Materials and Manufacturing Processes

ISSN: 1042-6914 (Print) 1532-2475 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lmmp20

Studies on the surface of high-performance alloys

machined by micro-EDM

Wujun Feng, Xuyang Chu, Yongqiang Hong & Li Zhang

To cite this article: Wujun Feng, Xuyang Chu, Yongqiang Hong & Li Zhang (2017): Studies on
the surface of high-performance alloys machined by micro-EDM, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2017.1364758

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2017.1364758

Accepted author version posted online: 10

Aug 2017.

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 Studies on the surface of high-performance alloys machined

by micro-EDM

Wujun Feng

School of Aerospace Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

Downloaded by [Wilfrid Laurier University] at 20:04 11 August 2017

Xuyang Chu*

School of Aerospace Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

Yongqiang Hong

School of Aerospace Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

Li Zhang

School of Aerospace Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China

*Address correspondence to Xuyang Chu. E-mail: chuxy@xmu.edu.cn

ABSTRACT

Micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) is used in the fabrication of Ti-6Al-4V,

SUS304, and SKH59 alloys, which are important aviation materials EDM influences the surface

morphologies of these materials and directly affects their reliability during use. However, current

research focusing on the morphology of surfaces machined by micro-EDM is rare. Traditional

surface evaluation parameter such as Ra cannot describe the surface morphology machined by

1
 micro-EDM precisely. Therefore, systematic research on surface morphology of the

aforementioned alloys is presented in the study. Based on a novel evaluation method combining

fractal theory with wavelet filters, first, comparative experiments on surface morphology

evaluations of different materials were conducted and discussed. Second, two different pulse

power supplies were studied to explore the effect of pulse power on the high-performance alloy

surface. Third, three different micro-EDM processing methods were compared to study their

effects on the surfaces of high-performance alloys. Finally, different machining parameters such
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as discharging energies, rotation speeds of the tool electrode, and gap voltages were set to

investigate their effects on the surface morphology. The results showed that different materials,

pulse power supplies, processing methods, and machining parameters greatly influence the surface

morphology quality, and appropriate machining advice is proposed.

KEYWORDS: discharge, electrode, filter, fractal, machining, morphology, surface, wavelet

Introduction

Titanium alloys, stainless steels, and high-speed steels are three types of high-performance

alloys that are widely used in the aerospace industry. Titanium alloys are characterized by low

density, high-temperature strength, and endurance strength; therefore, they have been used to

replace aluminum alloys in fabricating the shells of aircraft engines. Stainless steel is another type

of material applied extensively to space launch vehicles and exhaust passages around rocket

engines because it possesses good plasticity and toughness. High-speed steel is mainly employed

in high-speed cutting of aircraft parts because it has high hardness and good wear resistance. In

aerospace materials, surface accuracy is extremely important; low-quality surfaces can have

serious consequences in many cases. Because the abovementioned three types of materials are

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 difficult to machine, the selection of suitable machining methods for these types of intractable

materials must be considered carefully.

Micro-EDM is a developing micromechanics machining technology.[1–3] The advantages

of high accuracy and non-contact machining render it suitable for machining difficult-to-process

materials, and it can produce high-precision surfaces. Surface accuracy is an important factor in

determining component reliability, and surfaces machined by micro-EDM are often used as final

surface forms, so the analysis of this type of surface morphology is a focus in intractable materials.
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B. Kuriachen and J. Mathew studied Ti–6Al–4 V machined by micro-EDM milling, conducting a

series of experiments based on response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken statistical

design. Surface morphology and the quality of machined surfaces were crucial components of the

study.[4] Moses and Jahan presented several comparative experiments between Ti–6Al–4V  and

brass to investigate the different microscale features of the metals; surface morphology was one of

these, judged intuitively based on the observation of debris.[5] Koyano et al. studied the decrease

of energy to improve the quality of surfaces machined on stainless steel, using the average surface

roughness Ra as an evaluation parameter.[6] Natarajan et al. studied the effects of grinding

parameters on machining stainless steel shim, investigating Ra, metal removal rate, and the tool

wear ratio; among these features, surface morphology was an essential reference.[7] Das et al.

