantly different.
The encouraging trend of ECM was not sustained for long
because of inherent difculties such as:
(i) controlling/predicting the process due to electro-chemical,
hydrodynamic and thermal factors;
(ii) predicting the equilibrium shape of the workpiece; and
(iii) determining the tool shape for a given workpiece geometry.
In the case of EDM, the uncertainty of tool electrode wear was
an early difculty.
Researchers have tried to overcome these difculties by
developing analytical and numerical models of the processes
but progress has been slow. The reasons for this are as follows.
(i) ECM and EDM are unlike conventional machining processes
suchas turning or milling. In the latter, standard tool shapes are
usually used and some of the process parameters such as feed
rate and cutting velocity can be changed without affecting the
shape of the nal workpiece. But in ECM and EDM, the tool
shape is unique to the workpiece geometry and a change in
feed rate results in a different workpiece shape.
(ii) Conventional processes usually require only one or two
physical phenomena to be modelled whereas ECM and EDM
require several, such as uid ow, gas evolution, chemical
reactions, heat generation at the electrodes and in the
electrolyte, and mass transport of the species.
In spite of the above complexities, in the last 50 years,
empirical, analytical and numerical models have been developed.
This paper reviews the development of these models and their
application in industry, and discusses some of the computing
issues.
2. Overview of modelling the ECM/EDM processes
Both ECM and EDM have several common modelling require-
ments. In both, the primary goal is to predict the shape of the
workpiece. EDMis predominantly a thermal process and therefore,
in its case, thermal modelling is more important. In the case of
ECM, however, determination of the current density distribution is
of primary interest. Once the distribution is known, other
parameters such as workpiece dissolution rate can be computed.
ECM has the advantage that there are no residual stresses but
they have to be evaluated in the case of EDM.
In the case of EDM, removal occurs at the discharge location
only. Even under the same pulse conditions, the thermo-
hydrodynamic and electromagnetic behaviours of the anode,
cathode, and working uid materials bring about signicantly
different results in material removal. The material removal in
consecutive discharges is a cumulative result of single pulse
discharges. However, results of multiple discharges cannot be
obtained from a linear superposition of the results of a single
discharge, because the medium in the gap is composed of the
dielectric liquid, gas bubbles generated due to discharge and solid
debris particles. The composition, pressure, gap width, and
temperature vary both temporally and spatially, which makes
EDM simulation signicantly difcult.
CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 62 (2013) 775797
A R T I C L E I N F O
Keywords:
ECM
EDM
Modelling
A B S T R A C T
The modelling of ECM and EDM processes requires not one but several models to simulate the different
phenomena that occur during machining. This paper reviews the models that have been developed to
simulate each of these phenomena, e.g. potential models to calculate the current density distribution in
ECM, thermal models for the plasma arc in EDM, moving boundary models to simulate the anodic
dissolution in ECM and probabilistic models to determine the discharge location in EDM. In addition to
discussing the relative merits of the techniques deployed in these models, the paper describes some
salient applications and concludes with desirable future enhancements to these models.
2013 CIRP.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sri.hinduja@manchester.ac.uk (S. Hinduja).
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology
j ournal homepage: ht t p: / / ees. el sevi er. com/ ci rp/ def aul t . asp
0007-8506/$ see front matter 2013 CIRP.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2013.05.011
Workpiece shape change, in the case of ECM, is dependent
primarily on the current density on the anode surface. The
electrolytes electrical conductivity depends, amongst other
factors, on the electrolyte temperature, which varies spatially,
and the hydrogen bubbles released at the cathode surface.
In EDM, wear of the tool electrode necessitates the considera-
tion of geometrical change of the tool electrode as well. To design
the tool electrode shape, not only the gap width but also the tool
electrode wear has to be considered. In the case of ECM, there is no
tool wear except when reversed polarity is used to remove any
solid debris adhering to the tool.
In continuous ECM, the tool is fed towards the anode at a
constant value and in pulsed ECM, the cathode or anode is moved
into a xed position for each cycle. But in EDM, because the tool
electrode is fed by a servo feed control, where the feed rate is based
on the averaged gap voltage, modelling of the feed control is
signicantly important to obtain the gap width distribution.
Moreover, modelling of the feed control is also necessary to
estimate the processing time, which normally results in a much
greater error when compared with other cutting processes.
3. Modelling the ECM processes
Although the fundamental principles involved in ECM are well
known [26,104], it is difcult to model the process because there
are several physical and chemical phenomena, some of which
occur simultaneously. The phenomena that need to be modelled
are discussed below and summarized in Table 1.
(i) Electro-chemical reactions. The chemical reactions occurring
at the anode and cathode cause ions, oxygen and hydrogen to
be released from the electrodes and the electrolyte; this mass
transfer as well as the spatial and temporal concentrations of
the species has to be determined, leading eventually to the
current distributions within the electrolyte and on the
electrode surfaces.
(ii) Electrolyte ow. The ow of electrolyte through the gap may
be laminar or turbulent. The chemical reactions at the anode
and cathode result in hydrogen bubbles being released at the
cathode and oxygen bubbles at the anode. The presence of
these bubbles causes the ow of electrolyte to become two-
phase; these bubbles affect the electrolytes conductivity, thus
increasing the complexity of the process.
(iii) Thermal effects. The electro-chemical reactions cause heat to
be generated in the double layer and in the bulk of the
electrolyte (Joule heating). This heat energy causes the
electrolyte temperature to increase, resulting in a further
change to the electrolytes electrical conductivity.
(iv) Anodic dissolution. The electrochemical reactions occurring
cause dissolution of the workpiece, resulting in its shape
changing with time. This temporal change to the workpiece is
modelled as a slow moving boundary problem.
The modelling of these phenomena requires the development of
various models (see Fig. 1) which are inter-dependent.
3.1. Multi-ion and potential models
The aim of these models is to determine the distribution of the
current density on the electrode surfaces and in the electrolyte.
With the multi-ion model, the total current i is given by the net ux
of charged species [117]:
i
X
k
z
k
F

N
k
(1)
where F is Faradays constant, z
k
the charge, and

N
k
the ux density
of species k is given by:
N
k
z
k
u
k
Fc
k
rV D
k
rc
k
c
k
v (2)
where c is the molar concentration, D the diffusion co-efcient, u
the mechanical mobility, V the potential, and v the velocity of the
electrolyte. Two other fundamental equations are the electro-
neutrality condition
X
k
z
k
c
k
0 (3)
and the conservation of charge.
@c
k
@t
r

N
k
R
k
(4)
R
k
is the production rate of a species in the bulk of the
electrolyte. Since in ECM the reactions occur on the electrode
surfaces, R
k
is zero.
If the electrolyte velocity distribution is determined rst, then
Eqs. (1)(4) can be solved to give (i) the voltage distribution in the
electrolyte, and (ii) the concentrations of each species (c
k
) and
hence the total current. Researchers have developed models which
take all three components of Eq. (2) into account, i.e. migration,
diffusion and convection. Qui and Power [137] developed a two-
dimensional boundary element model which they applied to a
parallel cell reactor and predicted the change in the cathode shape.
Bortels et al. developed a more comprehensive model but it was
based on two-dimensional nite elements and they referred to
their model as a multi-ion transport and reaction (MITReM) model
Table 1
Modelling requirements for ECM and EDM.
ECM EDM
Aim of
modelling
Predict workpiece shape,
cycle times, optimum
process parameters
Predict workpiece shape,
tool wear, gap width,
wire vibration,
temperature distribution
Physics of
the process
Electro-chemical
modelling (potential and
current density
distributions, ion mobility,
mass transport) thermal
modelling, uid ow
modelling
Thermal modelling
(heat-affected zone,
residual stresses) uid
ow electromagnetic
modelling
Geometry
considerations
Modelling workpiece
shape (efciency,
Faradays law)
Modelling both tool and
workpiece shapes
Power source
and polarity
Continuous and pulsed
dc; Tool (cathode)
Workpiece (anode)
Pulsed dc and ac
Machine control Constant feed rate
(continuous ECM) or
static (pulsed ECM)
Adaptively controlled
Adaptive
control model
None Pulse conditions, feed,
jumping
Inverse problem Predict tool shape Predict tool shape
Information
required in
database
Electrical and thermal
properties of electrolyte,
valency, over-potential
and current efciency
Discharge delay time,
energy distribution,
plasma diameter,
removal per pulse,
electrical and
thermophysical properties
of electrodes
Fig. 1. Modelling the ECM process (adapted from [125]).

