Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57

Micro-EDM—recent developments and research issues

D.T. Pham∗ , S.S. Dimov, S. Bigot, A. Ivanov, K. Popov
Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory, Manufacturing Engineering Centre, School of Engineering,
University of Wales Cardiff, Queen’s Buildings, PO Box 688, Cardiff CF2 3TE, UK

Abstract

Due to the high precision and good surface quality that it can give, EDM is potentially an important process for the fabrication of
micro-tools, micro-components and parts with micro-features. However, a number of issues remain to be solved before micro-EDM can
become a reliable process with repeatable results and its full capabilities as a micro-manufacturing technology can be realised. This paper
presents some recent developments in micro-EDM in its various forms (wire, drilling, milling and die-sinking) and discusses the main
research issues. The paper focuses on the planning of the EDM process and the electrode wear problem. Special attention is paid to factors
and procedures influencing the accuracy achievable, including positioning approaches during EDM and electrode grinding.
© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Micro-EDM; Micro-machining; EDM accuracy; Micro-holes

1. Introduction • Micro-EDM drilling, where micro-electrodes (of diame-

The EDM process is based on the thermoelectric energy
created between a workpiece and an electrode submerged
in a dielectric fluid. When the workpiece and the elec-
trode are separated by a specific small gap, the so-called
‘spark gap’, a pulsed discharge occurs which removes ma-
terial from the workpiece through melting and evapora-
tion.
In recent years, numerous developments in EDM have fo-
cused on the production of micro-features. This has become
possible due to the availability of new CNC systems and
advanced spark generators that have helped to improve ma-
chined surface quality. Also, the very small process forces
and good repeatability of the process results have made
micro-EDM the best means for achieving high-aspect-ratio
micro-features.
Current micro-EDM technology used for manufacturing
micro-features can be categorised into four different types:
• Micro-wire EDM, where a wire of diameter down to
0.02 mm is used to cut through a conductive workpiece.
• Die-sinking micro-EDM, where an electrode with
micro-features is employed to produce its mirror image
in the workpiece.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-29-20-874-429;
fax: +44-29-20-874-003.
E-mail address: phamdt@cf.ac.uk (D.T. Pham).
ters down to 5–10 ␮m) are used to ‘drill’ micro-holes in
the workpiece.
• Micro-EDM milling, where micro-electrodes (of diame-
ters down to 5–10 ␮m) are employed to produce 3D cav-
ities by adopting a movement strategy similar to that in
conventional milling.
Despite the number of publications extolling the improved
capabilities of these processes, they are still not widely used.
This is mainly due to the fact that available machine tools and
process characteristics are still not sufficiently reliable. This
paper describes the main problems restricting the application
of micro-EDM and presents some specific solutions.
2. Micro-EDM issues
This section discusses the above mentioned four types
of micro-EDM applications and identifies problematic ar-
eas with those applications. Miniaturisation of the product
requires a new approach to process design. Because so
far micro-EDM has tended to be performed using con-
ventional EDM machines modified to accommodate the
micro-manufacturing requirements, a number of problems
have arisen. Fig. 1 gives an overall view of the problems
discussed. Special attention is paid to the different sources
of errors directly affecting the accuracy of the EDM process
and suggestions for machining strategies to reduce those
errors are made.

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.02.008
 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57 51

Micro EDM Problematic Areas

Handling Electrode and Machining Measurement

Workpiece Process
Preparation

Electrodes Process Sources of CAM Surface

OFF - machine Parameters Errors Support Quality
Preparation

Parts
Drilling Threading Manufacturing Micro Machine Path Dimensions
Holes (WEDM) 3D Electrode Generation

ON - machine Electrode Knowledge

Electrode Based System
Preparation

Jigs and
Stationary Rotating Guided running Fixtures
Block Disk Wire

Electrode
Wear and
Machining strategies

Uniform Wear Multi Z level Wear

Method Electrode Compensation Monitoring System

Fig. 1. Problematic areas for micro-EDM.

