A macroscopic mechanical model of wire electrode deection

considering temperature increment in MS-WEDM process

Guojun Zhang
a
, Zhi Chen
a
, Zhen Zhang
a,n
, Yu Huang
a
, Wuyi Ming
a,b
, He Li
a
a
State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment & Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering,
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
b
Guangdong Province Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment, Dongguan, Guangdong, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 26 September 2013
Received in revised form
19 January 2014
Accepted 23 January 2014
Available online 31 January 2014
Keywords:
Medium-speed wire electrical
discharge machining
Wire deection
Macroscopic mechanical model
Discharge resultant force
Temperature increment
a b s t r a c t
In medium-speed wire electrical discharge machining (MS-WEDM), wire in the area near the guide
wheel and between the two guide wheels obviously form the wire bending deformation due to wire
tension, electrostatic force, electrodynamics force, hydrodynamic force, temperature increment, etc.
Besides, the wire deection would have a direct inuence on the machining accuracy, productivity and
stability. In this paper, rst of all, main causes of wire electrode deformation are proposed to better
understand its fundamental mechanism. Second, two macroscopic mechanical models of wire deection
are developed in the area near the guide wheel and between the two guide wheels considering
temperature increment and wire vibration in machining 20 mm-thickness workpiece process, respec-
tively. Moreover, the numerical solution of deection in the area near the guide wheel and the theoretical
solution of deection between the two guide wheels has been worked out. Then, the analysis of the
variation trend of wire deection and the inuences of wire deection on the machining process have
been conducted. Eventually, from the conrmation experiment and comparison with other researchers
models, it has been proved that the macroscopic mechanical models of wire deection in MS-WEDM
process are reasonable and reliable. In addition, according to macroscopic mechanical models, some of
the practical approaches of reducing wire deection have been proposed to improve machining accuracy,
and these high-precision models can be applied into NC system to set a compensation for wire deection
in the future.
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a high-
precision and independent of material hardness machining opera-
tion, mainly used in the mold, instrument and other high-end
manufacturing industries. The WEDM process is a violent thermal
process where a certain volume of metal is eroded by thousands of
electrical discharges in a fraction of 1 s. Up to now, the WEDM can
be classied as high-speed WEDM (HS-WEDM) and low-speed
WEDM (LS-WEDM) based on the wire speed. HS-WEDM is a new
product of independent innovation in China, which has taken up
more than 85% of Chinese domestic market due to the advantages
of lower cost and high efciency. However, LS-WEDM has more
advantages in aspects like working accuracy, control strategy and
surface quality. Therefore, a large number of studies have been
made to narrow the gap between HS-WEDM and LS-WEDM, thus
developing a new concept called Medium-speed WEDM (MS-
WEDM). Improved control strategy, high frequency power supply
and NC system on the basis of HS-WEDM, MS-WEDM can be
obtained, which realize multiplicity cutting in higher capacity to
achieve high machining performance. In addition, there is a
tendency that MS-WEDM will take the place of HS-WEDM in
China. Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the MS-WEDM
process, the wire electrode is circularly moving on the two guide
wheels and wire-winding cylinder.
In the MS-WEDM machining process, the wire electrode
certainly suffers wire deection in the area near the guide wheel
and between the two guide wheels because of the wire tension,
the radial jumpiness and axial running of the wire-winding
cylinder and the guide wheels, the plasma of the erosion mechan-
ism, hydraulic forces due to dielectric uid ushing, electrostatic
force, electrodynamics force and temperature increment [1]. These
wire deections can be of the order of a few hundred microns [2]
and they will alter the actual fulcrum of the wire electrode at the
guide wheels, especially in the corner cutting, which will result in
great difculty in developing the processing performance (ef-
ciency, accuracy, surface integrity, etc.). Thus, it is necessary to
better understand the fundamental mechanism of the wire defor-
mation and develop a high-precision model of wire deection, and
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool
International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture
0890-6955/$ - see front matter & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2014.01.004
n
Corresponding author.
International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153
propose some effective methods controlling the wire electrode in
order to improve the machining precision in MS-WEDM.
There are some previous researches about the wire trajectory
which have been carried out. Dauw and Beltrami [2,3] designed
a system based on the on-line monitoring and controlling of the
wire trajectory by method of an optical sensor, and these techni-
ques allowed to machine complex shapes at a high cutting speed
and obtain high precision simultaneously. Sarkar and Kanlayasiri
[46] set the wire offset as an input parameter in trim cutting,
therein, setting a suitable wire offset had a direct effect on
machining accuracy. Hsue [7] proposed a method that the actual
trajectory of wire center can be tted as an exponential function in
practical corner cutting, and a model of metal removal rate (MRR)
in geometrical machining was built considering the wire deec-
tion. While Sanchez [8] used a quadratic regression tting method
to predict angular error in wire-EDM taper-cutting, and an
experimental analysis of the main effects of control parameters
on angular error was carried out by the method of Design of
Experiments (DoE) techniques. Luo [9] developed a new practical
model, an arc tting, to evaluate the wire bow error, and an
equation of wire bow error had been derived to implement some
approaches reducing this error. Puri [2,10] proposed a new
approach, a parabolic tting, to illustrate the wire trajectory, and
an experimental investigation had been carried out to nd out the
relationship between the control factors and the wire lag based on
the Taguchi method. Han et al. [11,12] executed a novel simulation
method to calculate the wire electrode path in corner-cutting and
taper-cutting, and a geometrical model between the wire actual
path and NC path was set up to investigate the relationship
between the wire actual trajectory and NC trajectory. Mingqi [13]
proposed some corresponding measures to stabilize the form and
Nomenclature
damping coefcient (Eq. (40)) (N s m
1
)

