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Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000
18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace Industry, MIC 2018
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18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace Industry, MIC 2018

Analysis of Characteristic Process Parameters to Identify Unstable
Process Conditions
Analysis of Characteristic Processduring Wire to
Parameters EDMIdentify Unstable
Manufacturing Engineering
Process Society International
Conditions Conference
during Wire2017,
EDMMESIC 2017, 28-30 June
T. Bergs, U. Tombul*, T. Herrig, M. Olivier, A. Klink, F. Klocke
2017, Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain
T. Bergs, U. Tombul*, T. Herrig, M. Olivier, A. Klink, F. Klocke
Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University, Campus-Boulevard 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Costing models for capacity optimization in Industry 4.0: Trade-off
Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University, Campus-Boulevard 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Abstract between used capacity and operational efficiency
Abstract
The demand for higher efficiency in aircraft apropulsion engines
A. Santana , P. Afonsoa,*leads , A. toZanin
materials
b with increasingb thermo-mechanical strengths.
, R. Wernke
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89809-000 cause inacceptable
properties
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SC, Brazil geometrical deviations.strength).
or high-temperature Due to the electro-
However,
thermal material removal mechanism, wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a promising alternative
it is necessary to increase productivity to get a better competitive position. Unstable process conditions limit the productivity of manufacturing process.
The manufacturing
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and thus an adaption of control algorithm. Therefore, a stable and an automatable manufacturing process can be achieved and
maximization. The study of capacity optimization and costing models is an important research topic that deserves
increase
© the productivity
2018 The Authors. especially
Published when machining
by Elsevier relevant turbomachinery parts like fir tree slots in disks.
contributions from both the practical andB.V.theoretical perspectives. This paper presents and discusses a mathematical
Peer review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace
model
© 2018for
© 2018 Thecapacity
The Authors. management
Authors. Published by
Published based on
by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.different costing models (ABC and TDABC). A generic model has been
B.V.
Industry.
Peer-reviewand under responsibility of the scientific committee
developed it was used to analyze
Peer review under responsibility of the scientific idle capacity and of
committeeto the 18th Machiningtowards
design
of thestrategies
Innovations
18th Machining Innovations theConference
maximization for Aerospace
Conference
Industry.
of organization’s
for Aerospace
value. The trade-off capacity maximization vs operational efficiency
Industry. Electrical discharge machining (EDM); Wire EDM; Process control; Adaptive control
Keywords: is highlighted and it is shown that capacity
optimization might hide operational inefficiency.
© 2017 The
Keywords: Authors.
Electrical Published
discharge by Elsevier
machining (EDM);B.V.
Wire EDM; Process control; Adaptive control
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference
2017.

Keywords: Cost Models; ABC; TDABC; Capacity Management; Idle Capacity; Operational Efficiency

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-241-80-28175; fax: +49-241-80-22293.
E-mail
The address:
cost u.tombul@wzl.rwth-aachen.de
of idle capacity is a fundamental information for companies and their management of extreme importance
in*modern
Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-241-80-28175; fax: +49-241-80-22293.
production systems. In general, it is defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
E-mail address:
2351-9789 u.tombul@wzl.rwth-aachen.de
in several©ways:
2018 The
tonsAuthors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
of production, available hours of manufacturing, etc. The management of the idle capacity
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace Industry.
* Paulo Afonso. Tel.: +351 253 510 761; fax: +351 253 604 741
2351-9789 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
E-mail address: psafonso@dps.uminho.pt
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace Industry.

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
2351-9789 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 18th Machining Innovations Conference for Aerospace Industry.
10.1016/j.promfg.2018.11.018
 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145 139
2 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