2.1. Handling of electrodes and parts 2.2. Electrode and workpiece preparation

In wire EDM machines, the trend to reduce the diam- With micro-wire EDM, the main issues in workpiece
eter of the wire used has caused many problems with preparation relate to the production of small holes used for
handling electrodes and parts. Initially, existing wire ma- threading the wire into the workpiece. Depending on the pro-
chines were adapted to take smaller diameter wires (down file to be machined, these holes could have micro-diameters
to 0.03 mm), but this demanded significant time for ma- with a very high-aspect-ratio. Usually they are produced ei-
chine preparation. The distance from the spool position ther by drilling or EDM drilling. The accuracy of position-
to the threading nozzle was long, and caused a great deal ing of the hole(s) with respect to the measuring point should
of inconvenience for the installation of the wire. The dy- be high. This is to ease the automatic threading procedure
namic forces on the brakes could not be taken easily by and to avoid short-circuiting after threading, although au-
the very thin wire. This resulted in frequent wire breaks, tomatic threading through such holes, even on specialised
which required manual intervention. Even on the newly micro-wire machines, is difficult.
developed micro-wire machines, manipulating and han- When die-sinking of micro-features is required, one or
dling of wires with diameters as small as 0.02 or 0.03 mm more electrodes is produced in advance usually either by
can be difficult. When micro parts are manufactured on micro-milling or by EDM. In this case micro-features ma-
a wire machine, handling of the parts can also be chal-
lenging. Special measures should be considered after a
separation cut to avoid losing parts into the tank of the
machine.
In micro-EDM die-sinking, drilling or milling, different
techniques and devices can be employed to help handling
and manipulating small electrodes and parts. For instance,
the electrodes mainly used for EDM drilling and milling
are W (tungsten) or WC (tungsten carbide) rods or tubes,
of diameters within the range 0.1–0.4 mm, and their han-
dling is difficult as they can be easily damaged. Therefore,
sub-systems are incorporated into micro-EDM machines for
on-the-machine manufacture and holding of the required
micro-electrodes. The most common sub-systems are ce-
ramic guides and dressing units such as wire electro dis-
charge grinders (WEDG) (Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Dressing unit and ceramic guiding system.
52 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57
Fig. 3. Three types of electrode grinding devices.
chined onto the electrode should be offset with the spark
gap. Thus the feature size is further diminished which may
cause distortion of the form, even making the geometry im-
possible. Production of such 3D profile electrodes is costly
and time consuming.
Trajectory EDM (EDM milling) uses a simple shaped
electrode, rod or tube of diameter between 0.1 and 0.4 mm.
The electrode can be EDM ground if a smaller diameter is
required. As mentioned previously, to avoid handling diffi-
culties and error stack-up when the electrode is manufac-
tured externally to the EDM machine, additional devices are
used to prepare the electrode on the machine. The working
electrode is eroded against a sacrificial electrode in an op-
eration known as EDM grinding. Three different types of
sacrificial electrodes are used (Fig. 3). A problem is that the
shape, dimension and roughness of the ground electrode is
not easy to control [1].
2.3. EDM process
Process planning for micro-EDM should be considered
very carefully, as feature sizes are very small and so are the
tolerances of the machined surfaces. During the preparation
stage and the machining process itself, a number of errors
occur which may lead to disappointing results. These errors
are due to equipment imperfection on the one hand and the
stochastic nature of the sparking process on the other.
Many papers target ways of optimising EDM performance
measures like the material removal rate (MRR), tool wear
rate (TWR) and surface quality (SQ) [3]. Process parameters
for micro-EDM are still at the development stage and their
effects on performance measures have yet to be clarified. Be-
cause of the stochastic thermal nature of the EDM process, it
is difficult to explain all of those effects fully. The optimisa-
tion of parameters is based on process analysis to reveal the
influence of each process variable on the desired machining
characteristic [3]. The lack of information in this field is the
main reason for the inability to develop knowledge-based
systems to help the planning of micro-EDM operations.
Despite the use of advanced CNC controllers and the high
degree of automation of EDM machines, there is still a lack
of CAM tools to support micro-EDM. One of the main rea-
sons for the limited application of micro-EDM milling to the
machining of complex 3D cavities is the difficulty of gener-
ating tool paths using existing CAM systems. In particular,
those systems do not permit electrode wear compensation,
nor support variation of the slice thickness or allow the di-
rection of cut to vary with each slice. Attempts to address
these issues have been reported [2].
2.4. Measurement
Measuring the dimensions or the surface quality of
micro-features is not an easy task. There are not even
standardised methods of determining the surface rough-
ness, which is one of the most important characteristics for
micro-tooling.
Estimation of the recast layer and heat-affected zone,
which affect the properties of the machined surface, requires
specialised equipment [4].
On-the-machine measurement of electrode and fea-
ture dimensions is necessary to achieve good accuracy in
micro-EDM. This is because after a part that has been taken
out of the machine for measurement is reinstated for more
machining, the resetting error will drastically affect the final
accuracy of the machined features. Work on on-line fea-
ture and electrode measurement has already been reported
[1].
3. Sources of errors
To describe the typical sources of errors and their cumu-
lative effect on the final accuracy, single-pass drilling of a
small hole using a dressed electrode will be used as an ex-
ample.
The achieved diameter H of the hole depends on the di-
ameter of the effective dressed electrode diameter d and the
spark gap ge (Fig. 4).
H = 2ge + d (1)
The deviation from the nominal H (H) is function of vari-
ations in the spark gap ge and the effective dressed elec-
 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57 53