0
dielectric uid viscosity coefcient (Eq. (6)) (N s m
2
)

m
induction-permeability (Eq. (2)) (H/m)

m
electric potential (Eq. (2)) (V)

n
natural circular frequency (Eq. (42)) (Hz)
wire density (Eq. (19)) (kg=m
3
)

0
uid density (Eq. (3)) (kg=m
3
)

e
electric resistivity (Eq. (10)) (nm)
s
m
electric conductivity (Eq. (2)) (S/m)

h
viscosity force (Eq. (7)) (N)
rotation angle (Fig. 11) (rad)

B
central angle AOB (Fig. 10) (rad)

x
rotation angle only by the effect of F
x
(Eq. (14)) (rad)

y
rotation angle only by the effect of F
y
(Eq. (16)) (rad)
A
z
electromagnetic vector potential Z-component
(Eq. (2)) (Gs)
c
T
specic heat (Eq. (9)) (J/(kg K))
d
0
discharge gap (Fig. 3) (m)
d
1
discharge breakdown distance (Eq. (44)) (m)
D
F
kerf width (Fig. 14) (m)
E Young's modulus at room temperature (Eq. (12))
( 10
11
Pa)
E
T
Young's modulus function about temperature (Table 2)
( 10
11
Pa)
E
t
discharge energy (Eq. (46)) (J)
F
y
' component force in the y direction of the wire tension
(Fig. 12) (N)
F
d
single discharge impact force (Eq. (39)) (N/m)
F
e
electrostatic force (Eq. (1)) (N)
F
p
(t) discharge impact force (Eq. (39)) (N/m)
F
x
component force in the x direction of the resultant
force (Fig. 10) (N)
F
y
component force in the y direction of the resultant
force (Fig. 10) (N)
h workpiece thickness (Eq. (10)) (m)
h
T
heat transfer coefcient (Eq. (10)) (W/(m
2
K))
I second moment of area (Eq. (12)) (m
4
)
I
t
discharge current (Eq. (1)) (A)
J
0
forced current density (Eq. (2) (A/m
2
)
k curvature near the section B (Fig. 10) (m)
k
q
coefcient of distributed resultant force per unit
current (Eq. (47)) (N/(m A))
k
T
thermal conductivity (Eq. (9)) (W/(m K))
L] two guide wheels span (Fig. 12) (m)
l distance between the wire guide wheel and the work-
piece (Fig. 11) (m)
M
E
bending moment at the point E (Fig. 10) (N m)
n
s
discharge number on one spot (Eq. (39))
p uid pressure (Eq. (3)) (Pa)
q distributed resultant force per unit length (Fig. 11) (N/
m)
q