1. Introduction

The growing use of materials with increasing thermo-mechanical strengths brings conventional manufacturing
processes to their technical and economical limits. The manufacturing technology wire EDM is increasingly used to
machine these materials. The aerospace sector assigns the task of a high power to weight ratio along with a high
economic efficiency by using and developing new materials. Due to the electro-thermal removal process, all materials
with a minimum electrical conductivity of κ = 10 S/m can be machined independently of their thermo-mechanical
properties [1–3]. To expand the competitiveness of wire EDM, it is necessary to improve continuously the productivity
of the process. Maximum cutting rates in wire EDM are limited by wire breakages. Wire breakages can cause reject
parts because the wire threading in a gap of complex and filigree geometry like a fir tree slot is not ensured. A start of
the same cutting would produce undesirable influence on the surface. In addition, higher cutting rates can be achieved
by the optimization of the applied technology or by an improved process controlling. Both options require a better
process knowledge of the EDM process.
Unstable process conditions limit the productivity of the wire EDM process, have a negative impact on the
machined workpiece quality and cause wire breakages [4–7]. Unstable process conditions accumulate directly before
a wire breakage [8]. A single process condition in EDM can be evaluated by the form of the discharge. While normal
discharges are mainly required because they feature the highest material removal rate, misdischarges and short
discharges should be prevented. In the following discharges are especially distinguished in normal and abnormal
discharges. Due to the high pulse frequencies of the EDM process, the computing time to analyze the process
parameters is very high. Therefore, adaptive controller are applied, which determine the parameter of the generator
and the characteristics of the feed rate control depending on the workpiece height and actual process sequence. The
feed rate control in wire EDM is conventionally performed by a feedback signal of the average gap voltage. Using the
gap voltage the gap width between the wire and the workpiece can be determined. The difference between this signal
and a reference voltage value is used to adapt the working gap width. However, the average gap voltage does not
provide information about the different discharges [1,8]. There are different causes for wire breakages, including short
discharges, inefficient removal of particles and other stochastic phenomena [4]. Already in the early stage of wire
EDM several researches dealt with the prediction and causes of wire breakages or the stability of the EDM process by
analyzing different process parameters [8–16]. The research showed an increase of discharges and especially of
abnormal discharges directly before a wire breakage. Furthermore, the discharge energy, the maximal discharge
current and the ignition delay time were analyzed. The studies differ in their test conditions and the analyzed process
parameter. As these investigations have been carried out more than a decade ago, analysis on a modern wire EDM
machine with current generator technology are necessary to further improve the process.
This paper deals with the analysis of the characteristic process parameters to identify unstable process conditions.
Unstable process conditions were caused by manually increased discharge energies W e and increasing effective pulse
frequencies fe. Both parameters increase the discharge power Pe and therewith the productivity of the cutting process.
A steel material, a titanium material and a ceramic material were selected as test materials.

Nomenclature

EDM Electro Discharge Machining

t̅ e Average Discharge Duration / µs
t̅ d Average Ignition Delay Time / µs
u̅i Average Open Circuit Voltage / V
u̅e Average Discharge Voltage / V
ie̅ Average Discharge Current / A
̅
ie,std Average Discharge Current for standard parameter setting / A
fe Effective Pulse Frequency / kHz
w̅e Average Discharge Energy / mJ
Pe Discharge Power / W
140 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 3

2. Experimental Work

2.1. Test material specification and equipment

The three test materials were selected as representatives to different fields of wire EDM applications. The steel
material X40Cr14 was chosen as a typical material for the tool and die industry [17]. Titanium and titanium alloys are
increasingly used in the aerospace sector [18,19]. As a representative to this material group, TiAl6V4 was selected.
Due to its chemical composition and its physical properties, TiAl6V4 is especially applied in jet engines. It has a good
specific strength, a high elastic energy absorption capacity and a high corrosion resistance which enables the material
for life science applications as well [20–22]. Technical ceramics are applied in the automotive, the aerospace and the
medical technology sector [2,23]. The silicon carbid SiC was tested as a ceramic material. All specimen had a
workpiece height of h = 10 mm. Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the materials.

Table 1. Compositions of X40Cr14 [24], TiAl6V4 [25] and SiC [26]

X40Cr14
Element C Si Mn P S Cr
Weight % 0.40 1.0 1.0 0.03 0.03 14.5
TiAl6V4
Element Al V Fe O N C H Ti
Weight % 6.75 4.5 0.3 0.2 0.05 0.08 0.01 rest
SiC*
Element Si C B

The experiments were performed on a Makino U6 H.E.A.T. machine tool with a water-based dielectric. It is
equipped with an anti-electrolysis generator, which offers different cutting strategies for various materials. The
standard brass wire electrode “Bercocut special” (BS) from the manufacturer Berkenhoff with a diameter of d = 0.25
mm was selected for the investigations. For the analysis of the process parameters, the current and voltage signals of
the wire EDM process were measured. Modern high-frequency measurement technology by Tektronix was applied.
A current probe and a high voltage differential probe were used to measure the current and voltage. The signals were
recorded and saved on a storage oscilloscope. The analysis of the recorded data was conducted in Matlab.