Y the accuracy of detecting contact with the surface (Xmeas ,

ge
Ymeas , gmeas ) and the variation in the initial effective
XH diameter of the electrode (D).
Xset ∅H

YH
3.1. Machine errors
X
Xpos Ypos
d Yset 3.1.1. Accuracy and repeatability of positioning
The accuracy and repeatability of positioning of the ma-
Fig. 4. Achieved dimensions.
chine employed is a major source of errors. Using a laser
interferometer, the accuracy and repeatability of positioning
gmeas of a micro-EDM die-sinking machine was measured accord-
D/2 ing to ISO 230-2:1997 and some of the results are given in
Table 1.
workpiece To machine a micro-hole at a specific position (Xpos ,
Xmeas Ypos ), multiple dressed electrodes might be required and
Xset therefore the accuracy of positioning of the machine will
mainly affect the position of the hole, while the repeatabil-
Fig. 5. Setting up process. ity of positioning will impact on the size and shape of the
hole.
trode diameter d. On a specific machine, with a certain accuracy and re-
peatability of positioning, the only way to improve Xpos
H = 2ge + d (2) and Ypos is to adopt a unidirectional approach to the hole.
The position of the hole is given by the following equations
directly derived from Fig. 4. 3.1.2. Measuring cycles errors (∆Xmeas , Ymeas , D)
During the setting up of the workpiece, when electrical
XH = Xpos − Xset , YH = Ypos − Yset (3) contact occurs between the electrode and the workpiece, a
In order to set up the workpiece position in the work area, the contact signal is registered by the machine system processor.
machine spindle which is an electrode of nominal effective The processor has set priorities in checking each machine
diameter (D) is employed as a probe. It should be noted that status signal, which means that the checking of the contact
the use of external probes or other set-up devices is ruled signal is not carried out continuously. There is a time interval
out because it would require reattachment of the high-speed (tmeas ) between each signal check. This causes an error in
spindle and readjusting of the ceramic guide and therefore determining the position of the workpiece when measuring
introduce more errors. The set-up process is represented in Xmeas and Ymeas . If the speed of approaching the surface is
Fig. 5. Vmeas , the variation will be:


Xmeas (Ymeas ) = Vmeas tmeas (8)
XH = Xpos − Xmeas + 21 D + gmeas (4)
Usually the contact signal is checked every 2–5 ms (depend-


ing on the controller). Obviously, to minimise the error the
YH = Ypos − Ymeas + 2 D + gmeas
1
(5)
speed should be as low as possible but high enough to avoid
The deviations are respectively: stick-slip. For example, if tmeas is 3 ms and the measuring
speed is from 1 to 20 mm/min, the calculated variation is
XH = Xpos + Xmeas + 21 D + gmeas (6) 0.05–1 ␮m.
YH = Ypos + Ymeas + 21 D + gmeas (7) During the measuring cycle, voltage is applied between
the table and the spindle. The machine moves until elec-
The accuracy of the position of the hole will depend on trical contact is made. As the surfaces tend to oxidise, a
the accuracy of positioning of the machine (Xpos , Ypos ), different gap or different contact pressure is needed for the

Table 1
Repeatability and accuracy of positioning
Repeatability of positioning Accuracy of positioning

X (␮m) Y (␮m) Z (␮m) X (␮m) Y (␮m) Z (␮m)