J
joule heat source (Eq. (10)) (W/mm
2
)
R guide wheel radius (Fig. 10) (m)
r wire radius (Fig. 10) (m)
S wire electrode cross-sectional area (Eq. (1)) (m
2
)
T wire tension (Fig. 10) (N)
T' resultant force of wire tension and wire inertia force
(Fig. 10) (N)
T
C
discharge channel temperature (Eq. (8)) (1C)
t
p
the pulse period (Fig. 2) (s)
t
on
pulse-on time (Fig. 2) (s)
t
off
pulse-off time (Fig. 2) (s)
u
i
velocity component (x, y, z) (Eq. (3) (m/s)
U
t
discharge voltage (Eq. (1)) (V)
v wire speed (Fig. 12) (m/s)
v
e
electron speed (Eq. (1) (m/s)
X
i
volume component(x, y, z) (Eq. (3)) (m
3
)
y
1
' wire deection of tting model in the non-discharging
area (Eq. (51)) (m)
y
2
' wire deection of tting model in the discharging area
(Eq. (50)) (m)
y
0
total deection in coordinate system O (Fig. 10) (m)
y
1
wire deection in the non-discharging area
(Fig. 11) (m)
y
2
wire deection in the discharging area (Fig. 12) (m)
y
E
total deection in coordinate system O
1
(Fig. 10) (m)
y
x
deection only by the effect of F
x
(Eq. (13)) (m)
y
y
deection only by the effect of F
y
(Eq. (15)) (m)
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of MS-WEDM.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 42
position of the wire electrode in the HS-WEDM machining process
by experimental design and analysis. In the above studies, some
theoretical models and experimental methods had been devel-
oped to improve the machining accuracy, but few theoretical
models had been veried by experiment. Moreover, temperature
increment, electrostatic force and wire vibration had been sel-
domly considered in analyzing the wire electrode deformation.
In this paper, rstly, some causes of wire electrode deforma-
tion, including discharge spark force, electromagnetic force, elec-
trostatic force, hydrodynamic viscous force, removing material
explosive force and temperature increment, are analyzed in detail
to better understand the fundamental mechanism of wire defor-
mation. Secondly, two macroscopic mechanical models of wire
deection are built in the area near the guide wheel and between
the two guide wheels considering temperature increment and
wire vibration in machining 20 mm-thickness workpiece process,
respectively. The former model is developed by the method of
numeric calculation, while the latter one is established by the
method of fourth-order function tting. Then, the numerical
solution of wire deection in the area near the guide wheel and
the theoretical solution of deection between the two guide
wheels have been worked out. Moreover, the feasibility of models
is conrmed by the conrmation experiment and comparison with
other researchers models. Finally, some practical measures of
reducing wire deection are proposed by analyzing the variation
of wire deection and the inuence trends of machining factors on
wire deection on the machining process. In the future work,
these high-precision models can be applied into NC system to set a
suitable compensation for wire deection.
2. The analysis of some causes of wire electrode deformation
WEDM is a very complicated process which involves several
elds, such as mechanics of materials, electromagnetism, hydro-
dynamics, and heat transfer theory. In this section, some causes of
wire electrode deformation are analyzed to better comprehend the
fundamental mechanism of wire deformation which are discharge
reaction force, electrostatic force and electromagnetic force,
hydrodynamic force and temperature increment.
2.1. Discharge reaction force
WEDM is a violent material removing and non-contact dischar-
ging process in dielectric uid, and the machining energy is
provided by a high frequency pulse electrical generator. The
discharge reaction force includes discharge spark force, removing
material explosive force, dielectric uid bubble diffusive and dis-
ruptive force. In addition, the direction of discharge reaction force is
opposite to the cutting direction, and it is a damping force which
pulls the wire actual path behind the wire CNC path. Moreover, it is
very difcult to measure these forces accurately because there are
violent explosion process and some stochastic processes in machin-
ing process, such as randomness of discharge point, randomness of
discharge condition of pulse generator and violent molecular
collision, while its value is directly related to the discharge energy
per pulse. Therefore, considering this complicated fact, some
researchers found that the discharge reaction force was the main
cause of wire deformation, and they treated it as a distributed force
acting per unit length of the wire according to statistic analysis
[2,3,9,10]. Besides, the value of discharge reaction force had been
calculated by experimental data and theoretical models in their
studies, and the computed results showed that the discharge
reaction force ranged from 1.5 to 5 N/m when the discharge energy
ranged from 5 to 10 mJ per pulse.
2.2. Electrostatic force and electromagnetic force
Electrostatic force is an interaction force acting on two static
charged objects, and its value obeys the Coulomb law. In the wire
electrical discharge machining process, electrostatic force of open
voltage is acting on the wire and workpiece during ignition delay
time, and this force will become weak when the discharge spark
occurs. Besides, it is an attractive force which attracts the wire
electrode to the workpiece in cutting direction, and it offsets each
other on both sides of cutting direction. In this study, the
schematic diagram of pulse voltage and analysis diagram of
electrostatic eld are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. Electro-
static eld can be regarded as a uniform electrostatic eld during
ignition delay time because the wire electrode diameter (2r) is
more than 10 times as big as the discharge gap (d
0
) between the
workpiece and wire electrode (2r 180 m, d
0
4 m). So the
electrostatic force can be calculated by
F
e