2.2. Experimental procedure

For the analysis of characteristic process parameters, it is necessary to create actively an unstable EDM process to
identify unstable process conditions Thereby, it is possible to compare the process parameters for a stable and an
unstable EDM process. The aim of this paper is to find a trend or other characteristics of the process parameters by a
change of the process stability. The initial situation of the experiments was the use of a standard technology, which is
developed for steel materials with a workpiece height of h = 10 mm. In the parameter setting the adaptive control of
the machine was turned off as far as possible. A stable wire EDM process is ensured by a straight cut with minimum
cutting length l = 50 mm without a wire breakage. A wire breakage is caused by an unstable EDM process. Therefore,
in two different test series the discharge energy We and the effective pulse frequency fe have been gradually increased
until wire breakages occurred under a machining time of five seconds. Other machining parameters have not been
changed for all experiments. The parameters are raised during the EDM process. In all cutting tests, a length of 5 mm
using the standard parameter setting were machined before increasing W e or fe. Thereby, the necessary flushing
pressure was ensured and constant flushing conditions during a change of We and fe. In preliminary investigations, the

* Weight of elements are classified.

 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145 141
4 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

correlation between machining parameters and process parameters have been analyzed. Thus, it was possible to
increase independently We and fe by changing the machining parameters to create wire breakages.

2.3. Measurement setup and signal processing

A direct measurement of the absolute process current is not possible, the current signal of just one electric cable of
the wire EDM machine was measured. Preliminary investigations showed that all electric cables have qualitatively
the same signals. As to identify trends or characteristics of process parameters are the aim of this paper, a qualitative
evaluation of the measured signals is sufficient. Therefore, in this paper the discharge current ie and the discharge
energy We are depicted as standardized values. The standardization of ie and We are based on the normal discharge
values, using standard machining parameters. A sample rate of 200 million data per seconds and a recording time of
200 ms were chosen. Thereby, each current and voltage signal includes 40 million data points. For each parameter
setting five measurements were executed. For the extraction of the electrical process parameters by the measured
current and voltage signals, methods of signal processing were executed by using Matlab. In addition, the different
discharges in the wire EDM process can be distinguished. Four different discharges were distinguished. Normal
discharges achieve the aimed open circuit voltage ûi and a maximal discharge current ̂ie . Two different types of
misdischarges were identified. They differ mainly in their level of discharge energy. There are discharges with an
ignited power stage and without. The short discharge detonates without an ignited power stage and an open circuit
voltage. With the distinction of discharges, it is possible to specify the proportion of normal and abnormal discharges
during the EDM process. The discharge forms were defined based on [1]. Furthermore, it is potential to engage the
process parameter depending on the different discharges. For each parameter setting, the process parameters for every
discharge of all five measurements were evaluated. For the analysis of the process parameters, their arithmetic means
were determined for each parameter variation.

3. Analysis of the process parameters

3.1. Correlation between machining parameters and the process parameters

In the wire EDM machine tool the effective pulse frequency and the discharge energy cannot be set directly. In
addition to that, in preliminary investigations the correlation between the machining parameters and the process
parameters were analyzed to figure out which machining parameters influence the effective pulse frequency f e and the
discharge energy We. The machining parameter OFF was identified to regulate the pulse interval time t0 and thereby
the effective pulse frequency fe. The discharge energy We is defined by following parameters and the equation [1]:

(1)
We = ∫ ue (t)∙i(t) dt ≈ u̅ e ∙ie̅ ∙te

The discharge energy We can be changed by the machining parameter IPM without varying the discharge duration.
For the preliminary investigations, single discharges were analyzed and the selected machining parameter were
verified. Therewith, an adjustment of the discharge energy nearly without changing the effective pulse frequency can
be conducted. The implemented pulse interval time t0 and discharge energy We in the standard steel technology for a
workpiece height of h = 10 mm were selected as initial situation for a stable wire EDM process. Values of the
machining parameters which are marked with an asterisk in the diagrams, caused wire breakages. The discharge
energies are featured conditionally of normal, abnormal and all discharges. In addition to X40Cr40, the evaluations
were also conducted for TiAl6V4 and SiC and lead to the same results.
142 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 5

3.2. Evaluation of process parameters and distribution of discharge forms

In the following, the evaluations of process characteristics for unstable process conditions are presented. Fig. 1 a)
shows the change of the average discharge current ie̅ by an increasing effective pulse frequency. Although the OFF
parameter (pulse interval time t0) has no regulation function for the discharge current, ie̅ decreases during a parameter
choice that leads to wire breakages. The reason for this is the short pulse interval time, which does not ensure optimal
gap conditions for the ignition of a new discharge. Due to insufficient flushing of the working gap, particles impede
an optimal discharge. In addition, Fig. 1 b) shows that the average discharge duration t̅e decreases slightly during an
exaggerated effective pulse frequency for machining SiC. Furthermore, w ̅ e also decreases for this parameter setting.