studied the surface integrity of SUS 304 sheet machined by micro-EDM; surface integrity mainly

consists of surface morphology, recast layers, and white layer thicknesses, so they discuss surface

morphology extensively.[8] D’Urso et al. studied stainless steel grinding using different micro-

EDM electrodes, judging electrode effectiveness based on the surface morphology of inner

microscale holes.[9] These studies show that surface morphology is an indispensable factor

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 reflecting the machining quality of intractable materials such as titanium alloys, stainless steels,

and high-speed steels.[10–15]

Current studies typically regard surface morphology as a reference characteristics,[16] using

traditional surface roughness parameters such as Ra to evaluate it simply; however, traditional

surface evaluation methods cannot describe the surface morphology machined by micro-EDM

precisely,[17,18] the surface morphologies of materials machined by micro-EDM is very particular

because of the random discharging process, which creates many peaks and craters on the surface,
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different from surfaces formed by traditional machining methods. Moreover, few researchers have

conducted systematic studies on the surface morphology of intractable materials. The object of the

study presented is the systematic investigation of surface morphology utilizing different processing

methods, materials, pulsed power supplies, and machining parameters, using a novel evaluation

method.

Materials and Methods

Fractal theory is usually used to depict the morphologies of mountains and rivers which

have a similar surface morphology to materials machined by micro-EDM. Moreover, the

evaluation parameter of fractal theory is concise. Therefore, it is suitable for evaluating the micro-

EDM surface.

Because the sample data of surface morphology is dispersed, the correct calculation method

of fractal theory should be chosen. The sample property can be described as having a Fractional

Brownian Motion, it follows the rule:

B  t1  – B  t2 
2 2
 t 1 –t 2 (1)

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 Where B(t) is the location of the particles in Brownian motions, α is the index of Hurst. For

a random surface profile S(τ), its incremental variance can be defined as a structure function, and

the expression can be written as follows:[19]

1 L
S    Z  x    Z    Z  x    Z ( )  C 42D (2)
2 2
 x0
L

Where τ is the increment of the process, L is the length of the sample, D is the fractal

dimension, and C is a constant. Combining structure function with Fractional Brownian Motions,
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the expression can be written as follows:

S    
2
(3)

As the data of sample are discrete, the heights of the profile are set to x[i] (i = 0, 1, …, N-

1), where N is the sample number. The expression of its discrete form can be written as follows:[19]


N 1n
 x i  n   x i  
2

S  n  i 0
(4)
N n

According to expression (3), expression (4) can be simplified to the following expression:

S  n   G  n42D (5)

Where G is a constant, then a double logarithmic curve is plotted; if k is regarded as the

slope of the curve, the fractal dimension can be calculated using the following equation:

D  2  k / 2 (6)

Hence, the structure function method is suitable for the fractal dimension calculation,

especially when the sample data are discrete.

Regarding the filter of the profile curve, because the surface morphology machined by

micro-EDM has high precision, the wavelet filter method can filter high frequency noise and then

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 retain low frequency signals as much as possible, it is the filter method chosen in this study.

According to Parseval theorem, if there are two signals f1(x) and f2(x), the relationship between the

inner product can be written as follows:

 1 
 f1  x  f2*  x dx   F1  w F2*  w dw (7)
 2 

When f1(x) = f2(x), expression (7) can be written as follows:

 1  
 f1  x  dx   F  w dw   F  f  df (8)
2 2 2
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 2  

Expression (8) shows that the energy of signal is conserved. Suppose that f1(x), f2(x)

andψ∈L2(R),W f1(a,b) and W f2(a,b) is the wavelet transformation of f1(x) and f2(x), then the

following expression can be written:

  da
  Wf1  a, bWf2  a, b  db  C f1  x  , f2  x  (9)
0  a2


  w
Where C   dw ,   w is obtained by a Fourier transform of   x  .
0
w

Equation (9) can be written as follows:

Wf1  a, b  ,Wf 2  a, b   C f1  x  , f 2  x  (10)

Moreover, if f1  x   f2  x   f  x  , then equation (10) can be written as:

Wf  a, b 
2
 1  
 f1  x   
2
dx  dadb (11)
0 C 0  a2

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 The information in the original signal is retained effectively after orthogonal

transformation. Hence, wavelet method is an ideal solution for filters. For the choice of wavelet

basis, eight orders of Daubechies wavelet are chosen as the wavelet basis.