S. Hinduja, M. Kunieda / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 62 (2013) 775797 776
[9]. These models are applicable to both electro-chemical
machining and deposition.
Generally, in ECM the following assumptions can be made.
(i) The time-dependent concentration term is zero.
(ii) The electrolyte is continuously refreshed and therefore the
concentration gradient terms can be ignored.
Because of these assumptions, it can be shown that the above
equations reduce to Laplaces equation which, in the context of
ECM, is often referred to as the potential problem.
k
e
r rV 0 (5)
where the electrical conductivity k
e
is given by
F
2
X
k
z
2
k
u
k
c
k
(6)
One can use the multi-ion mass transport model for ECM to
calculate the concentration of the species and the current density
within the electrolyte; this gives a greater insight into the process
[30,31] but at the expense of greatly-increased processing time. On
the other hand, the potential model is popular with researchers
because of its simplicity and the relative speed with which the
results can be computed.
3.1.1. Empirical models
Over the years, researchers have used various techniques to
predict the workpiece (anode) shape. The advent of computers in
the 1970s enabled researchers to use numerical techniques to
solve for the potential distribution in the inter-electrode gap but
prior to this, researchers developed empirical and mathematical
models.
The earliest empirical equations to predict the overcut and side
gaps in drilling were developed by Koenig and Pahl [75]. Koenig
and Degenhardt [73] enhanced these equations for completely
insulated and partially bare cylindrical tools. They also developed
nomograms from which one could determine the side gap for a
given tool tip radius, land width and equilibrium gap. Ippolito and
Fasalio [59], using a multiple regression technique, also developed
equations to predict the over-cut. The main disadvantage with
these empirical equations is that they are valid only for the range
over which the experiments were conducted.
3.1.2. Mathematical models
Of all the analytical techniques, the simplest and effective
approach is the cos u method rst pioneered by Tipton [159]. For
workpiece shape prediction, u is the angle between the normal to
the tool surface and the feed direction. Kubeth [85] and Kawafune
et al. [68] also suggested the same method but used the
complementary angle and referred to it as the sinu method. In
the cos u method, the tool is subdivided into several straight-line
segments and the corresponding workpiece segment is deter-
mined to be at a distance of h
e
=cos u where h
e
is the frontal
equilibrium gap. Lawrence suggested something similar but
referred to it as the at inclined cathode theory [97,98]. However,
according to Jain et al. [61], the cos u method gives rise to
difculties when u > 458, and the tool has sharp corners or has
radiused edges because it assumes parallel ux lines and neglects
the effect of stray currents. If the tool has a complex prole, then
this method is not to be recommended for obtaining the nal
equilibrium workpiece shape; however, most researchers, when
using an iterative numerical technique to determine the workpiece
shape, use the cos u method to determine the starting shape.
A mathematical technique, which can predict the workpiece
shape albeit under idealized machining conditions, is that due to
Collett et al. [17]. They used a conformal mapping technique and
were able to analytically determine the workpiece shape for plane-
faced tools with and without insulation on the vertical face.
Hewson-Browne [50] extended the work of Collett et al. by
considering a tool with rounded corners and partial insulation. This
method can only be applied to a limited number of geometries that
can be transformed to the complex plane; moreover it is restricted
to two-dimensional problems and transient workpiece shapes
cannot be predicted. However, it can provide exact workpiece
shapes for certain tool geometries and these shapes can be, and
have been, used by researchers to benchmark their solutions.
A more recent analytical-cum-computational method has been
suggested by Hocheng et al. [51] to predict the shape of an EC
drilled hole. At each time step, they consider a point on the
workpiece surface as being inuenced by all the point sources on
the tool and the amount of dissolution at an anodic point is
obtained by integrating over the entire width of the tool.
3.1.3. Numerical models
As processing power began to become readily available in the
late 1970s and early 1980s, researchers started to use numerical
methods such as the nite difference and nite element methods
to determine the potential distribution within the inter-electrode
gap. The boundary element method (BEM) remained in the shadow
of the other two methods and it was not until the early 1980s that it
was used to model the ECM process.
The nite difference method (FDM) was the rst of the
numerical methods to be used; Tipton [159] is generally credited
for having pioneered the application of this method to ECM. Tipton
tried different methods of moving the workpiece; instead of
moving a point along a direction normal to the surface, he
considered only the vertical component of the cut vector. With this
method the nal equilibrium shape is not affected but the
intermediate transient shapes do not correspond to reality.
Klingert et al. [71] determined the primary and secondary current
distributions with the activation over-potential modelled as a
linear/logarithmic current density-dependent function. Lawrence
[98] predicted the shape he would obtain with a semi-cylindrical
tool and veried his predictions with both experimental and
analytical results. In their FDM model, Koenig and Humbs [74]
made the current efciency dependent on the current density and
temperature whereas Dabrowski and Kozak [19] combined their
FDM model with the analogue method. Subsequently Kozak
developed FDM-based models suitable not only for EC drilling but
also for die sinking [79]. This model considered the change in the
electrolytes electrical conductivity due to temperature increase
and void fraction. Like Klingert et al. [71], Prentice and Tobias [135]
also developed their FDMmodel to include primary, secondary and
tertiary current distributions but they applied their model to
electroplating.
It is generally accepted that the standard FDM cannot deal
accurately with curved boundaries; it assumes a linear variation of
the governing variable. Both these factors make it necessary to
deploy thousands of grid-points in the inter-electrode gap,
although Nanayakkara [112] and Nanayakkara and Larsson
[113] tried to reduce the number of grid-points by assuming a
quadratic variation for each grid-point. These disadvantages can be
overcome by using the nite element method (FEM) because
higher-order iso-parametric elements can be used, the sides of
which can be curved. Therefore, no approximations have to be
made when representing curved tool and workpiece shapes; also,
these elements allowa quadratic or cubic variation of the potential,
thus obviating the need for a large number of elements.
The FEM was rst used in ECM by Pandey and Jain; in [63] they
modelled the inter-electrode gap with a very coarse linear
triangular mesh and in [62] they repeated the same but this time
they obtained the temperature distribution within the gap. The
geometry of the reactor cell was limited to two parallel plates.
Alkire et al. [3] highlighted the difculties in obtaining accurate
distributions of the potentials in the vicinity of a singularity.
Assuming ideal machining conditions, Hardisty et al. predicted the
workpiece shape generated by a parabolic tool and veried it with
an analytical solution [44].
Although the use of nite elements is a considerable improve-
ment over nite differences, it has one serious drawback when
modelling the ECM process. Because the workpiece shape changes
after every time step, one has to re-mesh the entire domain after
every few time steps. In the 1980s, when the availability of
processing power was still limited, Brookes [11] found the re-
meshing of the inter-electrode gap very time-consuming. Instead,
he used the same mesh but after every time step, he deleted some
elements, modied others and improved the shape of the elements
close to the workpiece boundary. Unfortunately, he found that
modifying the mesh was almost as time-consuming as re-meshing
the inter-electrode gap.
Another disadvantage of the FEM is that the values of the
voltage gradient, denoted by @V=@n or q, at nodes on the
workpiece surface are not directly calculated. They are subse-
quently determined from the computed values of potentials at the
nodes in an element and this gives rise to discontinuity of @V=@n
between adjacent elements.
The BEM overcomes these problems to some extent. Although
Christiansen and Rasmussen [15] were the rst to apply the
integral equation method to modelling ECM, it was Hansen who
employed it more generally for different axi-symmetric cong-
urations [42]. Narayanan et al. also developed a general 2-D model
but were able to demonstrate the accuracy of their model by
comparing it with known analytic solutions [115]. Since the BEM
reduces the dimensionality of a problem by one, it means that a 3-
D model of the ECM process requires the surfaces of the tool and
workpiece to be discretised with 2-D triangular elements. Fig. 2
shows a boundary element model consisting of a workpiece (grey
surfaces) in which a slot is to be machined by a tool (golden
surfaces) with a rectangular cross-section. The gure shows the
tool about to start machining. Virtual surfaces (green) are
introduced to form a closed shell.
It is interesting to compare the accuracy that is obtainable with
the different numerical methods. Narayanan et al. using a plane-
faced rectangular tool, with and without insulation, did one such
comparison [115]. They compared the results obtained fromFD, FE
and BE models with those obtained by Collet et al. [17] and
Hewson-Browne [50] for a rectangular tool (Fig. 3) under ideal
machining conditions (Table 2). Assuming that the results fromthe
mathematical methods are exact, it is clear that the results
obtained by PERA [132] and Lawrence [97] using nite differences
are considerably in error whereas Brookes [11] using nite
elements, predicted the ratios h
c
/h
g
and h
o
/h
g
to be 0.83 and
1.191, respectively, for the tool with no insulation (see Fig. 3). The
BEM, using quadratic elements, calculated these ratios as 0.8043
and 1.1586 respectively. The FE value for h
1
/h
g
is considerably far
away from the theoretical value of 1.0 as calculated by Hewson-
Browne; the BE value of 1.079 is considerably closer, demonstrat-
ing the superiority of the BEM. It should be noted that these results
were obtained in the mid-1980s and the meshes deployed then
were not as ne as those one would use today. However, the
example serves to illustrate the relative accuracy that can be
obtained with the different methods. In summary, the accuracy
depends upon the type of iso-parametric element used (higher-
order elements give more accurate results) the time step (if a large
time step is used, oscillations are induced in the workpiece shape
which become difcult to suppress) and the mesh density.
The BEM has one major disadvantage. The electrolytes
electrical conductivity (k
e
) varies in the inter-electrode gap
because of Joule heating and the release of hydrogen bubbles.
This variation can be modelled to some extent by subdividing the
gap into several zones and assuming a constant value of k
e
for each
zone. Subdivision into zones makes the use of the BEM less
appealing. If one can assume that k
e
is constant in the entire gap,
then the BEM is the ideal choice; otherwise, if a more accurate
model of the process is required wherein the velocity, temperature
and k
e
variations are taken into account, then the FEM should be
used.
3.2. Workpiece shape change model
ECM is a slow-moving boundary problem and for modelling
purposes, the total machining time is divided into several time
steps. The rate of dissolution at a point on the workpiece is
governed by Faradays law
dh
dt

hM
rzF
J (7)
where h is the current efciency, M the atomic mass, h the inter-
electrode gap, and J the normal current density which is given by
J k
e
q (8)
Eq. (7) is usually solved using the marker method although
more recently the level set method (LSM) has been deployed. With
the former, using the explicit Euler integration scheme, the gap at
node i on the workpiece surface, after the kth time step, is given by
h
k1
i
h
k
i
Dt
hM
rzF
J f cosu

(9)
where Dt is the time increment and f the feed rate. Eq. (9) requires
not only the value of J but also its direction. At a node lying on the
workpiece boundary, one of two cases may arise. In the rst case,
the elements meeting at this node may share a common tangent.
For example, in two-dimensional models, if the workpiece surface
is modelled as a B-spline curve using higher-order elements, then
slope continuity is ensured. Alternatively quadratic elements can
be used and slope continuity enforced [115]; in such cases, a single
value of the voltage gradient q is computed by the BE or FE
program, and its direction is also uniquely dened, i.e. normal to
Fig. 2. A BE model for a milled component [129].
Fig. 3. Equilibrium frontal and side gaps [115].

Table 2
Comparison of results for a rectangular tool [115].
Tool with no insulation Tool with insulation
hc=hg ho=hg hc=hg ho=hg h1=hg
Collett [17] 0.80 1.159 0.80 1.159
Hewson-Browne [50] 1.0
Pera [132] 1.0 1.7 1.0 1.7
BEM [115] 0.8043 1.1586 0.7409 0.7548 1.079
FE [11] 0.83 1.191 0.775 0.875 1.25
FDM [97] 1.3
the tangent. In the second case, there is a geometric discontinuity
(e.g. sharp corner) at the node and the voltage gradient q becomes
multi-valued. One solution to this problem, which is popular with
researchers, is the method suggested by Alacron et al. [2]. According
to this method, a single value of q is forced on the solution and its
direction is determined by assuming a linear variation of the
potential over the element edges meeting at the node.
In 3-D BE models, linear triangular elements are used resulting
in the workpiece surface becoming faceted. Therefore, there may
be several elements meeting at a node, with each element having
its own normal n
e
. In such cases, the unit normal (~n
nd
) at that
node is given by the average of the element normal vectors [135],
~n
nd

1
N
e
P
e1
Ne
n
e
!
P
e1
Ne
n
e
!
2
6
4
3
7
5 (10)
where N
e
is the number of elements meeting at node i. In some
cases, the above does not yield a valid normal direction. According
to Purcar [136], for a normal to be valid, it should be visible fromall
the faces. He deployed a method rst suggested by Kallinderis and
Ward [67] wherein the two faces subtending the most acute angle
at a node is determined, followed by the plane bisecting them. The
normal is forced to lie on this plane and its direction is chosen so
that it makes equal angles with the remaining faces meeting at
node i.
Another approach to solve the sharp corner problem with BE
models is by the use of discontinuous or partially discontinuous
elements [131]. With these elements the nodes are not located at
the ends of an edge but along the edges or even within the element.
Yet another technique to cope with the corner problem without
changing the element type is to use the double node technique
introduced by Brebbia [10]. There are disadvantages with the use
of double nodes. The elements meeting at the double node are
displaced in different directions, creating a virtual gap between the
nodes which have to be bridged somehow. Also, the use of double
nodes increases the number of equations, and hence the
computing time. However, in the case of ECM, double nodes are
ideal to represent sharp corners on the tool surface [129] (e.g. at
the junction of the end and side faces) because there is no relative
movement between nodes on the tool surface (at the end of every
time step, all the nodes on the tool undergo the same rigid body
movement).
Another modellingproblemoccurs whenthecathode(or anode) is
adjacent to an insulating surface and the angle between the two
surfaces is greater than p/2 (see Fig. 4(a)). For example, during the
n + 1thtimestepthe cathode/anode will bemoveddue todeposition/
dissolution resulting in the two surfaces becoming disconnected
(Fig. 4(a)). In such cases, Deconinck suggests either an additional
virtual element to connect the end of the current electrode prole
with the insulated surface (Fig. 4(b)) or extending the electrode
prole until it meets the insulated surface (Fig. 4(c)) [28].
The accuracy of the computed workpiece shape depends also on
the magnitude of the time step. For a simple cell geometry
consisting of two parallel plates, Hardisty et al. predicted the
number of time steps that would be required to reach equilibrium;
they tested their improved algorithm for small and large initial
starting gaps [43]. Narayanan [114] showed that too large a time
step induced oscillations in the computed workpiece surface that
were difcult to suppress. Deconinck [27] showed that the error
depends upon Wagners number Wand the magnitude of the inter-
electrode gap h. Based on a one-dimensional analysis, Purcar [136]
suggested that the time step is given by
Dt
e
2mb
r

