International Conference on PRECISION, MESO, MICRO AND NANO ENGINEERING (COPEN-8: 2013)

December 13
th
-15
th
, 2013, NIT Calicut, Kerala, India
Study of the Effect of Cryogeni c Treatment of
Tool El ectrodes duri ng El ectro Discharge Machi ni ng
Mathai V.J.
1
, Vaghela R.V.
2
, Dave H.K.
3
, Raval H.K.
4
and Desai K.P.
5

1,2,3,4,5
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
S.V. National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat395007, India
Email:
1
harshitkumar@yahoo.com
Abstract: - In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the effect of cryogenic
treatment of tool electrodes on various responses during Electro Discharge Machining.
Process performance has been analyzed by studying the change in critical response
characteristics like Material Removal Rate (MRR), Tool Wear Rate (TWR) and Surface
roughness (Ra) with respect to current and pulse ON time when machining is performed
using electrodes subjected to different cryogenic treatment durations. It has been
observed that cryogenic treatment of tool electrodes result into reduction in tool wear rate.
Relatively lesser influence of the same has been observed on material removal rate and
surface roughness. The observations are critically analyzed.
Keywords: Electro Discharge Machining, Cryogenics, Tool wear, Roughness
1. INTRODUCTION
The rapid development in the field of materials
has given an impetus to the modern manufacturing
technology to develop, modify and discover new
technological processes with a view to achieve
results that are far beyond the scope of
conventional or traditional machining processes.
Consequently, some new strategies of machining
which are known as non-traditional machining
techniques or unconventional machining
techniques or advanced machining processes have
been developed. These techniques provide effective
solutions to the problems imposed by the
increasing demand of high strength temperature
alloys, the requirement of parts with intricate and
complicated shapes and materials so hard to defy
machining by conventional methods [1]. According
to Jain, advanced machining processes can be
categorized in to three categories, viz. Mechanical,
Thermoelectric and Electrochemical or chemical
processes based on the type of energy utilized for
performing energy [2]. Out of these processes,
Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) process has
been widely used for many applications as it is an
almost force free machining process. Any
electrically conductive material can be machined
using this process irrespective of its mechanical
properties like hardness. The material can be
removed from the workpiece at micron level to
ensure precision and accuracy of the final
geometry. Generation of 3D cavities can be
performed with ease using appropriate tooling and
tool motions [3]. All these advantages make the
process cost effective and viable for industrial
applications.
Even though the process is widely accepted in
manufacturing fraternity, the process still has some
drawbacks like lower material removal rate, higher
surface roughness and machining time etc. when
compared with other unconventional machining
techniques. Many process improvement techniques
have been reported in the field of electro discharge
machining like incorporating tool or workpiece
motions, use of different dielectric fluids and
adding powder suspensions, using different tool
materials or subject them to specific processes so
that the tool electrode properties can be improved
[4]. Application of cryogenics in electro discharge
machining is one among such process improvement
techniques as it improves material properties
significantly [5]. Many researchers have applied
this method to reduce tool wear which is almost
inevitable in electro discharge machining. Kumar et
al. [6] used cryogenic treated copper electrodes to
perform experiments in order to evaluate the
machining efficiency of additive powder mixed
electro discharge machining of Inconel 718 and
observed significant reduction in tool wear rate and
wear ratio. Abdulkareem et al. [7] used cryogenic
cooling using liquid nitrogen during the machining
680 International Conference on (COPEN-8: 2013)
of Ti-6Al-4V in order to reduce electrode wear
ratio. Similar method has been adopted by
Srivastava and Pandey [8, 9] for machining M2
grade high speed steel and they reported that
cryogenic treated electrodes have better shape
retention capacity than non-treated electrodes after
performing machining. The technique has also been
reported to be applied in micro level EDM where
aberrations like tool wear are extremely detrimental
[10]. Cryogenics treatment has also been reported
to be employed on workpiece materials in order to
improve its machinability. Yildiz et al. [11]
investigated the effect of cold and cryogenic
treatment on the machinability of beryllium-copper
and reported about 20 to 30% increase in material
removal rate. Gill and Singh [12] has also studied
the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on
machinability of titanium alloy in electro discharge
drilling and reported superior drilling accuracy of
holes on treated alloy workpieces.
From the literature survey, it has been
observed that many works has been reported on
cryogenic assisted EDM but very few works are
observed where effect of cryogenic treatment
duration on various responses in electro discharge
machining. The objective of this paper is to analyze
the performance of cryogenic treated tool
electrodes subjected to different treatment
durations and compare them with the performance
of non-treated electrodes.
2. EXPERIMENTAL PLAN AND
PROCEDURE
2.1 Parameter Selection
Based on the literature survey, three electrical
and two non-electrical parameters have been
selected for the study. Current and Pulse ON time
have been selected as the electrical parameters and
cryogenic treatment time has been considered as
the non-electrical parameter. Table 1 shows the
values pertaining to each level for the factors
considered.
Table 1: Variable Parameters and their Levels
Parameters Units Levels
1 2 3 4 5
Current A 9 13 17 21 28
Pulse on Time s 93 165 240 315 385
Cryogenic Treatment
Time
Hour 0 12 24 - -
Other machining parameters like gap voltage,
duty factor and flushing pressure have been kept at
constant values of 75 V, 0.7 and 0.3 kg/cm
2