Above all, the novel surface-evaluation method combining fractal theory with wavelet

filters is applied in the study based on previous work.[20] The detailed procedure is shown in Figure

1. According to the evaluation rule, surface morphologies of high fractal dimension represent high-

quality surfaces. the experiments in the study tested the following four aspects: 1) materials; 2)
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pulse power supply; 3) processing methods; 4) machining parameters.

Titanium alloys, stainless steels, and high-speed steels were chosen as the workpieces to

investigate the distinctions of surface morphology from the different materials. Table 1 shows the

main properties of the three selected materials. These were machined by the same discharging

energy in micro-EDM grinding.

Two types of pulsed power supply were used in micro-EDM: RC and transistor pulse

power supplies. The discharging process of the RC pulse power supply features high voltages and

high currents, while that of the transistor pulse power supply is the opposite, as Figure 2 shows.

Therefore, the discharging process of RC-type pulse power supplies is more severe than that of

transistor pulse power supplies. The surface morphologies of the same material machined by

different pulse power supplies may therefore differ.[21] The differences were investigated by using

both types of pulse power supplies.

The three types of mainstream processing methods used were micro-EDM grinding, micro-

EDM milling, and micro-wire EDM (WEDM). Micro-EDM grinding is necessary when high-

precision surfaces are needed;[22,23] micro-EDM milling is widely used in the fabrication of

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 microscale complex 3D  structures and various elaborate surfaces.[24–26] Micro-WEDM is a special

machining type derived from micro EDM. In micro-WEDM, the tool electrode is replaced by a

wire electrode to cut extremely tapered and complex geometries and molds; it is usually used in

the fabrication of 2D  structures.[27–29] Schematics of the three processing methods and machining

conditions are shown in Figure 3 and Table 2.

The machining parameters investigated were the voltage and the capacitance as they are

the two main factors influencing the surface quality machined by an RC-type pulse power supply.
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For the transistor-type pulse power supply, the two factors are the current and pulse width. In

addition, the rotation speed of the electrode and the gap voltage cause discrepancies in the surface

morphology. To investigate the differences caused by variations in these elements, several

experiments were designed, as detailed in Table 3, Table 4, and Table 5.

Results and Discussion

The results and mechanism are discussed based on the four aspects mentioned above: 1)

materials; 2) pulse power supply; 3) processing methods; 4) machining parameters.

First, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Table 6 show the experimental results under the condition

of the same discharging energy. And it can be concluded from these results that Ti-6Al-4V has the

lowest surface roughness, corresponding to the smoothest surface, and the highest fractal

dimension, SUS304 takes second place, and SKH59 has the coarsest surface and the lowest fractal

dimension. The carbon levels in Ti-6Al-4V, SUS304, and SKH59 increase by 180%, 98%, and

85%, respectively. Regarding the brass levels, the brass increases on the surfaces of all three

materials after micro-EDM processing, but the increases of brass among the three types of surfaces

differ.

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 Because the discharging energy is the same, the discharging channels during the machining

process are the same too.[23] When the discharging channel featuring a high temperature is

established, the surface materials of the workpiece are melted and the weld pool consisting of

gasification and liquefaction of workpiece materials is formed. However, the size of the weld pool

is determined by the specific heat and heat conductivity of the materials. Among the alloys

investigated in this study, Ti-6Al-4V has the highest specific heat and lowest heat conductivity,

since the discharging energy during machining of the three materials is the same. Because of the
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high specific heat, the highest energy is required to melt the surface of Ti-6Al-4V and the diameter

of the weld pool is the smallest, compared to the other materials. Moreover, because of the low

heat conductivity of Ti-6Al-4V, very less energy spreads to other part of the workpiece due to

thermal effects. As a result, the depth of the weld pool is relatively shallow and the molten

materials are less, forming the surface with the best quality. For the same reason, the surface

morphology quality of SUS304 is the second best and that of SKH59 is the poorest.