J
av
J
max
(11)
where J
av
and J
max
are the average and maximum values of the
current density respectively, e the permissible error, mthe number
of time steps and b = 1/(2(W + h
min
)
3
) where h
min
is the minimum
gap.
When the explicit scheme is used, Volgin and Lubiynov found
that, irrespective of which of the four variations (right, left, central
and upwind) of the explicit difference method is used, numerical
instability sets in when sharp corners are encountered [168]. A
sharp corner results in the normal being dened ambiguously and
subsequent iterations cause a swallow tail or self-intersection in
the workpiece prole to be formed. Special topological routines
have to be developed to detect and eliminate them. Fig. 5 shows a
workpiece containing a recess and as it grows, its shape self-
intersects [136].
This problemcanbeavoidedbyusingthe level set method, which
was rst pioneered by Sethian [144] and later described in detail in
Ref. [145]. This methodhas beenappliedto other dynamic problems
such as ame propagation and waves. In this method, a scalar
implicit function ? is used to represent the moving front and also its
evolution. For example, the following implicit function would be
used to represent the evolution of the workpiece front in ECM
@?
@t
vr? 0 (12)
where v is the velocity with which the dissolution of the workpiece
occurs. The LSMwas rst applied to electro-chemical machining by
Volgin and Lubiynov [168] who used the stationary formulation of
the LSM. This method is more computing intensive than the
marker method, although the computing time can be reduced to
some extent if the velocities are calculated only for a band of nodes
on either side of the workpiece surface. It has been applied in 2-D
models but has yet to be applied to 3D ECM models.
3.3. Thermal models
Most of the early potential models assumed a constant value of
conductivity when computing the current density distribution. In
reality, the increased temperature of the electrolyte and the
presence of hydrogen gas in the inter-electrode gap affect k
e
. There
are two empirical equations for k
e
and the one suggested by Thorpe
and Zerkle [158] is given by:
k
e
k
e0
1 a
m
1 gT T
0
(13a)
where a is the void fraction, T the electrolytes current
temperature, g the conductivity constant of the electrolyte and
Fig. 4. Junction between electrode and insulated surface [27].
Fig. 5. Self-intersection of the work-piece prole [136].

m a constant varying between 1.5 and 2 for the heterogeneous
mixture of liquid and gas. Sufx 0 refers to the initial properties of
the electrolyte at the time of entering the gap. The second
empirical equation is due to Riggs [139] and Riggs et al. [140]:
k
e
k
18
e
0:024T18
1 a
1:5
(13b)
where k
18
is the conductivity at 18 8C. Needless to say, use of the
above equations requires knowledge of the temperature distribu-
tion within the electrolyte which can be determined by solving the
following convection-diffusion equation,
rC
p
@T
@t
rc
p vrT r k
t
rT P
bulk
(14)
where r is the density, c
p
the specic heat, v the velocity, k
t
the
thermal conductivity and P
bulk
the heat load. Researchers avoid
using this equation in its entirety because of the following
difculties:
(i) a priori knowledge of the velocity distribution of the electrolyte
within the gap is required; and
(ii) the thermal conductivity of the electrolyte in the equation is
the sum of the molecular and turbulent conductivities; the
latter is determined from the k v Reynolds averaged
turbulence model.
The heat load usually consists of P
bulk
, the Joule heat generated
in the electrolyte, and P
dl
, the heat generated in the double layer.
The latter can be neglected as most of it goes to heat the anode and
cathode surfaces.
Most of the early researchers used a one-dimensional approach
to calculate the increase in electrolyte temperature. In this
approach, the temperature at a section along the gap is obtained
by performing a simple energy balance. Using this one-dimen-
sional approach, Clark and McGeough [16] compared their
predictions with experimentally measured temperature values.
Although a good correlation was found between the two sets of
temperatures at the exit of the gap, there was considerable
discrepancy between the two sets at intermediate sections. The
measured temperatures of the electrolyte were much higher. This
is understandable because the predicted temperatures did not take
into the account the additional resistivity caused by the hydrogen
bubbles. Loutrel and Cook [100] observed through a microscope
that the average void fraction of the owing bubble layer is 0.5;
they, as in [16], used a one-dimensional model but took into
account the increased resistivity due to the bubbles and were able
to make more accurate predictions of the workpiece shape.
Instead of having to assume a value for the void fraction, many
researchers have developed a two-phase numerical model for the
electrolyte owwhich they solved using nite differences. Some of
these two-phase models incorporate one-dimensional ow by
averaging the variables across the width of the gap at each section
[37,52]. Using a two-dimensional ow model, Hourng and Chang
were able to compute the temperature increase along the ow
stream under equilibrium conditions taking into account the void
and other process parameters [53].
Jain and Pandey were one of the rst to use a two-dimensional
FE model to predict the current densities and hence calculate the
increase in temperature of the electrolyte [62]. Their FE results
consistently underestimated the temperature increase, probably
because of the very coarse mesh used.
With the advent of pulsed electro-chemical machining (PECM)
in the late 1980s, the interest in electro-chemical machining has
been revived because PECM offers, by virtue of smaller gap sizes
(10100 mm), better accuracy and surface nish. The determina-
tion of the increase in electrolyte temperature depends largely on
the Strouhal number (S
h
), which during the off-time is given by
S
h

L
vt
o
where L is the length of the electrode and t
o
is the pulse-off time.
When S
h
1, there is sufcient time for the electrolyte to be
replenished and by-products to be ushed away; hence the system
can be considered to have completely recovered during the rest
period. Under these circumstances, it is sufcient to model the
PECM process by considering the effect of just one pulse (or group
of pulses) applied during the on-time. Kozak, Rajurkar and Ross
adopted this approach and they derived the characteristic PECM
equations using a simple energy balance and then solved them
using nite differences [82]. In a more rened mathematical model
for PECM, Kozak, Rajurkar and Wei suggest a critical upper limit for
the pulse-on time for different process parameter settings [83].
Fig. 6 shows the variation of the charge density with gap size, for
different pulse-on times t
p
. One can operate below this critical
time limit by ensuring that for a given current density, the
corresponding pulse time and gap size are to the left of the dotted
line.
Smets et al. [148] developed an analytical model that was based
on the complete convection-diffusion equation; they studied the
temperature evolution in PECM in a rectangular gap taking the
electrodes into consideration. They showed that the temperature
transient curve during the off-period comprises two parts (see
Fig. 7); in the rst part which shows a steep fall in temperature,
most of the heat is transported away by the electrolyte due to
convection. In the second part, the fall in temperature is more
gradual as heat ows from the electrode across the thermal
boundary layer and into the electrolyte. The second part has
therefore a much higher time constant than the rst.
Even when the Strouhal number is small, the temperature
evolution is transient in nature taking several cycles to reach
steady state. Since the time scale for the pulse-on time is far
smaller than the time required for the temperature to reach steady
state, a complete transient may become computationally very
expensive as several thousand time steps will be required. Smets
et al. overcame these difculties by developing several analytical
and numerical models to calculate the averaged and pulsed
temperature history [149,150]. Their quasi-steady state short-cut
(QSSSC) model is capable of calculating the average temperature
until a certain time period and then switching over to smaller time
steps to determine the cyclic temperature variation over the next
few cycles.
Fig. 6. Variation of current density with gap size in PECM [83].
Fig. 7. Time-temperature evolution in PECM for a point located on the anode and at
the gap exit (S
h
= 0.006, pulse period = 0.1 s) [148].
3.4. Over-potential
The over-potential of a cell has three components, i.e.
activation, concentration and resistance over-potentials. Whilst
these over-potentials are dependent, amongst other factors, on the
current density and ow, it is difcult to characterize each of them
separately. Usually, for the sake of simplicity, the three over-
potentials are combined together and represented by a single over-
potential (V
pol
) and only its relationship with the current density is
taken into consideration either by a Tafel-like logarithmic
relationship
V
pol
a b lnJ (15a)
or by a simple linear relationship
V
pol
a bJ (15b)
where a and b are constants or by using the ButlerVolmer
equation [117]
J J
o
e
aaFV
pol
=RT
e
ac FV
pol
=RT
(15c)
where R is the gas constant, a
a
and a
c
are the transfer co-efcients,
and J
o
the exchange current density. The values of J
o
, a
a
and a
c
have
to be experimentally determined.
Assuming a linear relationship and a simplied analysis, Altena
showed that the current density is given by [4]:
J
V ak
e
h bk
e
(16)
where V is the applied voltage. The product bk
e
expresses the
effect of concentration on the current density and becomes
important when the gap sizes are small as is the case in pulsed
ECM. In the case of continuous ECM where the gap sizes can be as
much as 0.5 mm, h is much greater than bk
e
. Hence, serious errors
are not introduced if V
pol
is assumed to be independent of J.
However, when the inter-electrode gap is in the range of 100 mm
or less, the effect of the concentration over-potential becomes
more pronounced and neglecting the term bk
e
will introduce
errors.
Consideration of over-potential using the logarithmic or linear
relationship presents an awkward problem because both V
pol
and J
are not known. It causes the problem to become non-linear, thus
requiring an iterative solution at every time-step. Danson et al. [20]
and Adey [1] used the following iterative method.
V
k1
pol
V
k1
pol
CV
k
pol
V
k1
pol
(17)
where C is a damping factor and k the current iteration. Prentice
[134,135] also used a similar iterative technique but made the
damping factor a variable dependent on the normalized changes in
V
pol
and J, and also on Wagners number. When the iterative
technique of Danson et al. was tried for a stepped tool with linear
and logarithmic over-potential relationships, it took more than
twelve iterations per time step to converge. A much faster method
based on Newton-Raphsons method was developed by Narayanan
and who was able to achieve convergence within three iterations
[114].
One of the difculties that modellers face in taking polarization
into account is the lack of experimental data for the constants in
Eq. (15). Altena [4] experimentally determined the polarization
voltage data for different amounts of concentration of NaNO
3
electrolyte; one set of his results is shown in Fig. 8 which clearly
exhibits a linear relationship between V
pol
and J.
To investigate the effect of over-potential, Narayanan assumed
the following normalized linear over-potential relationships for
the tool and workpiece surfaces and an equivalent logarithmic
relationship [114].
V
polcathode
0:2J (19a)
V
polanode
1:0 0:2J (19b)
The computed workpiece shapes are shown in Fig. 9, from
which it is clear that polarization decreases the equilibrium gap.
Also the computed workpiece shapes with linear and logarithmic
over-potential relationships are different only in the vertical
section of the workpiece, a section where the current density
values are relatively small.
3.5. Current efciency
One of the parameters required for modelling is the current
efciency (h); its value depends upon whether the electrolyte is
passivating (e.g. NaNO
3
) or not (e.g. NaCl). If it is a non-passivating
electrolyte, then h can be assumed to be a constant. Otherwise, it is
a function of the current density, pulse time and electrolyte
concentration. It is inuenced to a lesser extent by the build up of
the anions on the anode surface [23].
Instead of h, Kozak et al. advocate the use of the electro-
chemical machinability coefcient (k
v
) which is given by
k
v

h:k
c
r
(20)
where k
c
is the electrochemical equivalent of the workpiece
material [81]. Kozak et al. argue that k
v
should be determined
experimentally because, during alloy dissolution, the electroche-
mical equivalent of each constituent is different from that when
the constituent materials are dissolved individually. Instead of
having to determine values for two parameters (i.e. h and k
c
)
experimentally, they showed that only one is necessary, i.e. k
v
which is given by f =J
o
where J
o
is the mean current density; they
then went on to determine experimentally the value of k
v
for
passivating and activating electrolytes when machining different
alloys. For example, using a 13% water solution of NaNO
3
and
machining an alloy NC10, they obtained the relationship k
v
= 1.64
2.13e
0.034 J
which, of course, can be easily programmed into a
system.
Altena investigated the effect of current density, pulse time and
concentration on the current efciency. Fig. 10 shows one set of
Fig. 8. Variation of polarization voltage with current [4].
Fig. 9. Workpiece shapes for different over-potentials [114].