I
t
SV
e

U
t
d
0
1
According to Eq. (1), it can be found that the electrostatic force is
directly proportional to the pulse current (I
t
) when other dis-
charge parameters remain constant.
As for electromagnetic force, Tomura claried the mechanism
of electromagnetic force acting on the wire electrode, and devel-
oped a two-dimensional nite element method (FEM) to analyze
the electromagnetic eld in cutting process of copper and steel
[14]. Hada developed a simulation method to evaluate the dis-
tribution of the current density and magnetic ux density around
the wire electrode to nd out the optimum machining conditions
by nite element method (FEM) in WEDM [15]. The two-
dimensional electromagnetic eld can be solved by Poisson's
equation (as shown in Eq. (2)) by considering the electromagnetic
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of pulse voltage.
Fig. 3. The analysis diagram of electrostatic eld.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 43
induction:

x
1

m
A
z
x
_ _

y
1

m
A
z
y
_ _
J
0
s
m
A
z
t

m
z
2
In analysis of the effect of electromagnetic force on workpiece,
the workpiece material should be divided into paramagnetic and
ferromagnetic parts, and the electric current density and magnetic
ux density are of symmetrical distribution around the wire
electrode when the workpiece is paramagnetic material. However,
the electric current density and magnetic ux density are not
axisymmetrical around the wire due to the signicant effect of the
workpiece of ferromagnetic material.
In Tomura study, the values of electromagnetic force had been
quanticationally calculated by nite element method (FEM) in
machining copper and steel process, where the discharge pulse
current (I
t
) (maximum current: 16 A) was shown in Fig. 4, and the
values of electromagnetic force in machining copper and steel
process were shown in Fig. 5.
From Fig. 5, it can be found that the directions of the electro-
magnetic force of copper and steel material are repulsive and
attractive, respectively. This fact may be attributed to the different
magnetic conductivities of two kinds of material. In addition, it can
also be found that the value of electromagnetic force rose to the
maximum (0.08 N/m, 0.12 N/m) in a short time 2 s due to the
eddy current, and remained stable over a long period of time, then
dropped to zero in a short time 2 s.
2.3. Hydrodynamic viscosity force
The dielectric uid is three-dimensional incompressible viscous
liquid, and its motion state obeys the NavierStokes equations:
du
i
dt
X
i

0
p
x
i
v

2
u
i
x
2
j
3
Because wire electrode diameter (2r) is more than 10 times as
large as the discharge gap (d
0
) between the workpiece and the
wire electrode (r 180 m, d
0
4 m), the liquid motion can be
regarded as the viscous uid movement between two large plates,
and the liquid motion can be treated as the combination of
pressure-difference ow and shear ow, as shown in Fig. 6(a)
and (b). Besides, the uid owing is a volume conservation system
due to incompressibility.
According to volume conservation equation (Eq. (4)) and
momentum conservation equation (Eq. (5)), the speed of uid
particle (u
y
) and the viscosity force acting on the wire electrode
can be worked out, as shown in Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively, and
the viscosity coefcient can be obtained by Eq. (8) in different
temperatures (T
C
):
u
x