Normal discharges Abnormal discharges All discharges

a) b)
1.4 1.5

Avg. discharge duration ̅ / µs

Parameter: w
̅ e /w
̅ e std = 1
1.2
̅

Material: X40Cr14
Relative discharge current ̅

1
1
0.8
0.6 c
0.4 0.5
Parameter: w
̅ e /w
̅ e std = 1
0.2
Material: SiC
0 0
16.9 14.9 12.9 12.3 12.1 11.9* 16.9 14.9 12.9 10.9 9.9 8.9*
(std) .
Pulse interval time t0 / µs *: Wire Breakage (std) .
Pulse interval time t0 / µs

Fig. 1. Influence of t0 (fe) on: a) relative discharge current; b) average discharge duration.
Liao et al. [12] published the distribution of discharges with different ignition delay times by increasing pulse interval
times. The same researches were executed for decreasing discharge durations. The investigations in this paper show
that the average ignition delay time t̅d extends with an increasing average discharge energy, see Fig. 2 a). The analysis
of the distribution of td in one measurement does not produce any characteristics. The raising discharge energy also
effected a growing average open circuit voltage u̅i of approx. 7 %, which can cause the extensions of td. A higher
extension of u̅i about 20 % is shown in Fig. 2 b) for machining TiAl6V4. Similar results were delivered in
investigations for machining different test materials.

a) b)
40 120
Avg. open circuit voltage ̅ / V
Avg. ignition delay time ̅ / µs

100
30
80
20 60
40
10 Parameter: t0,std = 16.9 µs Parameter: w
̅ e /w
̅ e std = 1
20
Material: X40Cr14 Material: TiAl6V4
0 0
1 (std) 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4* 16.9 (std) 14.9 13.9* 12.9*
Relative discharge energy ̅ ̅ *: Wire Breakage . Pulse interval time t0 / µs

Fig. 2. Influence of parameter: a) W e on average ignition delay time; b) t0 (fe) on average open circuit voltage.
 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145 143
6 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

Fig. 3 a) shows the change of discharges by machining TiAl6V4 during varying the pulse interval time t 0.The analysis
of the distribution of discharge forms shows an increase of short discharges and a reduction of normal discharges
while raising the effective pulse frequency. On the contrary, no significant increase of abnormal discharges occurred
by machining with an excessive discharge energy, see Fig 3 b). Equal results show the evaluations of the investigations
with X40Cr14 and SiC. In addition to the distribution of abnormal discharges, the standard deviations of the evaluated
frequencies rises.

Normal Discharge Misdischarge - Type 1 Misdischarge - Type 2 Short Discharge

a) b)
100 100
Parameter: t0,std = 16.9 µs

Distribution of discharge forms / %

Parameter: w
̅ e /w
̅ e std = 1
Distribution of discharge forms / %

Material: TiAl6V4 Material: X40Cr14

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
16.9 (std) 14.9 13.9* 1 (std) 1.1 1.2 1.3* 1.4*
Pulse. interval time t0 / µs *: Wire Breakage Relative discharge
. energy ̅ ̅

Fig. 3. Distribution of discharge forms during varying parameter a) t 0 (fe); b) We.

These results accord with findings of other researches [8,9,12,27,28]. The increase of short discharges by a growing
number of discharges per second, is caused by the insufficient flushing of the working gap [1,4]. The inefficient
removal of erosion particles can form a bridge, which causes a short circuit between the wire and workpiece. The
increase of misdischarges and short discharges could finally lead to a higher removal of the wire and cause the
breakage. As the process conditions directly before a wire breakage are unstable, it can justify the rising standard
deviation. The process instability verifies the stochastic behavior of the EDM process. Therefore, the distribution of
the different discharges and the diversification characterize unstable process conditions. In contrast, no significant
changes of the distribution of different discharges can be determined by increasing the discharge energy. The reasons
for the wire breakage under these conditions must have other types of stochastic phenomena that appear during the
cutting process and is not clearly clarified.