results that he obtained using a water solution containing 250 g/l
of NaNO
3
[4]. These results were captured by Altena into a single
hyperbolic tangent equation:
h atanhbt
p
c J d t
p
e f (21a)
where af are constants and t
p
is the pulse on-time. In the case of
continuous ECM, the relationship is much simpler, i.e.
h a tanhb J c (21b)
Instead of having to experimentally determine the value of h,
Van Damme et al., in a seminal work, developed a FE model to
predict the current efciency when machining steel using a
solution of NaNO
3
as the electrolyte [165,166]. They predicted the
current efciency by calculating three variables at each node, i.e.
the potential, and ion concentrations c
Me
z+
and c
OH
. These
variables were obtained by solving three differential equations, the
rst of which was the potential equation. Eq. (2) (but without the
migration term) was solved twice, once for each of the two ionic
species. The other highlight of this work is the introduction of a
water depletion function which was used as a weighting factor for
the assumed current density function. Their results for different
pulse-on times and for a particular concentration are shown in
Fig. 11 along with the experimental results obtained by Altena [4].
Although there is some discrepancy between the two sets of
results, the proposed procedure is very encouraging and the way
forward for modelling current efciency.
3.6. Flow models
Flow is an important process parameter because in addition to
forming an electrical bridge between the two electrodes, it
transports away most of the heat energy (and solid debris)
generated during machining. How effectively it does this depends
upon the ow patterns generated, whether there are regions
within the gap which are starved of the electrolyte and/or regions
where the electrolyte forms eddies.
Single phase ow is obtained by solving the incompressible
NavierStokes equations.
r v 0 (22a)
r
@ v
@t
v r v

rp mD v (22b)
where p is the pressure, v is the velocity and m is the dynamic
viscosity.
Jain et al. were among the early researchers to develop a
numerical model which accounted for the void fraction, and
temperature and pressure changes in the inter-electrode gap [64].
However, the model was very specic in its application as it
required the anode and cathode to be cylindrical which made it
possible to solve some of the equations analytically. Hourng and
Chang [52] initially generalized the problem by developing an
integrated model in which the bubbly two-phase ow was rst
computed using Navier Stokes equations using a one-dimensional
model. The computed velocities were then fed into a thermal
energy model to calculate the temperature distribution in the
electrolyte. The temperatures were used to update the values of
the electrolytes electrical conductivity, followed by a re-computa-
tion of current distribution in the gap. This iterative process was
repeated until convergence of the anode shape was obtained.
Hourng and Chang were able to predict the spatial variation of the
process variables within the inter-electrode gap.
However, one-dimensional ow models have limited use
especially when the anode and cathode shapes contain sharp
bends because they cannot identify any eddies or separation of the
electrolyte. In a subsequent paper, Hourng and Chang [53]
enhanced their model by considering the ow to be two-
dimensional. They were able to demonstrate that better workpiece
accuracy was achievable with this model than that with a similar
1D model. A very convincing example is shown in Fig. 12; it clearly
demonstrates that ow, even if it is single phase, should be
modelled at least in two dimensions [29]. This gure clearly shows
that re-circulations are formed, on the upstream and downstream
sides, near the two concave vertices of the cathode. These re-
circulations reduce the efciency of heat removal and actually
result in an unsymmetrical workpiece shape (see Section 5.4). This
example also shows that a visualization of the owin the gap could
be of invaluable assistance in the design of the cathode shape.
But ow in ECM should be modelled as two-phase because
sufcient quantities of hydrogen are released at the cathode.
Oxygen is also released at the anode but the quantity is not
signicant. Since a considerable portion of the inter-electrode gap,
especially the downstream part, is occupied by hydrogen gas,
considering ow as single phase would be an approximation.
Because modelling two-phase ow in two-dimensions is not
straightforward, early researchers simplied the problem by
considering the two-phase ow only as a one-dimensional model.
This made it possible for researchers, notably Thorpe and Zerkel
[158] to study the dynamics of the system of the process
analytically. Loutrel and Cook [100] were among the rst to build
a two-phase 1Dnumerical model of the process; in this model they
assumed a linear increase of the void fraction fromgap entrance to
exit. This causes the gap to decrease towards the exit. The use of a
Fig. 10. Current efciency for different current densities and pulse-on times for
concentration of 250 g NaNO
3
/l. [4].
Fig. 11. Predicted current efciency for different current densities and pulse-on
times [166].
Fig. 12. Electrolyte ow in the inter-electrode gap [29].

two-phase two-dimensional model enabled Chang and Hourng
[14] not to make this assumption. Instead the rate of dissolution of
hydrogen gas was incorporated into the model using Faradays
laws of electrolysis and by so doing they were able to obtain a
much better correlation with experimental results.
3.7. Tool shape prediction model
Predicting the tool (cathode) shape for a given workpiece shape
is often referred to as the inverse problem. The inverse problem is
more important than the direct problem because, in practice,
several trial tools have to be manufactured resulting in high
development costs. Yet tool design has received far less attention
from researchers probably because the problem is ill-posed, i.e. in
some cases, for a given workpiece shape, there is no corresponding
tool shape and sometimes for a given workpiece shape, there are
several solutions. The inverse problem is also a free boundary
problem because one of the boundaries, i.e. tool boundary, is
undened. There are three main approaches to solve this inverse
problem, i.e. analytical, transformation to the complex plane and
embedded. The analytical method is due to Tipton who suggested
that the tool surface distance is proportional to cos u, where u, in
this particular case, is the angle between the normal to the anode
and the tool feed direction [160]. Since this method gives rise to
difculties, it is now normally used by researchers as a starting
approximation to the required cathode shape.
As early as 1968, Krylov [84], followed by Nilson and Tsuei
[118,119], showed that it is possible to calculate the cathode shape
directly if:
(i) the workpiece shape is dened using an analytic function, e.g.
Fourier series; and
(ii) the shape can be transformed from the physical plane to the
complex.
Lacey [94] demonstrated this transformation technique by
calculating the cathode surface for a concave hyperbolic anode
surface and for different values of k
e
V= f .
However, there are difculties with this approach. Only the
simplest shapes can be transformed to the complex plane; also a
corner on the anode surface gives rise to a singularity, the
consequence of which is that the direct solution can be obtained
only for small values of k
e
V= f i.e. high feed rates, low anode
voltage or low electrolyte conductivity.
Hunt transformed the potential equation to a second-order
differential equation which he integrated and then, using vertical
lines or a multi-grid, searched for points at which Laplaces
equation was satised [54]. The curve joining these points
dened the cathode shape. Hunt also suggested the embedded
technique [55] which removes the ill-posedness associated with
the inverse problem. He did this by searching through several
direct solutions obtained by successive modications to the
cathode shape until a shape was found which matched, or was
close to, the required anode shape. This embedded approach, in
some form or another, is still the most popular technique
deployed by researchers.
Narayanan et al. using the BEM utilized the fact that the
conditions on the anode surface are over-specied [116]. Given a
workpiece shape and the feed rate, the required value of the
voltage gradient q
r
is equal to the dissolution rate, i.e. f cos u=

M
where

M is the dissolution rate. They considered each ux line
independently and suggested three different formulations to
calculate the geometrical error at the termination point of the
ux line on the cathode surface. For example, in the third
formulation, the most promising of the three, the geometrical error
at the end point of a ux line is given by
Derror
l
2
q
r
q
w
V
w
V
t
lq
r
q
w
where l is the length of the ux line, q

w
the calculated voltage
gradient on the workpiece surface, and V
w
and V
t
the voltages on
the tool and workpiece surfaces respectively. They repeatedly
modied the cathode shape until the error was acceptable. In many
ways, this is similar to Hunts embedded technique [55] but it does
not suffer from the disadvantage that analytical functions have to
be used for representing the anode and cathode surfaces. Fig. 13
shows that even after 50 iterations, the converged calculated
cathode shape does not have the sharp corner that is present in the
exact tool shape, i.e. the tool which was used to generate the
workpiece shape in the rst place. But this does not matter because
the calculated converged cathode shape yielded the same work-
piece shape as the exact tool. Bhattacharya et al. [6] used nite
elements to determine the cathode shape iteratively but used a
much simpler criterion: the difference between the required and
calculated anode shapes. Das and Mitra [22] viewed it as a non-
linear optimization problem in which they minimized
X
N
i1
q
r
q
w
2
where N is the number of nodes on the anode surface. Zhou
and Derby also considered it as an optimization problem but
they minimized the difference between the required and
calculated shape with respect to the coefcients in the analytical
expression dening the cathode shape [179]. Like other
researchers, they showed that the number of co-efcients in
the analytical expression affects the accuracy to which the
solution converges.
Chang and Hourng developed a comprehensive model for
predicting the tool shape [14]. Using Hunts embedded technique
[55] and representing the tool and workpiece shapes as analytical
functions, they computed the cathode shape considering the
temperature increase due to Joule heating, void fractionand owin
two dimensions.
The only work to-date in predicting the inverse problem in 3-D
is by Sun et al. [155] who claim to have obtained the tool shape in
one iteration by calculating the theoretical value of the equilibrium
gap using the cos u method. They were probably able to do this
because the anode surface, in their case, was a turbine blade with a
very gentle curvature.
4. Modelling of EDM processes
4.1. Generalized model for EDM processes
4.1.1. Discharge location
The generalized model for EDMprocesses is shown in Fig. 14. In
EDM, removal occurs at the discharge spot, where a tiny crater is
generated. For each pulse, discharge occurs only at a single location
where the dielectric strength is lowest. Hence, the EDMsimulation
Fig. 13. Determining the tool shape [116].

starts from the determination of discharge location. If discharge
always occurs where the gap width is narrowest, the tool electrode
shape can be replicated on the workpiece with a high accuracy.
However, discharge does not occur deterministically at the
narrowest gap. As shown in Fig. 15, Schumacher [143] indicated
that the gap space is not lled with the dielectric liquid, but a large
fraction of the gap is occupied by bubbles and debris particles in
consecutive pulse discharges. Hence, it is necessary to determine
the discharge location taking into account the inuence of debris
particles and bubbles.
4.1.2. Simulation of EDM arc plasma
Simulation of arc plasma is a necessary pre-requisite for
determining the temperature distribution and material removal in
electrodes as it provides the necessary boundary conditions, i.e.
heat input; diameter of heat source; pressure, and ow velocity.
The heat input, whichis the energy received fromthe arc plasma by
the electrode, and diameter of the arc plasma exert a signicant
inuence on the temperature distribution in the electrode. As
shown in Fig. 15, discharge occurs in a narrow gap lled with
dielectric liquid between parallel plane electrodes within a short
duration of nano to micro seconds order. Plasma constituents are
variable due to mass transfer from the evaporated dielectric and
electrode materials. The conservation equations of mass, momen-
tum and energy, Ohms law and Maxwells equations have to be
solved considering moving boundaries. Moreover, considering that
an analysis of arc plasma needs the temperature distribution and
topography of both the anode and cathode surfaces as boundary
conditions, the arc plasma simulation must be performed
iteratively together with simulations of temperature distribution
and material removal. Thus, a precise analysis of the EDMplasma is
difcult.
4.1.3. Simulation of temperature distribution and material removal
due to single discharge
Most of the simulations of temperature distribution and
removal were performed assuming that the heat input and
diameter of arc plasma are known. Recent developments of high
speed video cameras have made it possible to observe and obtain
the diameter of the plasma. The inverse problemsolution based on
the analysis of electrode temperature distribution combined with
temperature measurement gives the heat input from the arc
plasma. However, it is still difcult to calculate the removal
amount because not all the molten region is removed
[126,167,178]. Furthermore, since the removal under the heat
ux affects the temperature distribution in the discharge crater,
simulations of the temperature distribution and material removal
should be solved as a coupled problem.
4.1.4. Simulation of ow eld in gap
To determine the discharge location and to obtain the gap width
distribution, the ow of debris particles and bubbles should be
calculated. These ows are generated by the explosion of the
bubble at the discharge spot, ushing ow of dielectric liquid, and
the jumping motion of the tool electrode.
4.1.5. Simulation of geometry
The load of removal, which is the volume of workpiece removed
per unit area of the tool, is not uniformon the tool electrode surface
because it depends upon the depth of cut [18] and the surface
inclination as shown in Fig. 16(a). Hence, wear does not occur
uniformly over the working surface. In addition, the load of
removal depends also on the curvature of the tool electrode
surface. A convex/concave unit area faces a greater/smaller
workpiece surface than a at unit area. This non-uniform load
removal can easily be reproduced by repeating the removal of both
anode and cathode at the discharge location for each discharge,
provided the location is determined correctly as described later.
Provided the volume of removal per discharge in the simulation is
correct, the obtained geometries should agree with the machining
results. In reality however, the simulation accuracy is not
satisfactorily high. This is because the bubbles existing prior to
the discharge result in different plasma growth and discharge
crater formation. Debris particles decrease the dielectric break-
down strength of the gap, thereby increasing the gap width, which
affects the plasma diameter, varying the removal amount
[126,143].
4.1.6. Machine control
In EDM, discharge ignition is delayed with increasing gap
width. On the other hand, if the gap width is too small, discharge
occurs immediately. If the feed rate is too high, the tool electrode
makes contact with the workpiece, leading to a short circuit.
Hence, the tool electrode is fed based on the servo feed control as
shown in Fig. 17 [151]. It is therefore necessary to simulate the
discharge delay time, which varies depending on factors such as
the gap width, debris particle concentration and working surface
area.
Simulaon of ow eld in gap: bubbles, debris,