Unidirectional ↑ 3.76 4.49 1.48 14.03 5.03 2.39

Unidirectional ↓ 2.95 4.92 1.27 11.85 5.18 1.82
Bi-directional 5.33 7.83 1.90 15.70 7.91 2.73
54 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57
Y Dressing
d/2
yd
gd
yunit
Erosion point X peatability of positioning is highest.
Fig. 6. Dressing process.
spark to break through. All these factors contribute to a sur-
face detection error introducing variation in the spark gap
gmeas .
D is due to a cyclic movement of the electrode in
X and Y within the ceramic guide while the electrode
is rotating. Therefore, contact between the electrode and
the surface might occur at different positions in the
cycle.
The accuracy of measurement is dependent on the speed
of approach to the workpiece surface. The lower it is in
relation to the speed of rotation of the electrode, the smaller
the error will be. This is confirmed by an experiment in
which the variations in surface detection on a WC block with
a ∅150 ␮m WC electrode at different approach speeds were
measured. For speeds of 20, 5 and 1 mm/min (the lowest
speed on-the-machine), (gmeas + D/2) is respectively
equal to 5.7, 3.9 and 3 ␮m.
3.2. Electrode dressing
In order to reduce the initial effective diameter D down to
an effective diameter d, an electrical-discharge grinding unit
is employed as shown in Fig. 6. For this study, movement
in the dressing process is performed along the Y-axis. The
distance yunit gives the position of the eroding point in the
work area of the machine relative to the machine reference
point. The electrode is eroded until the centre of the spindle
reaches a target position yd resulting in an effective dressed
electrode of diameter d. Taking into account the spark gap
gd between the electrode and the dressing unit, the obtained
effective diameter d is defined by Eq. (9).
d = 2(yd − yunit − gd )
The variation in d (d) will depend on the variation in
the position of the grinding device yunit , the variation in
the positioning of the centre of the electrode yd and the
variation of the spark gap when grinding gd .
d = 2(yd + yunit + gd )
Finally, the variation in the diameter of the hole drilled by
a single dressed electrode will be determined by Eq. (12):
H = 2(ge + yd − yunit − gd )
H = 2(ge + yd + yunit + gd )
Variation yd will arise due to the machine accuracy and
repeatability of positioning. An obvious way of reducing
yd during the dressing process is always to approach the
position from the same direction (unidirectional approach).
Another way of limiting the error is to identify an area
on-the-machine and to fix the dressing unit where the re-
3.2.1. Temperature instability error (∆yunit )
yunit is the position of the point of erosion on the dressing
unit in the machine co-ordinate system.
Changes in the temperature in the room and in the machine
structure cause variations in the relative position between
the rotating head and the table of the machine and therefore
affect the position of the dressing unit with respect to the
electrode and the machine zero point.
The obvious way to minimise those variations is to work
in a temperature-controlled room and to ensure thermal sta-
bility of the machine structure. Each machine should be
tested to establish the time for the temperature of the ma-
chine to stabilise for certain ambient conditions and the
temperature-related deviation of each axis should be mea-
sured in order to plan electrode dressing with minimum er-
ror.
3.2.2. Spark gaps (∆ge , gd )
ge is defined as gap between the electrode and the work-
piece. Its nominal value is determined by the chosen pulse
parameters (shape, length, frequency) and the dielectric
used. In conventional EDM, the selection of pulse param-
eters is directly linked with the removal rate and surface
roughness required. In micro-EDM, electrode wear is an-
other important criterion which also needs to be carefully
considered. In addition, in order to achieve micro-features,
the spark gap should be very small.
Variations in ge (ge ) bring random errors which can
occur due to flushing conditions and lack of surface/material
integrity [1].
gd is defined as the gap between the electrode and the
dressing unit. As in the case of ge , the value of gd is fixed
by the chosen pulse parameters and dielectric material, and
variations in gd (gd ) can arise due to flushing conditions
and lack of surface/material integrity. The pulse parameters
(9)
are selected depending on the surface roughness required
and on the speed of dressing.
Because the electrode is rotating, its surface roughness
should not significantly influence the roughness of the
machined surfaces. However, due to the small dimensions
involved, a high degree of roughness will affect the strength
(10) of the dressed electrodes which could break during the
process.
Estimation of gd is difficult but it can be assumed that
it will not exceed ge in the worst case. This is because,
(11) during dressing, sparking conditions are more favourable
than during drilling itself as dressing involves single point
(12) sparking with better flushing.
 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57
Fig. 7. Effect of gap between ceramic guide and electrode.
3.3. Jigs and fixtures
The most popular device for holding the long thin WC
electrode is a ceramic guide. The effective diameter of the
electrode D is determined by the initial diameter Dinit and