As to the increase of the carbon, in terms of the mechanism, there are gap breakdowns,

discharging channel establishment and discharging channel extensions during the machining

process, causing the decomposition of the kerosene which contains carbon. However, Ti-6Al-4V

has the highest fusion point and lowest heat conductivity, leading to the severest decomposition of

kerosene during processing. Therefore, the carbon increase rate of Ti-6Al-4V is the highest.

SUS304 and SKH59 have the intermediate and lowest carbon increase rate, respectively.

The increase in the brass can be attributed to the wear in the tool electrode during

machining.[30–32] However, the degree of growth is different, because the crater diameter in Ti–

6Al–4V  is the smallest, the weld pool in the machining process is small and the solidification rate

is rapid. Therefore, the quantity of adhered brass melted from the tool electrode is the smallest

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 among the three materials. In much the same way, the brass adhesion quantity of SKH59 is the

highest because it has the largest crater dimensions and lowest fusion point. In other words, the

weld pool in the machining process is large and the solidification rate is slow. The situation of

SUS304 is between the above two materials.

Second, Figure 6 shows the Ti-6Al-4V surface morphologies according to experiment

No.1 in Table 3 and experiment No. 1 in Table 4. According to the figure and the fractal dimension,

it can be concluded that with the same discharging energy, the surface morphology machined by
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a RC type power supply is poorer than that machined by a transistor type power supply.

Investigating the phenomenon from a mechanistic aspect, as Figure 2 shows, this is

because the two types of pulse power supply have different circuit configurations and therefore

different discharge phenomena. Both pulse power supplies experience RC discharging; thereafter,

the discharge voltage of the RC-type pulse declines exponentially with a sine wave-shaped current

waveform, so the discharging time of the RC-type supply is shorter than that of the transistor type.

However, the discharging energy of the RC type is more concentrated, and the discharging energy

is different each time. Meantime, the high-energy density results in severe discharge, more

materials on the surface are molten, and craters and peaks characterized by larger diameter and

depth are formed, resulting in inconsistent and poor surface morphology. For the transistor-type

pulse power supply, it maintains a constant voltage after RC discharging and the discharging time

of the transistor type is obviously longer than that of the RC type. Its voltage is also lower than

that of the RC type, causing less concentrated energy and low-energy density. These make less

molten surface materials with small craters and peaks and the consistency of the surface

morphology machined by the transistor-type power supply is greater than that of the RC type,

leading to a high-quality surface morphology.

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 In the machining process, if an intricate surface is needed, the transistor-type pulse power

supply is ideal; otherwise, the RC-type pulse power supply is more suitable for surfaces with less

strict technical requirements, because it is higher in efficiency.

Third, based on the machining conditions shown in Table 2, Figure 7(a–c) show the

different influences on surface morphologies machined by micro-WEDM, Micro-EDM grinding

and micro-EDM milling. For a constant discharging energy, the surface morphology machined by

micro-EDM milling is the smoothest, that by micro-EDM grinding is at the mid-level, and that by
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micro-WEDM is the coarsest. In terms of the fractal dimension and Ra, Figure 7(d, e) show all

values of Ra and fractal dimensions. The value of Ra does not reflect the variation of the surface

morphology accurately.

The surface morphology machined by micro-WEDM is severely affected by vibrations

from the wire electrode. Moreover, the speed of the wire electrode is slow and the discharging gap

is too narrow. Ablation products from the workpiece surface during machining are difficult to

expel, resulting in a surface morphology at the bottom that is covered by the surface morphology

at the top along the direction of processing,[33,34] showing a clear cascading phenomenon. The

above factors lead to the poorest surface morphology among the three processing methods.

For micro-EDM grinding, the wire electrode in micro-WEDM is replaced by a tool

electrode. Further, the vibration of the wire electrode is eliminated. During the machining process,

the discharging channel is established, under a high temperature, the surface materials of the

workpiece and tool electrode are melted or gasified. Then dielectric, workpiece materials and tool

electrode materials are mixed together, forming metallic compounds. At the later stage of

processing, plasma in the discharging channel expands rapidly. Most of the metallic compounds

are expelled into the dielectric, while the rest of them are condensed, forming peaks on the

11
 workpiece surface. The gasified dielectric attached to the surface of the workpiece is transformed

to surface bubbles after processing. Cracks and craters on the surface are created because of the

thermal stress and a high-energy intensity discharge. Moreover, the cascading phenomenon that

appears in micro-WEDM is eliminated, resulting in an intermediate surface morphology among

the three processing methods.