dielectric liquid, and forces acng on electrodes
Simulaon of removal due to single
discharge
Simulaon of geometry
Heat input, diameter of heat source, pressure, ow velocity
Simulaon of EDM arc plasma
Discharge delay me
Machine control
Temperature distribuon
4.2.4, 4.2.5, 4.2.6
4.2.7, 4.2.8,
4.2.9, 4.2.10
4.3.1, 4.3.2,
4.3.3, 4.3.4
4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3
4.4
Discharge locaon
Fig. 14. Generalized model for EDM processes.
Fig. 15. Schematic view of discharge gap due to multiple discharge.
Feed
Wire
Tool electrode
(a) Sinking EDM
(b) Wire EDM
Gap width
Removal volume
per unit area
Depth of cut
due to feed
Unit area
Fig. 16. Non-uniform load removal and gap width due to probabilistic nature of
discharge.
4.1.7. Simplied and partial models
The idea that EDM can be simulated accurately by repeating all
the steps in the generalized model is not realistic or possible. It is
rather useful to simulate a part of the generalized model for
understanding the gap phenomena, optimizing the machine
control, evaluating the machining accuracy and for process
planning.
The simulation method of time-sequential repetition of the
owchart which models a single pulse discharge needs a long
calculation time, longer than the actual machining. Hence,
Tricarico et al. [164] repeatedly calculated the thickness of the
removal layer on the tool electrode and workpiece for every small
feed step taking into account the dependence of the material
removal rate on the local gap width using surface models for the
tool electrode and workpiece geometries as shown in Fig. 18. In
this simulation however, it is difcult to reproduce the gap
phenomena for each discharge.
4.1.8. Geometry considerations
Geometrical simulation in EDM needs consideration of tool
electrode wear. In the case of surface models shown in Fig. 18,
distance between adjacent nodal points decreases on the tool
electrode due to wear, whilst nodal points on the lateral surface of
the machine hole move further apart. Calculation of the direction
of the normal at each nodal point is susceptible to signicant error.
Hence, the simulation must be interrupted frequently for re-
meshing to avoid topological instability [108]. In contrast, the use
of voxel models as shown in Fig. 19, makes re-meshing
unnecessary; also the singularity problem at sharp edges can be
eliminated [109].
4.2. Modelling of a single discharge
4.2.1. Probability of discharge
To ignite an electric discharge in clean oil at an open voltage of
100 V, the gap width must be less than several microns. In the case
of EDM however, since the dielectric liquid is contaminated with
electrically conductive debris particles, whose average diameter is
even more than one third of the gap width [176], discharge can
occur at gap widths of tens of micrometres or more
[8,102,143,154]. This fact sometimes reduces the replicating
accuracy due to the uneven distribution of the debris particles.
On the other hand, the extended gap width is favourable for easy
gap control because it is difcult to keep the gap width constant at
several microns.
In order to study the inuence of debris particles, a debris
particle with a diameter of 5 mm was placed in a gap of 20 mm as
shown in Fig. 20 [89]. If it were true that the discharge occurs at a
point where the gap is shortest, then the discharge should occur at
the point where the debris particle is placed. However, experi-
mental results showed that in most cases, the discharge crater was
not generated at the point where the debris particle was placed.
This is because the probability of discharge in a certain area is
obtained from the product of the probability of discharge per unit
area and its surface area (area effect). Since the projected area of
the debris particle in the direction normal to the electrode surface
is negligible compared with the area of the electrodes
(50 mm 50 mm), the probability that discharge does not occur
on the debris is greater than the probability that the discharge
occurs on the debris. This result indicates that the discharge
location is determined in a probabilistic way and not deterministic.
Another example which indicates the importance of the
probabilistic model is already shown in Fig. 16. In sinking EDM,
when the tool electrode is fed by a distance during a certain time,
the duty of removal volume per unit area on the tool electrode is
greater at a curved surface than that at a at surface. The duty on an
inclined surface is lighter than that on a horizontal surface.
Therefore, the discharge frequency per unit area must be higher on
a convex surface, and lower on an inclined surface compared with
that on at and horizontal surfaces, respectively. To satisfy these
conditions, the gap width must be smaller on a convex surface, and
greater on an inclined surface than the corresponding gaps on a
horizontal surface. In wire EDM, the gap width distribution around
the wire is not uniform as shown in Fig. 16(b), which would not
have happened if the discharge location were to be determined
deterministically from the gap width distribution.
4.2.2. Discharge delay time
The discharge delay time depends upon the local values of the
gap width and concentration of debris particles at the discharge
location. Therefore, the discharge delay time can be used as a
measure to determine the discharge location. Moreover in reality,
the tool electrode feed is controlled based on the discharge delay
time. Hence, modelling of discharge delay time is the key to EDM
simulation.
Morimoto and Kunieda [109] quantied empirically the
average discharge delay time t
d,ave
[ms] as a function of the gap
width, gap [mm], concentration of debris particles, conc [mm
3
/
Fig. 17. Principle of servo feed control.
Fig. 18. Surface model for geometrical simulation [164].
Fig. 19. Voxel models for sinking EDM [109].
Fig. 20. Probabilistic nature of discharge location.

mm
3
], machining area, area [mm
2
], and debris diameter, r [mm]
under the following machining conditions: copper anode, carbon
steel cathode, discharge current of 3 A, discharge duration of
300 ms and open circuit voltage of 120 V.
t
d;ave
8:2 10
12
ga p
8:8
r
2:9
area
1:2
conc
1:6

(25)
The machining area is a factor because the probability of
discharge within a specic area is proportional to the ratio of its
surface area to the whole discharge area as described in the
previous section. t
d,ave
was obtained experimentally based on the
fact that the discharge delay time t
d
conforms to the exponential
distribution obtained from the Laue plot method [5,8]. The Laue
plot shows the percentage of electric insulation that does not break
down until time t after the supply of a pulse voltage [58]. Suppose a
single pulse discharge was generated N times and the number of
discharges which did not occur until time t was n, then n as a
percentage of N can be expressed by:
n
N
exp
t
t
d;ave

(26)
where t
d,ave
the average value of t
d
, is given by [107]:
t
d;ave

St
d
N
(27)
The Laue plot enables easy evaluation of the discharge delay
time, which normally has a large scatter, from the slope t
d,ave
as
shown in Fig. 21.
4.2.3. Theory of determination of discharge location
To determine the discharge location, the discharge delay time of
each voxel of the tool electrode is calculated probabilistically using
Eqs. (25) and (26). In Eq. (25), area is set to the area of each voxel.
conc and gap are the concentration of debris particles and gap
width at each voxel whose values are recalculated for every
discharge cycle. conc is dened as the volume of debris particles
divided by the volume of the gap voxels close to the voxel of the
tool electrode. The last variable r, debris diameter, can be obtained
from machining experiments. Then, using Eq. (26), the Laue plot
can be drawn for every voxel as shown by the green line in Fig. 21.
Note that the slope of the Laue plot for each voxel is signicantly
small when compared to that obtained from actual machining,
because the area of each voxel is nearly equal to the discharge
crater size which is much smaller in size than the tool electrode
surface. Thus t
d,ave
calculated for each voxel is much longer than
that in actual machining. It must be emphasized that t
d
of each
voxel should be determined probabilistically. Substituting a
random number from 1 to 100% for n/N along the vertical axis
in Fig. 21, t
d
can be calculated based on the Laue plot of each voxel
as indicated by the blue arrow. This operation is veried by the
theory of statistics which shows that, to generate a value of a
random variable X having a distribution function U = F(X), it
sufces to generate a value of a randomvariable Uthat is uniformly
distributed [107]. Since the number of voxels existing over the
machining surface is several thousands to several tens of
thousands, t
d
may even be as small as a few micro-seconds.
Therefore, if the voxel with the minimum t
d
is determined as the
discharge location, the same orders of t
d
as measured in actual
machining processes can be reproduced. Consequently, the greater
the machining area, the shorter will be the discharge delay time.
Thus, the area effect is successfully reproduced in the simulation.
4.2.4. EDM arc plasma
Since erosion in the EDM process is made by accumulation of
removal due to single discharges, the simulation model for heat
conduction in electrodes is important. With the advent of powerful
computers and numerical analysis methods, it is nowadays not
difcult to take into account the time-dependent radius of the
circular heat source and time-dependent heat ux, or temperature
dependence of thermo-physical properties of electrode materials.
However, boundary conditions such as arc plasma diameter, which
is time-dependent, and ratios of power distributed into the anode
and cathode have not yet been obtained theoretically, although
they exert a signicant inuence on the calculation results. This is
because simulation of EDM arc plasma is extremely difcult.
Hayakawa et al. [46,47] rst conducted magneto-hydrody-
namic analysis of a DC arc in air between parallel plane electrodes
under the gap conditions used in EDM. They assumed that the
species in high-temperature air which includes copper electrode
vapour are N
2
, O
2
, NO, N, O, Cu, NO
+
, N
+
, O
+
, Cu
+
, N
2+
, O
2+
, Cu
2+
and
electrons. Considering the temperature dependence of the thermo-
physical properties of the plasma, the electromagnetic eld,
temperature, pressure and velocity distributions were calculated
for the regions including both the electrodes and discharge gap.
The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy,
Ohms law and Maxwells equations were solved. The energy
equation included Joule heating, conduction, convection, and
radiation terms. Fig. 22 shows an example of the temperature
elds. It was found that most of the discharge power is distributed
in the electrodes, and heat transfer due to convection and radiation
is negligible. Although this result is in agreement with the
experimental results of a DC arc [48], the arc which they analysed
was not in dielectric liquid but in air. The arc was not in transient
but in steady state, and removal of the electrodes was not taken
into consideration. Furthermore, the arc was assumed to be in
thermo-equilibrium, and the equations of motion of the three
species: electrons; ions and neutral particles, were not solved
separately. Thus, the gap phenomena were symmetrical between
the anode and cathode thereby making the fractions of energy
distributed to the anode and cathode equal. Consequently, it was
difcult to obtain the difference in the energy distribution between
the anode and cathode.
4.2.5. Energy distribution
When copper was used for both the anode and cathode, the
anode removal amount was greater than that at the cathode for a
Fig. 21. Evaluation of discharge delay time using Laue plot [109].
Fig. 22. Magnetohydrodynamics analysis of EDM arc coupled with heat conduction
analysis in electrodes [46].
discharge duration shorter than 20 ms, while it was smaller with a
discharge duration longer than 20 ms [170]. Motoki and Hashi-
guchi [110], and Van Dijck [167] explained that such a
phenomenon is caused by the variation of the energies distributed
into the anode and cathode with the discharge duration, on the
basis of the TF electron emission theory [99]. Other papers
suggest that this is due to the small mass of electrons compared to
ions, resulting in quicker impingement of electrons into the anode
surface than the slowions, which arrive at the cathode surface later
[24]. However, there is no scientic evidence that the delay of ions
can be in the order of nanoseconds or more.
On the other hand, Koenig et al. [77] measured the energy
distribution by measuring the temperature of the electrodes and
dielectric uid in consecutive pulse discharges. Xia et al. [170]
measured the energy distribution in a single discharge by
comparing the measured temperatures of the foil electrodes with
the calculated results obtained under the assumed ratio of the
energy distributed in electrodes, using a FD model and the
experimental setup shown in Fig. 23. When the calculated and
measured temperatures were in agreement, they found that the
energy distributed to the anode and cathode is about 4048% and
2534% respectively. They reported that the energy distributed to
the anode is always greater than that to the cathode and is
independent of the discharge duration. Recently, Zahiruddin et al.
[178] measured the energy distribution in micro EDM. Fig. 24
shows the overall results of energy distribution ratio versus
discharge durations. The energy distribution into the anode is
consistently greater than that into the cathode regardless of the
discharge duration.
Thus, it is obvious that the difference in the volumes removed
between the anode and cathode cannot be fully explained by the
energy distribution. Motoki et al. [111], Ikai et al. [56] and Mohri
et al. [105] explained that the amount of electrode wear is reduced
due to the protective effects of carbon layer which is formed on the
anode surface. Since a thicker carbon layer is generated when the
discharge duration is long, tool (anode) wear is smaller than that
on the workpiece (cathode) even though the energy distribution to
the anode is more.
4.2.6. Plasma diameter
Another important boundary condition is the plasma diameter.
There are many papers in which a point heat source is assumed at
the cathode spot based on the researches on gas and vacuum
discharges ignited with gap widths which are signicantly greater
than the plasma diameter. DiBitonto et al. [34] and Patel et al. [128]
obtained the energy distribution ratios into the anode and cathode
as 8% and 18%, respectively, assuming the point cathode source
model. However, there have been no photographs taken to verify
the point source model in the narrow EDM gap yet. Another
simplied model, which is widely used without evidence, assumes
that the plasma diameter is equal to the diameter of discharge
craters [180].
To obtain an evidence-based diameter, Snoeys and Van Dijck
[152,153,167] systematically analysed the temperature distribu-
tion assuming a circular heat source with time-dependent radius
and time-dependent heat ux on a semi-innite cylinder. The heat
source growth function was obtained from an iterative calculation
of the heat conduction equation by assuming that the temperature
at the centre of the heat source corresponds to the metal boiling
temperature at a pressure equal to an average pressure in the gas
bubble calculated from the thermo-dynamical model. Good
agreement was found between the calculated melting point
isothermals and those measured from pictures of the cross-
sections of the craters cut perpendicular to the surface.
Recent developments of high-speed video cameras have
facilitated measurement of the arc plasma diameter in EDM
[33,78]. The radial temperature distribution in the arc plasma was
measured by optical emission spectroscopy and the plasma area
where discharge current ows was determined based on the fact
that the degree of ionization depends on the temperature [78]. The
measured diameter of arc plasma generated in air was 0.5 mm, ve
times larger than the crater diameter as shown in Fig. 25. The
plasma completed expanding within 2 ms after dielectric break-
down, and thereafter, its diameter remained constant during
discharge. Although the expansion rate was lower when the arc
plasma was generated in a dielectric liquid, its diameter was still
greater than the crater diameter.
4.2.7. Simulation of removal
4.2.7.1. Temperature rise in electrode. Given the energy distribution
ratio, and time-dependent radius of the circular heat source as
boundary conditions, the following heat diffusion equation can be
solved to obtain the temperature distribution in the electrodes.
@
@x
k
@T
@x