the assembly conditions between the electrode and the ce-
ramic guide. The difference between the diameter Dinit and
the diameter of the ceramic guide Dguide creates a gap that
introduces potential errors as shown in Fig. 7.
Thus, variations in the effective diameter (D) can occur,
which reflect the tolerance of the electrode and the assembly
conditions between the electrode and the ceramic guide.
Based on the parameters shown in Fig. 7, the maxi-
mum variation in effective electrode diameter is defined by
Eq. (13):
(Dguide − Dinit min )zguide
D = Dguide + 2 − Dinit min
Lguide
(13)
In the above equation, Dguide is the diameter of the
guide, Dinit min is the minimum diameter of the initial elec-
trode according to the manufactured tolerance and zguide
is the length of the electrode protruding from the ceramic
guide.
In the experiments discussed in this paper, the diame-
ter of the electrode was Dinit = 0.146 ± 0.002 mm, thus
Dinit min = 0.144 mm, and the measured diameter of the
ceramic guide was Dguide = 0.154 mm. Lguide was 12 mm,
and zguide was less than 2 mm. Based on those values, the
calculated maximum deviation D was 13.3 ␮m.
However, this maximum variation can only occur when
the position of the electrode within the guide shifts to a
number of extreme points. This is only possible when there
is significant movement of the electrode along the X and Y
axes relative to the guide. This is highly unlikely.
3.4. Electrode wear
Electrode wear is not a major problem for micro-wire
EDM, apart from the fact that a high rate of wear might cause
more frequent wire breaks. This is due to the fact that wear
reduces the cross section of the micro-wire and therefore the
maximum tension the wire can take drops significantly.
55
Fig. 8. Electrode shape changes on a ∅150 ␮m electrode for two erosion
depths.
Electrode wear becomes an important issue when em-
ploying electrodes with micro-features in die-sinking as the
combination of micro-features and macro-features on one
electrode will introduce different wear ratios. The sparking
area will change as the electrode moves down, which will
bring different sparking conditions during the process and
will reduce quality.
In micro-EDM drilling, there are problems when produc-
ing blind holes because wear constantly reduces the length
of the electrode. As a result, when eroding down to a fixed
depth, the real depth of the hole will be significantly smaller.
A method to achieve a specific depth in this case is to
compensate for wear of the electrode by constant electrode
feeding in the Z-axis [9]. This method requires an accu-
rate model for estimating the volumetric wear ratio (the ra-
tio of electrode wear and workpiece wear). Certain factors
affecting the wear ratio are difficult to assess and control,
like flushing conditions in a deep hole for instance. This
could easily result in wrong estimation of the wear ratio and
therefore in errors in the produced depth. The shape of the
electrode also changes during machining (Fig. 8) towards
a hemisphere, which causes errors in the produced bottom
surface.
One solution is to repeat the process a number of times
with new or reground micro-electrodes until the required
profile is obtained. This is called the multiple electrode strat-
egy. The main drawback is that it can be time consuming
and difficult to predict the number of needed electrodes.
The problems created by electrode wear become more
complicated when machining complex 3D micro-cavities.
Either wear is too severe to allow the use of complex-shape-
electrodes in a classical die-sinking process or electrode ge-
ometry is impossible. Thus, for the production of micro-3D
cavities, the use of micro-EDM milling with simple
shape-electrodes might be the preferred strategy.
A basic method is to use a layer-by-layer machining strat-
egy that compensates for wear during the machining of each
layer by constant electrode feeding in the Z-axis, based on
estimation of the wear ratio. It is assumed that eroding of
sufficiently thin layers would ensure that wear only occurs
on the face of the electrode but not on the sides. Very accu-
rate estimation of the amount of wear is required, because
an error in the estimation would have a cumulative effect
through the layers. However, even when using a very small
layer thickness, side wear is not negligible and introduces
errors in the machined profile.
In the uniform wear method (UWM) [5,6], the tool (elec-
trode) path is specially designed to ensure that after the ma-
56 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57
chining of each layer the original shape of the electrode is
restored. This is done using a combination of carefully de-
signed overlapping tool paths and very small layer thickness
(0.5–10 ␮m). The use of thin layers results in good flush-
ing conditions, a more stable erosion process and therefore
more predictable wear.
According to Yu [7], UWM involves a time consuming
empirical approach for selecting tool paths. The design of
these tool paths derives from the values of the cross section
area of the electrode, the area of the layer surface, the depth
of cut and the volumetric wear ratio which are assumed
to be constant. Any variation in one of these values could
introduce discrepancies in the machined layer, and would
affect the values of the parameters for the next layers.