v
y

w
z
0 4
u
t
u
u
x
v
u
y
w
u
z

1

0
p
x
v

2
u
x
2

2
u
y
2

2
u
z
2
_ _
5
u
y

v
2d
0
yd
0

1
2u
0
p
x
d
2
0
y
2
6

0
v
2d
0

d
0

0
p
x
_ _
7

0:01779
10:03368T
C
0:000221T
2
C
8
Through the above analysis, it can be seen that the directions of
wire electrode movement and viscosity force are in the same line,
besides, the value of viscosity force acting on the wire electrode is
about 0.10.5 N when the computational condition is as follows:
uid temperature (201000 1C), wire velocity (10 m/s), uid pres-
sure (1 Mpa), discharge gap (4 m). Hence, viscosity force of
dielectric uid is an insignicant cause of wire deection com-
pared to the wire tension (1030 N).
2.4. Effect of temperature increment
WEDM is also a violent thermal process, and material is
removed by melting and evaporating at a high temperature
(maximum temperature may amount to 1000 K) in a very short
Fig. 4. Trapezoidal pulse current in wire used for analysis.
Fig. 5. The calculated value of electromagnetic force in machining copper and steel
[14].
Fig. 6. The schematic diagram of pressure-difference ow (a) and shear ow (b).
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 44
time. In this subsection, an one-dimensional thermal model is
developed with the length-axis of the wire in the discharge
channel, and the conguration of heat sources and model setup
is shown in Fig. 7. Besides, molybdenum wire is used as an
electrode in WEDM.
Assuming that the Joule heat source is uniformly distributed
along the wire length, and the environment temperature is
maintained stable, the one-dimensional heat ow equation can
be simplied as Eq. (10), and the values of material property and
other parameters used for calculating the wire temperature are
listed in Table 1:
m
C
T
v
k
T
9
d
2
T
x;t
dx
2
m
dT
x;t
dx

h
T
L
k
T
S
Tx; t
q
J
k
T
10
Here, the Joule heat source discharge energy is just decided by
the pulse current when the other discharge parameters remain
constant (pulse voltage 100 V, pulse-on time 50 s, pulse-off time
250 s).
Eq. (10) can be solved by the method of variables separation
and boundary condition as follows:
Upper part: dT
x 1
=dx 0; T
x 1
20
Lower part: dT
x 1
=dx 0; T
x 1
20
The solution of the temperature distribution along the wire
length axis is shown in Fig. 8 by the above analysis.
Fig. 8 presents that the maximum temperature has an increas-
ing trend with the rise of Joule heat source energy, and tempera-
ture symmetrically distributes on both sides of workpiece
midpoint. In addition, the values of the maximum temperature
generally conform to the experimental measurement data on each
pulse currents.
Temperature increment has a few effect on wire movement,
and this effect involves intensifying molecular motion, changing of
the dielectric uid viscosity coefcient and material property
(tensile strength, Young's modulus, fatigue strength, breaking
tenacity, etc.). This subsection aims to analyze the causes of wire
deection, and hence the variation of the Young's modulus of wire
electrode, viscosity coefcient and pressure of the dielectric uid
should be discussed because of temperature increment.
According to Rare Metal Handbook Edition Committee [16],
Young's modulus of molybdenum wire is illustrated in Fig. 9 when
the temperature varies from 0 1C to 1600 1C.
Combining Table 1, Figs. 8 and 9, it can be summarized in
Table 2, the values of Young's modulus are obtained in different
discharge parameters.
Based on the above analysis in this section, it can be concluded
as follows:
1. Discharge reaction force is the major force acting on the wire
electrode, and it can be treated as a distributed force acting per
unit length of the wire.
2. Electrostatic force is an interaction and attractive force acting
on the wire and workpiece just during ignition delay time, and
its value is directly proportional to pulse current when other
discharge parameters remain constant.
3. Electromagnetic force and dielectric uid viscosity force are
insignicant causes of wire deection compared to the dis-
charge reaction force and wire tension, respectively.
4. The variation trend of Young's modulus of wire electrode due to
temperature increment has been acquired as Table 2.
3. Models of wire deection in MS-WEDM process
In this section, two macroscopic mechanical models, which are
wire deection in the area near guide wheel, wire deection and wire
vibration between the two guide wheels, respectively, are developed
to qualitatively estimate the wire electrode deformation considering
the temperature increment and the wire vibration behavior.
Fig. 7. The conguration of heat sources and model setup.
Table 1
Values of material property and other parameters used for calculating the wire
temperature distribution.
Symbol Material property Value Unit
k
T
Thermal conductivity 138 W/(m K)
c
T
Specic heat 24.06 kg K
h
T
Heat transfer coefcient 23 507 W=m
2
K
Wire density 10.28 kg=m
3