@
@y
k
@T
@y

@
@z
k
@T
@z

q rc
p
@T
@t
(28)
where q is the rate at which energy is generated per unit volume of
the electrode due to Joule heating. By integrating the solution for a
point source which is liberated instantaneously at a given point
and time with regard to appropriate space and time variables, one
can obtain solutions for instantaneous and continuous sources of
any spatial conguration [12]. The analytical solutions of the
temperature distributions at time t produced by stationary
Gaussian energy distribution sources in a semi-innite solid are
given by Pittaway [133].
Fig. 23. Method to obtain energy distributed into electrode in single pulse discharge
[170].
Fig. 24. Energy distribution into anode and cathode [178].
Fig. 25. High-speed video frames of EDM arc plasma (i

e
: 23 A, t
e
: 80 ms, u
i
: 280 V)
[78].
Nowadays, with the development of powerful computers and
numerical methods, it is no longer difcult to take into account the
temperature dependence of thermophysical properties of elec-
trode materials and latent heat of melting and vaporization.
However, it should be emphasized that correct temperature
distributions can be obtained only if correct boundary conditions
are used, i.e. energy distribution and plasma diameter. Although
there are many papers dealing with temperature analysis, in most
cases there is insufcient discussion about correct boundary
conditions.
Zingerman [181] states that Joule heating does not play a
substantial role in the machining of metallic materials, because
electrical potential drops in metallic workpieces are negligibly
small. According to the calculated results of Rich [138], however,
for high-resistivity metals, e.g., Hg, Sb, Fe, and Bi, Joule heating is
comparable to the energy input from the arc plasma. Saeki et al.
[141] found that the removal of high-electric-resistivity material
(Si
3
N
4
30wt%SiC) in a single discharge can be greater than that of
steel due to Joule heating.
4.2.7.2. Mechanism of removal. Calculation of the temperature
distribution in the electrode only is insufcient to obtain the
volume of removal due to a single discharge. Simulations of crater
formation and eruption of molten pool are indispensable. There is
no doubt that the material can be ejected when its temperature
exceeds the boiling point. However, there are few papers dealing
with the removal model of the melting area. Zolotykh[182], Snoeys
and Van Dijck [152,153,167], and Tao et al. [157] reported that
most of the metal removal occurs due to boiling of the superheated
molten mass in the crater at the end of the discharge because
boiling of that superheated metal is prevented by the bubble
pressure during the discharge. Van Dijck calculated the volume of
the region inside the normal boiling point isothermal surface, at
the end of the discharge. The calculated volume agreed well with
the measured material removed per pulse. It was also found that
the material removal efciency, which was dened as the ratio of
the ejected to melted volume, was only 110%. However,
observation of the gap of single pulse discharge in dielectric liquid
using X-ray showed that 85% of material removal occurs during the
discharge duration [38]. High-speed camera images of ying debris
scattered fromdischarge points showed that material removal also
occurs during the discharge [45]. Furthermore, Yoshida et al. [176]
found that the metal removed per pulse in air is almost equal to
that in liquid when the discharge duration is longer than 100 ms,
indicating that metal removal can occur without a sharp drop in
bubble pressure. Thus, development of computation models which
can simulate the material removal phenomena is eagerly awaited.
4.2.7.3. Advanced analysis methods for simulation of crater formation
and material removal. In some cases, molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation can be very helpful to analyse the phenomena which
are difcult to model using conventional thermo-hydrodynamics
simulations. Shimada et al. [146] simulated the formation of a thin
electrode in a single discharge. Yang et al. [173,174] analysed the
forming mechanism of a discharge crater ignited in vacuum as
shown in Fig. 26. Both the space and time domains which can be
handled are unrealistically small compared with those used in
EDM. Nevertheless, Fig. 26 clearly demonstrates the evidence of
the superheating theory, indicating that removal can occur at any
time when the pressure inside the molten pool exceeds the
pressure outside [174]. Tao et al. [157] simulated realistic crater
morphology, such as build-up crest and bulged bottom, using
FLUENT, a commercial computational uid dynamics (CFD)
software. To incorporate both molten and solid materials together
in the same analysis domain, the volume of fraction (VOF) method
was used, where both liquid and solid phases are modelled using
liquid type cells.
4.2.8. Bubble
Electrode materials and dielectric liquid evaporate, molecules
are dissociated, and atoms ionized, resulting in a rapid expansion
of a bubble. Fig. 27 shows side views of a bubble generated by a
single discharge in deionized water and EDM oil. The bubble and
dielectric liquid are analogous to the spring and mass oscillation
system respectively [36,57]. Starting from the initial condition,
where the bubble is compressed in a small volume, the dielectric
liquid is accelerated radially. At the moment the pressure inside
the bubble equals the atmospheric pressure, the kinetic energy
peaks. Hence, the bubble continues expanding. The diameter of the
bubble peaks when all the kinetic energy is transferred to the
potential energy of the bubble. The diameter of the bubble reaches
several millimetres, several tens of times greater than the gap
width. Thereafter the bubble starts contracting until it is
compressed to its initial diameter. In reality, the viscosity of the
liquid causes damping in the oscillation. After discharge, ions and
electrons are recombined, and the evaporated atoms and
molecules are solidied or condensed to form debris particles or
dielectric liquid, but gases such as hydrogen and methane which
are generated by the dissociation of the working oil are left to form
a bubble.
4.2.9. Reaction force acting on electrodes
Fig. 28 shows a model to calculate the bubble oscillation in the
gap between parallel plane electrodes [36]. The reaction force
acting on the tool electrode can be calculated by integrating both
the pressure in the bubble and that in the dielectric liquid over the
working surface [86]. The reaction force in Fig. 29 was measured by
Kunieda et al. [91] using the Split Hopkinson Bar method [172]. At
the initial state in which the bubble is compressed, the force
reaches its peak value. With the expansion of the bubble, the
bubble pressure decreases and so does the force. The force even
becomes negative because the bubble continues to expand even
after the bubble pressure falls belowthe atmospheric pressure due
to the inertia of the dielectric liquid. Since the natural frequencies
of EDM machine structures are much lower than the frequency
components included in the reaction force waveform, the gap
width cannot respond to the change in force. Furthermore, the
reaction force in a series of pulse discharges decreases with time
while the working gap is lled with bubbles generated in
Fig. 26. Molecular dynamics simulation of material removal [173].
Fig. 27. Side view of bubble oscillation (i

e
: 20 A, t
e
: 100 ms, gap width: 0.1 mm,
anode: Cu f5 mm, cathode: Cu f5 mm).
consecutive discharges [86,91]. Hence inuence of the reaction
force caused by bubble pressure is negligibly small in sinking EDM.
However, it causes vibration and deection of electrodes in the
case of wire EDM [106,123] and micro EDM [72].
4.2.10. Residual stress
The temperature rise due to discharge results in a compressive
thermal stress on the electrode surface until the stress is released
by material yielding at a high temperature. The stress becomes
nearly zero when the material becomes molten. After discharge,
due to the temperature decrease, the molten material re-solidies
and starts shrinking, generating a tensile residual stress on the
surface. This model was analysed using FEM [21,175] and MD
simulation [174].
4.3. Modelling of gap phenomena due to multiple discharges
4.3.1. Difference from single discharge
Generation of bubbles causes uid owas described in the next
section. In addition, pressure in the bubble generated by a
discharge is signicantly inuenced by bubbles which are already
present [91], resulting in different plasma growth and discharge
crater formation. Observation of gap phenomena through a
transparent electrode clearly showed that discharge occurs even
in bubbles, and that craters formed in bubbles are different from
those in the liquid [70]. Since debris particles weaken the dielectric
breakdown strength of the gap, the gap width is increased. Thus,
the plasma diameter is increased, thereby varying the removal
amount. Therefore, diameters of craters and debris particles in
consecutive discharges are not equal for each discharge and show
different intermediate values between single pulse discharges in
the gap lled with gas and liquid [156].
Furthermore, the uneven concentration of debris particles
results in a non-uniform gap width, deteriorating the machining
accuracy. The cooling effect of the liquid may also be affected by
the bubbles. Concentration of discharge locations may result in
locally elevated temperature and accumulation of debris particles,
leading to unstable discharge. Consequently, results of multiple
discharges are not equal to those obtained from a superposition of
the results obtained froma single pulse discharge [126]. Therefore,
simulation of gap phenomena considering multiple discharges is
necessary.
4.3.2. Bubbles in consecutive discharges
The working gap is mostly occupied by bubbles although both
electrodes are submerged in dielectric liquid [70]. The ow eld in
the gap was calculated by superimposing the dielectric owcaused
by the bubble generated at a discharge point and the radial ow of
dielectric ushing supplied from the centre hole [156]. Assuming
that discharge occurs at random on the electrode surface, an
animation of the dielectric oweld was made as shown in Fig. 30.
4.3.3. Debris movement
Fig. 31 shows an electrostatic eld distorted by a negatively
charged debris particle [92]. The measured gap width is
occasionally larger than 100 mm, whereas the measured average
diameter of debris particles is 25 mm or less. This result can be
explained in terms of the electrophoresis movement of debris
particles in the direction perpendicular to the electrode surfaces,
which was observed by Suda et al. [154], Bommeli et al. [8], and
Schumacher [143]. They also observed that some particles are
linked in series to form chains parallel to the electric elds. The
speed of the electrophoresis-induced motion was calculated to be
0.136 m/s, high enough for a particle to change its position during
the discharge delay time in the narrow discharge gap [92].
4.3.4. Flushing
To maintain stable machining and to obtain narrower and more
uniformgap width, it is critical to ushbubbles and debris particles
and cool the working gap in order to prevent the localization and
concentration of discharge locations. Pressure or suction ushing
through holes in the electrode or workpiece remains one of the
most efcient ushing methods especially if these holes have to be
provided anyway or do not harm the workpiece. Both in pressure
and suction ushing, one can observe lower electrode wear and
larger gap width at the outlet point in comparison with the inlet
point [76]. Normally, the tool electrode is lifted periodically to
replace the contaminated dielectric uid in the gap with freshuid.
Fig. 29. Calculated force acting on electrodes due to bubble oscillation (i

e
: 45 A, t
e
:
150 ms, gap width: 150 mm) [91].
Fig. 30. Bubbles in gap after 300 times of discharge (110 ms after start of machining,
i
e
: 19 A, t
e
: 250 ms, t
o
: 50 ms, diameter of copper electrode: 30 mm) [156].
Fig. 31. Calculated equipotential lines generated by negatively charged particle