As the sparking conditions and therefore the volumet-
ric wear might not be constant during the erosion process,
another type of compensation method has been proposed,
which is based on the monitoring of the sparking condi-
tions during the process in order to estimate wear on-line
using a mathematical model of the sparking efficiency. Such
a method has been considered for conventional EDM [8,9].
However, because of the accuracy required, its development
in micro-EDM is still at an early stage. A sufficiently ac-
curate mathematical model representing the sparking phe-
nomenon is yet to be found.
The main problem with previously presented wear com-
pensation methods is that they rely highly on the accuracy
of the wear estimation models they employ. Thus, with these
methods under-estimation of the amount of wear could eas-
ily result in overcutting of the cavity. Many researchers have
focused on the difficult problem of wear estimation [7,10]
but the accuracy of the proposed models still needs to be
verified for use in micro-EDM milling.
In this paper, a simple method based on the multiple elec-
trode strategy is proposed, which can give a better level of
repeatability and accuracy for micro-EDM milling. One of
the main advantages is a significantly reduced risk of over-
cutting the profiles.
The main idea of the proposed method is to machine
a cavity using a number of different milling paths, each
covering the complete volume of the cavity, and, before
starting each path, to reset the Z co-ordinate Zcontact at which
the tip of the electrode first establishes electrical contact
with the workpiece. If electrode dressing is performed at
the beginning of a path, the remaining length of dressed
electrode should be long enough, at least equal to the depth
of the cavity, to avoid erosion with the undressed part of the
electrode.
By resetting Zcontact before each path, the amount of wear
from the previous path can be estimated, which gives an
indication of the need for further machining or electrode
dressing. The machining process can continue until no more
wear is registered on the electrode.
To illustrate the process, an example is given in Fig. 9.
After the first machining pass (Path 1 in Fig. 9), due to
wear appearing on the side and the face of the electrode,
Initial Zcontact Resulting Cavities
Programmed Path 1
Reset Zcontact
Programmed Path 2
Reset Zcontact
Programmed Path 3
Reset Zcontact No wear
Programmed Path 4
New Electrode
Reset Z contact
Finishing Path
Fig. 9. Proposed strategy for wear compensation.
the cavity is only partially eroded. Zcontact is reset and a
path is selected for the next machining pass. Once there is
no more wear on the electrode (for example after Path 4 in
Fig. 9), one or more finishing passes with a newly dressed
electrode might need to be performed in order to complete
the machining (finishing path in Fig. 9).
The main drawback of this method is the time wasted
when an electrode follows a path already eroded. Consider-
ing the speed of movement when no erosion occurs in com-
parison with the speed of movement when eroding, this time
loss is relatively small. However, to reduce the number of
electrodes that might be needed to complete a cavity, each
path should be specially designed to optimise the removal
of material. In order to estimate the number of passes re-
quired, an estimation model similar to the one presented in
reference [11] could be used.
With improvements in wear estimation models, further
developments in compensation methods may be expected.
They are likely to focus on hybrid compensation approaches,
where for instance UWM could be first used, ensuring no
overcutting, and then a multiple electrode strategy would
accurately finish the profile. The accuracy and reliability of
these processes should be carefully assessed if they are to
be applied industrially.
4. Conclusions
This paper has given an overview of the main issues
affecting the performance and limiting the application of
micro-EDM. The presented results can help to plan the pro-
 D.T. Pham et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 149 (2004) 50–57
cess within the expected tolerances. The following conclu-
sions may be drawn:
• When assigning process tolerances for micro-EDM all
aspects of the process, such as type of electrode grinding,
type of positioning and duration of the operation, should
be considered. All these activities will accumulate errors,
which should be taken into account.
• The overall machining efficiency depends on a compli-
cated relationship between the different process parame-
ters and their optimisation is mainly based on empirical
methods.
• To remain competitive as a micro-manufacturing technol-
ogy, micro-EDM processes should use reliable algorithms
and strategies with repeatable results. The proposed strat-
egy for micro-milling replaces the complex calculations of
other existing methods with simple length measurement.
This should make the new strategy attractive to industry.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out as part of the ERDF (Objec-
tive 1) project ‘Supporting Innovative Product Engineering
and Responsive Manufacturing’ (SUPERMAN), the ERDF
(Objective 2) project ‘Micro-Tooling Centre’, the EC Net-
work of Excellence ‘4M’ and the EC Network of Excellence
‘I∗ PROMS’.
57
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