respectively. The experiment design has been done
using full factorial design methodology.

2.2 Response Selection
In this study, material removal rate, tool wear
rate and surface roughness have been considered as
the response characteristics. Material Removal
Rate (MRR) is the amount of material removed
from the workpiece during EDM process. It is
calculated by finding out the difference in weight
before and after machining and dividing the value
by the total machining time. Tool wear rate is
defined as the ratio of amount of tool material
eroded to the total machining time. The weight of
the workpiece and tool has been measured by
Precision Weighing Machine having a least count
of 0.1 mg.
As the material is removed in the form of
micro craters, the machined surface would be
slightly uneven with peaks and valleys. To quantify
this unevenness, arithmetic mean roughness values
are measured. Surface roughness has been
measured by Mitutoyo SJ-401 Surface Roughness
Tester.
2.3 Experimental Procedure
The experiments were carried out on Joemars
ZNC Die-sinking Electro-Discharge Machine.
Electrolytic copper rods turned to 9.7mm diameter
and 30 mm length have been used as tool
electrodes. Stainless steel (SS 304), which have a
wide range of application in the field of food
processing industries, fabrication of medical
implants etc. has been selected as the workpiece
material. Material blocks are ground to dimensions
of 30mm x 25 mm x 15 mm have been used as the
workpiece. Cavity of 9 mm depth has been
generated for experimental study.
Since cryogenic treatment time of the tool
electrodes is considered as an input parameter for
performing experimentation, tools in required
number and specifications in terms of treatment
time as per the experimental design has been
subjected to cryogenic treatment using liquid
nitrogen stored in a dewar flask. After the treatment
time period, the electrodes are taken out and are
allowed to attain room temperature at a slow rate.
Prior to experimentation, the hardness of the
electrode surface has been measured using
Rockwell hardness tester. From table 2, it can be
observed that the hardness of the electrode has
been improved after
Study of the Effect of Cryogenic Treatment of Tool Electrodes during Electro Discharge Machining 681
Table 2: Hardness Value Comparison between
Non-treated and Treated Electrodes
Condition Hardness % Increase after
Treatment
Non-treated 20 HRB -
Cryo-treated for 12
hour
23 HRB 15 %
Cryo-treated for 24
hour
24 HRB 20 %


Fig. 1: Experimental Setup
the cryogenic treatment. This could be because
of the significant refinement of grains and
attainment of fine grain structure. This results in to
improvement of wear resistance and the electrical
and thermal conductivity of electrodes.
In the electro discharge machining (EDM) set
up, workpiece has been held in vice on a standard
parallel rectangular block to ensure that its face is
parallel to the face of the tool as shown in figure 1.
Jet flushing has been used in all the experiments.
Machining time has been noted using a stopwatch
and weights of the tool electrode and workpiece
before and after experimentation has been
measured for the calculation of material removal
rate and tool wear rate using a precision weighing
machine.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Detailed study of response characteristics with
respect to the machining parameters and different
cryogenic treatment conditions has been done.
Analysis of variance has been performed to identify
the significance of the parameters considered for
experimentation and to quantify their effects on the
response characteristics. Factor having lowest p-
value has been identified as the most statistically
significant parameter on the response. Mean effect
plots have been plotted in the form of bar charts for
the ease of comparison of performance of non-
treated and cryogenic treated electrodes.
3.1 Material Removal Rate (MRR)
From figure 2, it can be observed that the
material removal rate increases with increase in
current and pulse ON time irrespective of the
cryogenic treatment condition applied on the tool
electrode. It is known that the effective spark
energy available at the machining area is directly
proportional to the current and pulse ON time.
With increase in current, the effective energy
available at toolworkpiece interface increases and
as a result the size of craters formed becomes
bigger resulting in increase in MRR. Further, from
table 3, it can be observed that on the basis of
analysis of variance, current has the highest
significance on material removal rate.
Further, from figure 2, it can also be observed
that material removal rate is relatively higher for
non-treated electrodes compared to that obtained
using treated electrodes. After performing
cryogenic treatment, the electrical and thermal
conductivity of the electrode material increases,
which reduces the bulk heating and thereby
excessive melting of the tool and the work piece
and resulting in relatively lower MRR [13]. On
comparison between the performances of the
cryogenically treated electrodes for different
durations, it can also be observed that for lower
current values, the tool electrodes treated for 24
hours aided in providing higher material removal
rate and vice versa at higher current values.