[92].
Fig. 28. Pressure distribution in bubble generated by single pulse discharge in gap
lled with dielectric liquid.
Cetin et al. [13] calculated the three-dimensional uid ow in the
gap considering the suspended debris particles and obtained the
relationship between the tool lifting velocity and height and the
ushing capability. The working gap can be ushed by a fresh
dielectric uid jetted fromnozzles placed adjacent to the discharge
gap. Masuzawa et al. [103] however demonstrated through
hydrodynamic analysis that jetting of dielectric uid merely from
one direction causes increased density of debris particles in the
downstream region, resulting in uneven distribution of gap width
deteriorating the machining accuracy.
Okada et al. [124] analysed the three-dimensional uid ow
around the wire electrode when the workpiece is being cut by
WEDM as shown in Fig. 32. They investigated the inuence of the
position of the dielectric jet nozzles relative to the upper and lower
surfaces of the workpiece and ushing ow rate on the ability to
ush the debris particles out of the gap.
From these uid dynamics analyses, debris concentration can
be calculated quantitatively. However, the relationship between
the debris concentration and gap width cannot be determined
unambiguously. The gap width cannot be dened uniquely by the
debris concentration because the gap width is time dependent. The
gap width increases with the passage of time even if the tool
electrode is not fed, because discharge can still be ignited even if
the gap width is increased, although the probability of discharge
decreases. Hence, a probabilistic approach should be used to obtain
the gap width distribution from the debris concentration.
4.4. Machine control
Given the shape of the tool electrode, the workpiece shape can
be obtained precisely, only if the gap width distribution is known.
Since the gap width is determined by the servo feed control, a
precise geometrical simulation cannot be performed without an
accurate model which can reproduce the feed control of the tool
electrode. Since t
d
can be obtained for each pulse discharge using
the method described in Section 4.2.2, the moving average of the
gap voltage can be calculated from the t
d
values sampled in a
certain period of time. Thus the tool electrode can be fed forward or
backward depending on the difference between the average gap
voltage and servo reference voltage as in actual servo-control.
4.5. Empirical data required
Although the EDM process can be modelled as described in the
previous sections, certain data which can only be obtained
empirically is required. For example, a pre-requisite for the
determination of the discharge location is the evaluation of the
average discharge delay time, as expressed by Eq. (25). This
equation has to be determined experimentally for every machining
condition: open voltage; dielectric liquid; and electrode materials.
Similarly, the simulation of arc plasma is not possible and
therefore the energy distribution to the electrodes and plasma
diameter are not known. Usually researchers assume values for
these two parameters; instead they should be obtained from
experiments and then used as boundary conditions for determin-
ing the temperature distribution in electrodes.
Another importation parameter which has to be empirically
determined is the removal efciency. Its value has an important
bearing, during the geometric simulation, on the removal volumes
of anode and cathode per single pulse discharge. Even if the pulse
conditions, materials used for the electrodes, and dielectric liquid
are the same, the removal efciency will be different depending on
the working surface area and gap width [164] as shown in Fig. 33.
Other data which must be supplied are the volume of the bubble
generated by a single discharge, debris particle size, and thermo-
physical properties of the electrode materials.
5. Modelling examples in ECM and EDM
5.1. EC milling
The advantage of EC milling is that the required shape is
obtained by moving a tool of simple shape along the three
orthogonal axes. However, calculating the current density
distribution becomes more difcult as the inter-electrode gap is
now three-dimensional. Kozak et al. used an analytical method in
which they assumed a linear variation of the current through the
thickness of the inter-electrode gap [80]. This assumption helped
them to calculate the current density and simulate the machining
of a free-form surface with a spherical tool. However, their model
did not consider stray machining which is a very important
consideration especially in EC milling. Domain-based methods like
nite elements do not lend themselves readily because the mesh
would have to be re-generated with 3-D elements after each time
step.
Pattavanitch simulated and actually milled several components
varying in complexity from a simple slot [130] to the diamond-
shaped pocket with a human-shaped protrusion shown in Fig. 34
[129]. He subsequently modelled the machining of these
components with the BEM. Whilst the accuracy obtained from
the models was reasonably good, he faced several difculties in
preparing data, two of which are mentioned below.
(i) Since the pocket was machined in several axial passes, the
shape of the human gure had to be expanded and the
boundary of the pocket contracted by the cumulative overcut.
Commercial CAMprograms do not have this facility and special
routines had to be developed.
(ii) A preliminary investigation showed that the time step should
not exceed 0.1 s. Since the workpiece was machined with a feed
Fig. 32. Simulation of iud ow in wire EDMed kerf [124].
Fig. 33. Material removal rate V

w
and volumetric tool wear rate V
E
versus gap width
[164].
Fig. 34. Pocket with a human-shaped protrusion [129].

rate of 9 mm/min, it meant that in one time step, only
0.015 mm of the tool path could be considered. The tool path
was 608 mm long and therefore it had to be sub-divided into
well over 40,000 segments, with every few segments requiring
a mesh regeneration. Tool paths were generated using
MASTERCAM, a commercial software normally used for
generating tool paths for turned and milled components.
5.2. Graphical and mathematical simulation
The accuracy of FE and BE models depends, in addition to the
mesh density and quality, element type and time step, on the input
values such as polarization voltage and current efciency. Unless
the latter are accurately specied, there will always be discrepancy
between the experimental and theoretically predicted results. To
ensure that potential models generate accurate results, one needs
to know, for different electrolyte concentrations and pulse times,
the relationships between:
(i) the polarization voltage and current density, and
(ii) the current efciency and current density.
Altena derived the above relationships experimentally [4]
which have nowbeen used by several modellers. In addition to the
above, Altena determined other relationships such as that between
the process voltage and frontal gap. With the help of these
relationships, accurate graphical and mathematical models for the
process were built by DeSilva et al. [35]. These models were used
not to predict the current density but instead to determine the tool
dimensions and the side gaps so that the slots were not unduly
tapered. For example, to machine the 300 mm wide slots in the
shaver head in Fig. 35, the width of each of the 90 radially-oriented
lamellae was determined as 120 mm and it was found that the
actual width of the machined slots was measured as 285 mm[125].
5.3. EC turning
Although researchers have EC machined axi-symmetric com-
ponents, very few have attempted to model the process. Ma et al.
[101] proposed a mathematical model based on Faradays and
Ohms laws to calculate the amount of material removed in pulsed
EC-turning. Their model is a function of the cutting velocity, width
of the tool and pulse-time. However, their model is of limited use
as it is one-dimensional in nature. Pattavanitch et al. [130] have
shown that a 3D model of EC turning is feasible; they reported the
development of a BE model to simulate the machining of the disc
shown in Fig. 36(a). Fig. 36(b) shows part of the BE model - it does
not showthe bounding virtual surfaces. Since the length of the ring
was equal to the depth of the tool, it was not necessary to feed the
tool in the longitudinal direction. Also no radial feed was involved.
The purpose of modelling was to determine the time required to
reduce the diameter of the thin disc by 51 mm which was
determined as 90 s and subsequently veried experimentally.
5.4. Multi-ion and transport model for ECM
The importance of modelling the electrolyte ow and thermal
effects was recently demonstrated by Deconinck et al. [30,31].
Fig. 37 shows the anode shape (black curve) obtained using their
multi-ion transport and reaction model which takes into account
the electrolyte ow and heat energy generated in the electrolyte
and double layer. The shape of the anode curve is asymmetrical
(black curve) and Deconinck et al. [32] attributed this asymmetry
to the increased temperature of the electrolyte in the upstream
region. The temperature increase was due to the formation of
eddies, preventing the heat being efciently being transported
away. Deconinck et al. also suggested that water depletion may be
another factor causing the asymmetry. Water depletion makes
oxygen evolution difcult, causing a greater portion of the current
to be spent on metal dissolution, thus increasing the current
efciency. It demonstrates that modelling of ow and internal
energy has a signicant effect on the computed anode shape.
5.5. Computing time in ECM
No review on modelling would be complete without a few
words about computing time which can become prohibitive
especially since several coupled models are involved. The
computing time depends, amongst other factors, on the efciency
of the algorithmto solve the resulting simultaneous equations. For
this, the FAST Multipole Method suggested by Greengard and
Rohklin [39] should be used to make the stiffness matrix sparse
and then a GMRES technique used to solve the resulting equations
[25].
In the case of EC milling, nodes lying on the workpiece surface
shouldbe classiedas being either active or passive [129]. The
current density on the workpiece surface has positive values only
in and around the projected area of the tool (yellow nodes) and a
little distance away fromthe tool, its magnitude becomes zero. In
Fig. 38, the ux density at the black nodes (which are on the
workpiece surface but are far away from the projected area), is
virtually zero; such nodes are said to be passive since both the
potential and current density are known. Such nodes should not
be considered and this will decrease the computing time
substantially.
Fig. 35. Machining slots in the Philips shaver head [125].
Fig. 36. BE model for a thin ring [130].
Fig. 37. Temperature distribution using multi-ion model [32].
Fig. 38. Active and passive nodes [129].

5.6. Sinking EDM
Kunieda et al. [88,109] developed a sinking EDM simulation
using the discharge location search algorithm shown in Fig. 39
which was obtained by simplifying the generalized model (Fig. 14).
In the rst step, the discharge location was determined probabil-
istically as described in Section 4.2.3. In the second step, voxels of
both the tool electrode and workpiece at the discharge location
were converted to gap voxels, reproducing the material removal.
Since the simulations of arc plasma, temperature distribution, and
removal were not performed, the removal volumes of tool
electrode and workpiece per discharge were obtained from
experiments. In the third step, debris particles newly generated
by the discharge were located evenly on the periphery of the
bubble generated at the same time, and debris particles present
prior to the discharge were re-located due to the dielectric liquid
owcaused by the bubble expansion. In the servo feeding step, the
average gap voltage was calculated fromthe moving average of the
discharge delay time of consecutive pulse discharges. Then the
feeding speed of tool electrode was determined depending on the
difference between the average gap voltage and servo reference
voltage as is done on actual EDM machines. These steps were
repeated until the machining depth reached the pre-set value.
A cylindrical steel workpiece was machined using a copper tool
electrode with the same diameter. Dielectric liquid was supplied
into the gap from the centre of the tool electrode. Fig. 40 shows
distribution of debris particles simulated for two different ushing
ow rates. Fig. 41 compares the calculated gap width distributions
with experimental results. The gap width increases in the radial
direction, because debris particles are transferred with the ushing
ow of dielectric liquid. The discharge location search algorithm
combined with heat transfer analysis realizes the simulation of
surface temperature distribution in consecutive discharges
[60,66,171].
5.7. Reverse simulation in EDM
Contrary to the forward simulation where the tool electrode is
given, it is practically more important to develop a reverse
simulation for obtaining the tool electrode shape with which the
target workpiece shape can be machined precisely [87] (see
Fig. 42). The reverse simulation was conducted using the same
algorithm as that developed for the forward simulation in Fig. 39
assuming that the tool electrode is machined by the workpiece
having the same initial shape as the target workpiece shape. The
data of the removal volumes per discharge obtained from
experiments were switched between tool electrode and workpiece
in the reverse simulation.
5.8. Milling EDM
The machining of a groove by EDM was simulated considering
wear of the tool electrode [177]. In-process measurement of the
tool electrode wear enabled the adaptive compensation of the
depth of cut to machine stepped grooves to a high accuracy [7].
Using the discharge location search algorithm, a three-dimensional
geometric simulation of micro-EDM milling was developed as
shown in Fig. 43 [49].
5.9. Wire EDM
5.9.1. Forces acting on wire electrode
In WEDM, there are four kinds of forces acting on the wire
electrode [32,127]: discharge reaction force; electrostatic force;
hydrodynamic force and electromagnetic force (see Fig. 44). The
discharge reaction force is caused by the rapid expansion of a
bubble at the discharge spot during the discharge. The electrostatic
force acts mostly when an open voltage is applied between the
wire and workpiece during ignition delay time. The electromag-
netic force acts on the wire during the discharge and can
be calculated from the area integral of the vector product between
the current density and magnetic ux density in the wire. The
Start
Determination of discharge location
Removal of tool electrode and workpiece
Servo feed of tool electrode
End of machining
End
Generation and re-location of debris particles
No
Yes
Tool electrode voxels
Debris particles
Workpiece voxels
Discharge location
Fig. 39. Discharge location searching algorithm [109].
Fig. 40. Simulation of debris movement under ushing ow [109].
Fig. 41. Gap width distribution in radial position.
Fig. 43. Simulation of micro EDM milling [49].
Fig. 42. Reverse simulation.