In micro-EDM milling, the surface forming mechanism is similar to that of micro-EDM

grinding. However, in the process of micro-EDM milling, the movement speed of the tool
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electrode is slower and most of the surface is polished multiple times, because the tool electrode

is moved back and forth. Therefore, the total discharging time in the discharging channels and the

quantity of material removed are larger than those in micro-EDM grinding. Under the machining

condition, more of the metallic compounds discussed above are expelled and part of the residual

bubbles on the surface are eliminated, resulting in a surface featuring gentle peaks and few bubbles.

Therefore, the generated surface morphology is the most elaborate.

Finally, Figure 8(a–d) show the corresponding fractal dimensions according to the

machining conditions shown in Table 3 and Table 4. The variation of the capacitance and voltage

in the RC type and the variation of the pulse width and current in the transistor type can be

simplified as the discharge energy paired with the speed of the tool electrode. They show that,

regardless of the material, larger discharging energies and faster electrode rotation speed correlate

to lower fractal dimensions, indicating that the surface morphology is rougher. Simultaneously,

the discharge rate of a tool electrode rotating at high speed is lower than that of one at low speed,

as Figure 8(e) shows. Finally, Figure 8(f) shows that when the machining voltage is 80V, the gap

voltage should be set to 40V to get the finer surface morphology.

12
 With the increase in discharging energy, the surface quality becomes poor according to the

fractal dimension. The diameter of discharging channel will expand along with an increase in

discharging energy during the machining process. For the same material surface, a wider

discharging channel will result in more melted metallic alloys on the surface being expelled and

the formation of wider and deeper craters. The alloys unable to be expelled are solidified to higher

peaks on the surface. The altitude intercept between the higher peaks and deeper craters makes the

surface morphology become coarse.

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As to the rotation speed of the tool electrode, high-speed tool electrode rotation will easily

cut off the discharging channels. Once the channel is cut off, the discharging process is insufficient,

resulting in the surface materials that are not yet fully melted. Moreover, the discharging channel

cut off halfway cannot produce enough pressure to expel the melted surface materials. Therefore,

the semi-molten state and undischarged metal compounds re-cover on the surface of the workpiece,

causing a cascading phenomenon which affects the processing quality of the workpiece surface.

Therefore, if most of the molten materials can be expelled smoothly, the rotation speed of the tool

electrode should be slow enough.

Different gap voltages correspond to different gaps between the tool electrode and the

workpiece. In the present study, gap voltages of 20V or 30V use relatively small gaps, where short

circuits may occur quickly. Meanwhile, the breakdown delay is also short. These hinder the

complete discharge process seriously. Most of the metal compounds that should have been

removed cannot be expelled smoothly. At the end of the machining process, they are solidified on

the surface of the workpiece, resulting in serious height differences and surfaces that are usually

coarser. When the gap voltage is 60V or 70V, the gap is relatively large. open circuits may occur

frequently, along with a longer breakdown delay, under these circumstances, parts of the mental

13
 compounds are expelled, but frequent open circuit phenomenon makes another part of the surface

materials that should be removed not processed, what's more is that the surface not processed is

coarse originally, the surface consistency is greatly affected, causing poor-quality surface.

Conclusion

In the present study, systematic research on the surface morphologies of three high-

performance alloys machined by micro-EDM was conducted and a novel surface-evaluation

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method combining fractal theory and wavelet filter was described. The following conclusions can

be drawn from the research presented:

1) Titanium alloys are more suitable for applications in aviation and aerospace industries because

they have higher fusion points and lower heat conductivities. The surface morphology of

the Ti–6Al–4V alloy machined by micro-EDM is better than that of stainless steel and

high-speed steel.

2) The RC-type supply is suitable for machining high-performance alloy surfaces where machining

efficiency is a priority, while the transistor-type supply is suitable for machining high-

performance alloy surfaces where surface quality is the most important.

3) Using the same high-performance alloy and machining parameters, the use of micro-EDM

milling obtains the best surface morphology. Micro-EDM grinding creates surfaces of

intermediate quality, and micro-WEDM creates the coarsest surfaces.