Fig. 2: Mean Effective Plots for Material Removal
Rate (MRR)
Table 3: ANOVA Table for Material Removal Rate
(MRR)
Factor Non Treated 12 Hour 24 Hour
F
Ratio
p-
Value
F
Ratio
p-
Value
F
Ratio
p-
Value
Current 99.44 0.000 89.54 0.000 43.83 0.000
Pulse on
Time
6.80 0.002 9.75 0.000 4.80 0.010
Tool holder
Tool
Nozzle
Standard
parallel
block
Workpiece
Vice
682 International Conference on (COPEN-8: 2013)
3.2 Tool Wear Rate (TWR)
On observing figure 3, it can be seen that for
all three types of electrodes used, TWR increases
with reduction in pulse on time and increase in
current. This is due to the fact that the diameter of
the discharge column increases with the pulse
duration which reduces the energy density of the
electrical discharge on the discharge spot [9, 11].
Further, at longer pulse on time, the carbon from
the decomposition of hydrocarbon-based dielectric
liquid gets deposited on the surface of the
electrode. This deposited layer increases the wear
resistance of the electrode and thereby reducing
TWR.
Further, it can be observed from figure 3 that
TWR is lower for cryogenic treated electrodes
when compared to non-treated electrodes. During
the cryogenic treatment, as the temperature
decreases, the thermal vibration of atoms in a metal
will become weaker and so the electrons move
easily. This phenomenon results in decrease of
electrical resistivity of the metal. In copper alloys,
the cryogenic process increases the homogeneity of
the crystal structure, dissolving gaps and
dislocations of the alloying elements and
consequently, the resulting improved structural
compactness improves electrical conductivity [7].
With increase in electrical conductivity, electrons
are cold emitted more easily and there is less bulk
electrical heating. As per WiedmannFranz-Lorenz
law, increase in electrical conductivity would
increase thermal conductivity of the material [14].
Thus, when thermal conductivity increases, the
local temperature rise would be less due to faster
heat conducted to the bulk of the tool and thus less
tool wear, for the same heat load. Similar
observations have been reported by Jafferson and
Hariharan [11] in their work also.
It is also worth noting that the tool wear rate is
dependent on the cryogenic treatment time. The
tool wear rate has been observed to be lower for
electrodes treated for 12 hours.
From ANOVA (Table 4), it can be understood
by observing the p-values that current has a
relatively higher statistical significance on TWR
than pulse ON time, irrespective of the treatment
condition of the tool electrode.
3.3 Surface Roughness (R
a
)
The surface generated by EDM process is
always tend to be rough as the material removal
takes place in the form of craters and the re-
solidification of the molten metal during machining
[9]. Higher the discharge energy, more rough the
surface becomes. In present study also similar
result has been observed. From figure 4, it can be
clearly observed that the surface roughness
increases with increase in current and pulse ON
time. The trend can be seen to be the same for all
electrodes irrespective of its cryogenic treatment
condition. Further, ANOVA results show that both
current and pulse ON time are statistically
significant on the response (Table 5).
It is also worth noting that no significant effect
of cryogenic treatment has been observed on
improvement of surface quality of the workpiece.
The roughness on machined surface is highest
when electrode with 12 hour cryogenic treatment is
used. For lower current settings, the electrode
treated for 24 hours yielded relatively good surface
quality when compared when compared with other
two electrode variations.
4. CONCLUSION
Effect of current and pulse ON time during
electro discharge machining of stainless steel using
copper electrodes subjected to three different
cryogenic treatment conditions (non-treated, treated
for 12 hours and treated for 24 hours) on response
characteristics such as material removal rate, tool
wear rate and surface roughness has been
investigated. Basic conclusions are mentioned
below:


Fig. 3: Mean Effective Plots for Tool Wear Rate
(TWR)
Study of the Effect of Cryogenic Treatment of Tool Electrodes during Electro Discharge Machining 683
Table 4: ANOVA Table for Tool Wear Rate
(TWR)
Factor Non treated 12 hour 24 hour
F
ratio
p-
value
F
ratio
p-
value
F
ratio
p-
value
Current 5.15 0.007 2.59 0.076 2.04 0.136
Pulse ON 4.12 0.018 1.87 0.165 1.93 0.155