hydrodynamic force is the drag force generated by the ow of
dielectric uid. These forces cause vibration and deection of the
wire, thereby lowering the machining accuracy, speed, and
stability [32,69].
Obara et al. [123] and Mohri et al. [106] obtained the reaction
force from solutions of the inverse problem in which wire
vibrations calculated using assumed values of the force were
compared with measured ones. They used thin workpieces to
exclude the inuences of the electrostatic and electromagnetic
forces. Obara et al. [121] measured the change in the resultant
force involving the reaction force, electromagnetic force, and
electrostatic force with various discharge frequencies. They then
obtained the electrostatic force by extrapolating the resultant
force to the limit of zero discharge frequency, because both the
reaction force and electromagnetic force are zero when the
discharge frequency is zero. As for the hydrodynamic force,
Kuriyama et al. [93] conducted a CFD analysis of the force and
investigated the inuence of the jet ushing conditions on the
wire deection.
Regarding the electromagnetic force, Tomura and Kunieda
[161] developed a FE model to calculate the electromagnetic eld
and the electromagnetic forces as shown in Fig. 45. Tomura and
Kunieda [162] found that, using a workpiece 40 mm thick, the
reaction force is larger than the electrostatic force with large
discharge energy, while their magnitudes are reversed with
decreased discharge energy. The inuence of the electromagnetic
force on the wire vibration is not negligibly small under rough
cutting conditions, especially with higher discharge frequencies
and larger workpiece thicknesses.
5.9.2. Simulation of wire vibration and deection
Obara et al. [122], Han et al. [41], and Tomura et al. [163]
developed programs for WEDM simulation. The simulation shown
in Fig. 46 is based on the repetition of the following routine:
calculation of wire vibration considering the forces applied to the
wire, determination of the discharge location considering the gap
width between the wire and workpiece, and removal of workpiece
at the discharge location. The electromagnetic force and hydro-
dynamic force were ignored, and the inuence of debris particles
was not considered. The geometrical simulationerror was less than
1.5 mm.
5.9.3. Wire breakage
Fig. 47 shows the temperature distribution along the wire
electrode obtained froma heat transfer analysis using FDM[65,90].
Zone 3 indicates the part of the wire electrode where discharge
occurs. Zones 2 and 4 show the part from the upper and lower
feeding points to the upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece,
respectively. Although the average temperature is around the
boiling point of water, which is used as the working uid, the
temperature at the point where the preceding discharge occurred
is signicantly high so that the tensile strength of the wire weakens
at this point. Consideration of this has led to the development of
adaptive control systems in which the pulse energy is reduced or
stopped based on the distribution of discharge locations measured
in process [95,120,147].
5.9.4. Optimization of wire electrode composition
Fine wire electrodes with diameter of 30 mm or less are
becoming popular. To resist the tension force, high tensile strength
materials such as tungsten or molybdenum are used. However,
since these materials are rare metals, steel wires coated with brass
or zinc are being developed [142]. Another requirement of the wire
electrode is low impedance at the frequency components involved
in the discharge current waveform. Thus, the electromagnetic eld
shown in Fig. 45 was analysed to investigate the inuence of the
wire electrode and workpiece materials on the discharge current
[40].
6. Conclusions and future work
This paper has described the models to simulate the ECM and
EDM processes. In the case of ECM, commercial systems based on
the potential model have become available. In the case of EDM, the
picture of the process is not completely clear probably because the
physics of the process is yet to be completely understood.
Therefore, in EDM, the complete machining of a workpiece cannot
be modelled. Instead individual parts of the process such as
estimating the ease of machining or durability of a tool, from a
wear viewpoint can be modelled. Much work still needs to be done
both in modelling ECM and EDM and this is discussed in the
following sections.
Explosion force Electrostatic Hydrodynamic Electromagnetic

Workpiece
Wire
Discharge
Potential
difference
Fluid flow
Current
Discharge duration Discharge
delay time
Discharge duration Anytime
Fluid flow
Reacon force
Fig. 44. Forces acting on wire electrode.
Fig. 45. Simulation of electromagnetic eld in wire EDM to obtain electromagnetic

force acting on wire [161].
Workpiece
node(x,y,z)
Lower guide
Upper guide
Wire
x
y
z
Spark
Workpiece
Wire
Lower guide
Upper guide
Node(x,y,z)
Cell
Workpiece
node(x,y,z)
Lower guide
Upper guide
Wire
x
y
z
Spark
Workpiece
Wire
Upper guide
Node(x,y,z)
Cell
Determining discharge
location
Removing workpiece
Analyzing wire
vibration
Feeding wire electrode
location
Removing workpiece
Analyzing wire
vibration
Lower guide
Discharge spot
x
y
z
Workpiece
Wire Upper guide
Cell
Node (x, y, z)
location
Removing workpiece
Analyzing wire
vibration
Fig. 46. Geometrical simulation of wire EDM.
Fig. 47. Simulation of temperature distribution along wire electrode (discharge

current: 90 A, discharge frequency: 18 kHz, wire diameter: 0.25 mm, workpiece
thickness: 100 mm [90].
6.1. Future work in ECM
To make further progress in modelling the EC milling process,
there is a need for geometric pre-processing modules which will
shrink/expand the external/internal boundaries of the feature to be
machined. Also, a special CAM system is required which can
subdivide the tool path into segments, the length of each segment
depending on the time step and traverse feed rate.
To save computing time, for each time step, a node should be
automatically classied as either active or passive.
Modellers would benet from more reliable experimental data
especially that for current efciency and polarization voltage.
Whilst some data are available for dilute solutions of NaNO
3
, very
little data are available for solutions of H
2
SO
4
and HNO
3
. Another
problem with acidic electrolyte solutions is that their electrical
conductivity depends on the amount of metal ion concentration. It
must be borne in mind that the concentration keeps increasing
with usage of these electrolyte solution and very few modellers
take this into account.
At the moment, the presence of hydrogen bubbles is accounted
for by using empirical equations. The accuracy of an ECM model
could be improved by developing more realistic bubbly two-phase
models. So far, modelling of two-phase ow in two- or three-
dimensions has not been reported. Modelling of ow is essential
because it has a pronounced effect on the quality of the workpiece,
especially if it is a small and deep hole.
6.2. Future work in EDM
There are few EDM simulation programs which have been
commercialized. Some machine tools are equipped with empirical
simulation tools which can suggest appropriate pulse conditions
depending on the workpiece material and working surface area.
The machining time can be estimated based on the removal stock
[96,169]. Considering that it takes many days for machine tool
builders to obtain such empirical data each time when a new
machine is developed, more effort should be devoted to improving
the simulation accuracy. To achieve this, the following problems
should be solved.
First of all, it is necessary to obtain correct boundary
conditions, especially the energy distribution and arc plasma
diameter. Since the simulation of arc plasma is difcult, they
should be obtainedfromexperiments. Giventhe correct boundary
conditions, powerful multi-physics simulations will realize
precise simulation of removal. Since the material removal
efciency, the ratio of the ejected to melted volume, can be
obtained, the database of pulse conditions could be made off-line.
However, since pyrolytic carbon generated on the electrode
surface exerts a signicant effect on tool wear reduction, as
mentioned in Section 4.2.5, quantitative investigation of its
protective effect is indispensable. Moreover, to complete the
generalized EDM model, integration of the simulation of gap
phenomena with the pulse generator control and servo feed
control is essential.
6.3. Common future work
For practical use, development of inverse modelling is eagerly
anticipated both in ECMand EDM. Preparation of tool electrode is a
cornerstone to obtaining high accuracy and productivity. Integra-
tion of machine tool controllers and process modelling is another
challenging issue. Machine tool builders can design and develop
new machine structures and pulse generators using the integrated
simulator. The accuracy of adaptive control strategies will be
increased by combining both machine and gap simulations.
Meanwhile, simulations of hybrid processes between ECM and
EDM and synergistic interaction between electrochemical and
electrical discharge phenomena in the normal ECM and EDM
processes using water-based working uid are other challenging
works.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to J.
Atkinson, H. Altena, C. Diver, A. Klink, B. Lauwers, A. Malshe, V.
Pattavanitch and M. Zeis for their assistance in the preparation of
this paper. We would also like to thank G. Levy, J.P. Kruth, G. Levy,
J.A. McGeough, A. De Silva, K.P. Rajurkar, X.D. Yang and other
members of the STC-E group for their input.
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Modelling of ECM and EDM processes

Fig. 1. Modelling the ECM process (adapted from [125]).

Fig. 2. A BE model for a milled component [129].

Fig. 3. Equilibrium frontal and side gaps [115].

Fig. 4. Junction between electrode and insulated surface [27].

Fig. 5. Self-intersection of the work-piece prole [136].

Fig. 6. Variation of current density with gap size in PECM [83].

Fig. 8. Variation of polarization voltage with current [4].

Fig. 9. Workpiece shapes for different over-potentials [114].

Fig. 12. Electrolyte ow in the inter-electrode gap [29].

where l is the length of the ux line, q

Fig. 13. Determining the tool shape [116].

Simulaon of ow eld in gap: bubbles, debris,

Fig. 15. Schematic view of discharge gap due to multiple discharge.

Fig. 17. Principle of servo feed control.

Fig. 18. Surface model for geometrical simulation [164].

Fig. 19. Voxel models for sinking EDM [109].

Fig. 20. Probabilistic nature of discharge location.

Fig. 24. Energy distribution into anode and cathode [178].

Fig. 25. High-speed video frames of EDM arc plasma (i

Fig. 26. Molecular dynamics simulation of material removal [173].

Fig. 27. Side view of bubble oscillation (i

Fig. 29. Calculated force acting on electrodes due to bubble oscillation (i

Fig. 31. Calculated equipotential lines generated by negatively charged particle

Fig. 32. Simulation of iud ow in wire EDMed kerf [124].

Fig. 33. Material removal rate V

Fig. 34. Pocket with a human-shaped protrusion [129].

Fig. 35. Machining slots in the Philips shaver head [125].

Fig. 36. BE model for a thin ring [130].

Fig. 37. Temperature distribution using multi-ion model [32].

Fig. 38. Active and passive nodes [129].

Fig. 40. Simulation of debris movement under ushing ow [109].

Fig. 41. Gap width distribution in radial position.

Fig. 43. Simulation of micro EDM milling [49].

Fig. 42. Reverse simulation.

Explosion force Electrostatic Hydrodynamic Electromagnetic

Fig. 45. Simulation of electromagnetic eld in wire EDM to obtain electromagnetic

Fig. 47. Simulation of temperature distribution along wire electrode (discharge

ber die Krafte und ihre Wirkungen beim electroerosiven

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