e
Electric resistivity 53.4 n m
v Wire velocity 10 m/s
q
J
Joule heat source 1.68.0 W=mm
2
r Wire radius 90 m
p Fluid pressure 1 Mpa
h Workpiece thickness 20 mm
It Pulse current 15 A
Vt Pulse voltage 100 V
Fig. 8. Distribution of temperature along the length axis of wire in the discharge
channel.
Fig. 9. The relationship polt of Young's modulus and temperature [16].
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 45
3.1. Model of wire deection in the area near guide wheel
In the actual MS-WEDM process, there is a particular wire
deection in the area near guide wheel due to the wire circularly
moving on the two guide wheels and wire-winding cylinder, and this
deection can range from 20 m to 100 m. As Fig. 10 draws, wire
electrode generates the elastic bending deformation (y
0
) which is
away from common tangent of the guide wheels rather than placing
exibly at the tangent point (A) of the guide wheel. The actual
direction of wire tension T turns 901, but wrap angle of wire electrode
on the guide wheel is less than 901. Thus the actual tangent point
moves from A to B. From the point B to the point E (E section is a free
end without bending moment and shear force, and only under the
resultant force T' of wire tension T and wire inertia force), this part of
wire electrode suffers the deection. By the analysis of the part of BE,
the central angle AOB (
B
) can be approximately regarded as the
rotation angle of bending deformation. Due to the (
B
) less than
10
2
rad, the BE part can be considered as the cantilever beam with
one end xed and another end free, and the whole bending deforma-
tion can be regarded as the small deformation.
In Fig. 10, two rectangular coordinate systems have been
established at the center point O of the circle and the point O
1
.
The resultant force T' of wire tension T and wire inertia force can
be divided into F
x
and F
y
at the E free end.
According to the Mechanics of Materials equations,
Bending moment:
M
E
F
y
x
E
F
x
y
E
11
All the curvature k near the section B is equal, and then k Rr.
Another bending moment:
M
E

EI
k
12
The deection only by the effect of F
x
can be considered as the
bending deformation due to free end subjected to bending
moment load. Thus Eqs. (13) and (14) can be deduced:
EIy
x

1
2
F
x
y
E
x
2
E
13
EI
x
F
x
y
E
x
E
14
The deection only by the effect of F
y
can be considered as the
bending deformation due to free end subjected to concentrated
force load. So Eqs. (15) and (16) can be deduced:
EIy
y

1
3
F
y
x
3
E
15
EI
y

1
2
F
y
x
2
E
16
According to the principle of superposition, the total displacement
of y
E
and
B
in the rectangular coordinate systems of the point O
1
can be gained as follows:
EIy
E

1
2
F
x
y
E
x
2
E

1
3
F
y
x
3
E
17
EI
B
F
x
y
E
x
E

1
2
F
y
x
2
E
18
While wire electrode is moving in the actual MS-WEDM proces-
sing, the component forces (F
x
and F
y
) at the E section can be
achieved according to the method of dynamic equilibrium and
momentum theorem of steady ow:
F
x
T cos
B
Sv
2
1 cos
B
19
F
y
T sin
B
Sv
2
sin
B
20
From Eqs. (11) to (20), it can be concluded as follows:
M
E
T Sv
2
x
E
sin
B
T cos
B
Sv
2
1 cos
B
y
E
21
EIy
E