Fig. 4: Mean Effective Plots for Surface Roughness
(Ra)
Table 5: ANOVA Table for Surface
Roughness (R
a
)
Factor Non Treated 12 Hour 24 Hour
F
Ratio
p-
Value
F
Ratio
p-
Value
F
Ratio
p-
Value
Current 37.09 0.000 23.74 0.000 33.04 0.000
Pulse 27.32 0.000 23.85 0.000 19.95 0.000
1. Cryogenic treatments of electrodes
enhance the surface hardness of the
materials.
2. Material removal rate has been observed
to be relatively higher for non-treated
electrodes when compared to that obtained
using cryogenic treated electrodes.
3. The tool electrodes subjected to 24 hour
cryogenic treatment aided in providing
higher material removal rate than that
provided by 12 hour treated electrodes at
higher current values and vice versa at
lower current settings.
4. Substantial reduction in tool wear rate has
been observed when cryogenic treated
electrodes are used.
5. On comparison between the cryogenic
treated electrodes on tool wear rate, the
electrode subjected to 12 hour cryogenic
treatment undergone relatively lower tool
wear rate than the electrodes treated for 24
hours.
6. Effect of cryogenic treatment of electrodes
has a relatively lower effect on surface
roughness of the machined surface.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India for
financial support for this work through the research
grant vide grant permission SR/S3/MERC-
0044/2010(G).

REFERENCES
1. Bhattacharya, A., New Technology, The
Institution of Engineers (India), Calcutta,
1973.
2. Jain, V. K., Advanced Machining Processes,
Allied Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi,
2012.
3. Rajurkar, K. P. and Yu, Z. Y., 3D micro-EDM
using CAD/CAM, CIRP Annals
Manufacturing Technology, 49(1), 127130,
2000.
4. Pandey, A. and Singh, S., Current research
trends in variants of Electrical Discharge
Machining: A review, International Journal of
Engineering Science and Technology, 2(6),
21722191, 2010.
5. Kalsi, N. S., Sehgal, R. and Sharma, V. S.,
Cryogenic Treatment of Tool Materials: A
Review, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, 25(10), 10771100, 2010.
6. Kumar, A., Maheshwari, S., Sharma, C. and
Beri, N., Machining Efficiency Evaluation of
Cryogenically Treated Copper Electrode in
Additive Mixed EDM, Materials and
Manufacturing Processes, 27(10), 10511058,
2012.
7. Yildiz, Y., Sundaram, M. M., Rajurkar, K. P.
and Nalbant, M., The effects of Cold and
Cryogenic Treatments on the Machinability of
Beryllium-Copper Alloy in Electro Discharge
Machining, Proceedings of 44
th
CIRP
Conference on Manufacturing Systems,
Madison, WI, USA, 2011.
684 International Conference on (COPEN-8: 2013)
8. Abdulkareem, S., Khan, A. A. and Konneh,
M., Reducing electrode wear ratio using
cryogenic cooling during electrical discharge
machining, International Journal of
Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 45,
11461151, 2009.
9. Srivastava, V. and Pandey, P. M., Study of
the Cryogenically Cooled Electrode Shape in
Electric Discharge Machining Process,
World Academy of Science, Engineering and
Technology, 60, 10171021, 2011.
10. Srivastava, V. and Pandey, P. M.,
Performance Evaluation of Electrical
Discharge Machining (EDM) Process Using
Cryogenically Cooled Electrode, Materials
and Manufacturing Processes, 27(6), 683688,
2012.
11. Jafferson, J.M. and Hariharan, P.,
Experimental Investigation on Machining
Performance of Cryogenically treated
Electrodes in EDM Proceeding of 4
th

International and 25
th
National AIMTDR
Conference, Jadavpur University, Kolkata,
India, 10691072.
12. Gill, S. S. and Singh, J., Effect of Deep
Cryogenic Treatment on Machinability of
Titanium Alloy (Ti-6246) in Electric Discharge
Drilling, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, 25(6), 378385, 2010.
13. Jafferson, J. M. and Hariharan, P., Machining
performance of cryogenically treated
electrodes in Microelectric Discharge
Machining: A Comparative Study, Materials
and Manufacturing Processes, 28(4), 397402,
2013.
14. Isaak, C. J. and Reitz, W., The effects of
cryogenic treatment on thermal conductivity of
GR Cop-84, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, 23(8291), 2008.