4) Smaller discharge energy creates smaller craters and peaks, thus obtaining a finer surface and

higher fractal dimension. Slower rotation speed of the tool electrode should be applied

under the condition of smooth chip evacuation. In this way, a fine surface morphology and

14
 high fractal dimension can be obtained. Both higher and lower gap voltages create coarse

surfaces with low fractal dimensions.

5) In evaluating the surface morphology machined by micro-EDM, it is found that the new

presented method combining fractal theory with wavelet filters is more suitable than the

use of the Ra parameter.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China for Young
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Scientists under Grant No.51505400; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

of China under Grant No. 20720160085.

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 Table 1. The property of three types of intractable materials

Property Ti-6Al-4V  SUS304 SKH59

Fusion point 1660℃ 1400℃ 1180℃

Hardness 350HV 200HV 860HV

Resistivity 0.000180Ω·cm 0.000073Ω·cm 0.000081Ω·cm

Heat Conductivity 6.7W /m·K 16.2W /m·K 25.1W /m·K

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Modulus of elasticity 120GPa  200GPa  220GPa 

Density 4.51g /cm3 7.93g /cm3 8.5g /cm3

Tensile strength 1170MPa  520MPa  300MPa 

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 Table 2. Experimental conditions for different micro EDM processing methods

Sequence Capacitor Votage Tool Tool Dieletric Workpiece Discharging

Number (pF) (V) rotation electrode energy (μJ)

speed

(r/m)

1 1500 70 3300 Brass Kerosene SKH59 3.675

2 1500 100 7.5

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3 2500 90 10.125

4 4000 90 16.2

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 Table 3. Experimental conditions for the investigation of surface morphology machined by RC
type pulse power supply

Sequence Capacitor Votage Tool rotation Tool Dieletric Workpiece Disch-

Number (pF) (V) speed (r/m) electrode ar-

ging

energy

(μJ)

1 10000 50 5500/3300/750 Brass Kerosene Ti-6Al- 12.5

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2 10000 80 4V / 32

3 10000 100 SUS304/ 50

4 10000 120 72

5 2200 120 15.84

6 15000 120 108

7 22000 120 316.8

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 Table 4. Experimental conditions for the investigation of surface morphology machined by
transistor type pulse power supply

Sequence Current Pulse Tool rotation Tool Dieletric Workpiece Dischar-

Number (A) Width speed (r/m) electrode ging

(ns) energy

(μJ)

1 0.2 500 5500/3300/750 Brass Kerosene Ti-6Al- 12

2 0.2 1000 4V / 24

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3 0.2 2000 SUS304 48

4 0.2 4000 96

5 0.6 2000 144

6 0.8 2000 192

7 1.0 2000 240

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 Table 5. Experimental conditions for the investigation of surface morphology machined by
different gap voltage

Sequence Capacitor Votage Gap Tool Tool Dieletric Workpiece

Number (pF) (V) voltage rotation electrode

(V) speed

(r/m)

1 10000 80 20~30 3300 Brass Kerosene Ti-6Al-4V 

2 30~40
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3 40~50

4 50~60

5 60~70

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 Table 6. Comparison of important parameters from three materials

Materials Diameter of Fractal Ra (μm) Variation of Variation of

craters (μm) dimension C Cu

Ti-6Al-4V  6.4 1.585 0.189 + 3.1% + 0.36%

SUS304 9.4 1.573 0.311 + 3.82% + 1.4%

SKH59 12.8 1.343 0.363 + 85% + 2.25%

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Figure 1. The schematic diagram of the evaluation rule.
 Figure 2. The discharging waveform of RC type (left) and transistor type pulse power supplies
(right).
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Figure 3. The schematics of three machining types.
 Figure 4. The surface morphology of Ti-6Al-4V (left), SUS304(middle) and SKH59(right)
machined by same discharging energy.
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 Figure 5. The energy spectrum analysis of surface morphology before and after machining.
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 Figure 6. Fractal dimensions of Ti-6Al-4V  surface morphology machined by different pulse
power supply under same discharging energy.
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 Figure 7. The surface morphology of different machining types under the same discharging
energy.
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 Figure 8. The affection of different machining parameters onto the surface fractal dimensions.
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