3.3. Time-dependent distribution of discharges

In addition to the evaluation of the distribution of different discharge forms applying various parameter settings,
time-dependent distribution of discharges were analyzed. For that purpose, the discharges in a single measurement
were investigated. Thus, it is possible to detect when a specific number or ratio of discharges have been ignited.
Furthermore, distribution of discharges immediate before a wire breakage can be analyzed. In the following, the
relative frequency for all discharges and abnormal discharges are displayed in a bar diagram for a single measurement
with 200 ms. Each bar represents the relative frequency in a period of 10 ms. While a consistent distribution of the
discharges was evaluated for a stable EDM process using standard parameters, conspicuities were determined for
unstable process conditions especially by machining SiC. Fig. 4 a) shows the distribution during a measurement by
machining steel under excessive discharge energy, which produced wire breakage. Fig. 4 b) shows the same for
excessive effective pulse frequency for SiC. Excessive discharge energies cause an increase by 80 % of discharges 20
ms before a wire breakage. An exaggerated pulse frequency causes a significant rise of the discharges 100 ms before
144 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 7

a wire breakage. Similar results were determined in other researches for machining SiC [4,12,27]. In addition, no
trends or characteristics were detected during machining of X40Cr14 and TiAl6V4. The regulation of the machine
has been further optimized in the past decade and prevents wire breakages by impeding such deterministic occurrences
like a rise of discharges immediate before a wire breakage.

All Discharges Abnormal discharges

a) 0.09 b) 0.09
0.08 t0,std = 16.9 µs 0.08 t0 = 8.9* µs
w
̅ e/w ̅ e std = 1.4* w
̅ e/w̅ e std = 1.4*
0.07 0.07
frequency

Material: SiC Material: SiC

frequency
RelativeHäufigkeit
Häufigkeit

0.06 0.06
0.05 0.05
Relative

0.04 0.04

Relative
Relative

0.03 0.03
0.02 0.02
0.01 0.01
0 0
10 50 100 150 200 10 50 100 150 200
Time
Zeit t t/ /ms
ms Time
Timett//ms
ms
Fig. 4. Time-dependent distribution of discharges for SiC machining during a) an excessive W e; b) an excessive fe.

4. Conclusions and outlook

First, the differences between a stable and an unstable wire EDM process were defined. For the analysis of
characteristic process parameters to identify unstable process conditions, an unstable wire EDM was specifically
created by producing wire breakages. For this purpose, the effective pulse frequency f e and the discharge energy We
were gradually increased. A correlation between the machining parameters and the electrical parameters were
analyzed to ensure no interactions between We and fe in the experiments. The current and voltage signals were
measured for each parameter setting. After signal processing of the measurements, the different discharge forms and
the process parameters were evaluated. All investigations were executed for steel, titanium and ceramic material.
Unstable process conditions manually caused by excessive effective pulse frequency were characterized by a
decreasing average discharge energy w ̅ e . The discharge energy was reduced due to a decreasing average discharge
current ie̅ and average discharge duration t̅e . Furthermore, an increasing of the average open circuit voltage u̅i was
determined. The distribution of the different discharges displayed a trend by rising the effective pulse frequency f e.
The ratio of abnormal discharges raised with increasing number of discharges. Unstable process conditions caused by
an excessive discharge energy as well as by an exaggerated effective pulse frequency were characterized by the
ignition delay time td. Under both parameter settings td increased during unstable process conditions. Beyond that, no
further characteristics of the process parameters could be found, during unstable process conditions caused by
excessive discharge energy. The analysis of the time-dependent distribution of discharges displayed only during the
machining of SiC characteristics. The number of discharges increases [14] 20 ms or 100 ms immediate before a wire
brekage, during excessive pulse frequency and discharge energy, respectively. The evaluations of experiments with
X40Cr14 and TiAl6V4 displayed no characteristics. Apart of that, most of the results were similar for machining
different materials. In general, the ratio of abnormal discharges during machining titanium and ceramic material was
higher. The reason for this lies in the used machining technology, which is optimized for machining steel. To predict
unstable process conditions by analyzing the electrical process parameters, it is necessary to find out what leads finally
to the wire breakage. Future researches are supposed to investigate the physical phenomena and the influences of the
process parameters for a wire breakage.
 T. Bergs et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 18 (2018) 138–145 145
8 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the German Research Foundation (DFG) for funding in the DFG project
KL 500/188-1 “Tribological Performance of Rolling Contacts Produced by EDM“.

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