1
3
T Sv
2
x
3
E
sin
B

1
2
T cos
B
Sv
2
1 cos
B
y
E
x
2
E
22
EI
B

1
2
T Sv
2
x
2
E
sin
B
T cos
B
Sv
2
1 cos
B
y
E
x
E
23
The total deection y
0
in the rectangular coordinate systems of the
point O can be deduced through geometric relationship in Fig. 10:
y
0
r RR cos
B
x
E
R sin
B
tan
B
y
E
cos
B
r 24
It is difcult to calculate the analytical solutions of y
E
, x
E
,
B
,
because Eqs. (21)(23) are the trigonometric equations. In the
actual machining process, E, I, R, r, T, S, v, are the given values,
while y
E
, x
E
,
B
are the unknown values. Thus, by the use of the
symbolic equation in MATLAB, the numerical solutions can be
worked out and then be applied in the objective function (Eq. (24))
to gain the wire deection (y
0
) in the area near the guide wheel.
3.2. Model of wire deection between the two guide wheels
In this subsection, a model of wire lag without the considera-
tion of wire vibration and a model of wire vibration behavior
between the two guide wheels are built. Moreover, the maximum
deection can be obtained by maximum wire lag and vibration
amplitude according to vector superposing method.
3.2.1. Model of wire lag not considering wire vibration between the
two guide wheels
In the MS-WEDM process, the wire electrode between the two
guide wheels suffers bending deformation because of the wire
tension, the explosive force from gas bubbles, the plasma of the
erosion mechanism, hydraulic forces due to ushing, electrostatic
Table 2
Values of material property and other parameters used for calculating the wire
temperature.
Parameters Values
Pulse current I (A) 1 2 3 4 5
Joule heat source q
J
(W=mm
2
) 1.6 3.2 4.8 6.4 8
Average temperature T
C
(1C) 318 402 471 532 564
Young's modulus E
T
( 10
11
Pa) 3.02 2.93 2.85 2.77 2.73
Fig. 10. Bending deformation of wire electrode in the area near guide wheel.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 46
force and electrodynamics force [10]. In addition, this wire deec-
tion behavior is inuenced by the temperature increment in the
discharge channel. Fig. 11 illustrates the bending deformation of
wire electrode between the two guide wheels. Due to the wire in
the non-discharging area without lateral loading, the wire can be
considered as the straight line, while wire in the discharging area
can be regarded as a curved girder. Thus the model of wire
trajectory can be simplied as the following assumes that
1. workpiece is symmetrically set between two guide wheels;
2. the axial tensile force (T) remains constant between the two
guide wheels, and the wire mass is uniformly distributed along
its length [17];
3. according to the summary of Section 2, the electromagnetic
force and dielectric uid viscosity force can be ignored, and
temperature increment on the wire lag leads to the variation of
Young's modulus;
4. discharge resultant force action on the wire electrode is the
main cause of wire deformation, and it can be regarded as a
distributed force acting on per unit length of the wire, and the
direction of this force is opposite to the cutting direction
[2,3,9,10,17]. According to the above simplication, wire in
the discharging area can be regarded as a curved girder with
mobile hinged joints [2,3,9,10,17]. In Fig. 12, two hinge points
(with lateral deformation and without perpendicular deforma-
tion) are set on the two ends of workpiece, and the each hinge
point is subjected to perpendicular force from the component
force (F
y
' qh=2) of wire tension. Hence, the general differen-
tial equation of movement for a stretched string of length (L) in
a plane (along the x-axis) can be expressed as
T

2
y
x
2
E
T
I

4
y
x
4
S

2
y
t
2

y
t
q
x;t
25
The term T
2
y=x
2
represents the force caused by wire bending
deection due to wire tension (T), and the term E
T
I
4
y=x
4

indicates the force resulted in restraining transverse bending

because of wire electrode rigidity, and the terms S
2
y=t
2
and
y=t express the inertia force and damping force, respectively.
In the practical machining, the wire tension T (1030 N) is 20100
times larger than the wire inertia force (0.30.5 N) due to tiny and
slender characteristic of wire electrode, so the wire inertia force
can be ignored. The effect of the damping force mainly reects the
wire vibration behavior.
If the wire in the discharging area is only subjected to
distributed resultant force, the differential equations of deection
curve can be derived as
E
T
I
y
x

1
6
qx
3

1
4
qhx
2

1
24
qh
3
26
E
T
Iy
1
24
qx
4

1
12
qhx
3

1
24
qh
3
x 27
The maximum deection y
max
can be obtained at the point of
x h=2:
y
max

5qh
4
384E
T
I
28
The maximum rotation angle can be gained at the point of x0
or xh:

max
7
qh
3
24E
T
I
29
According to Eq. (27), it can be concluded that the equation of
deection curve is the fourth-order function when wire is only
subjected to distributed resultant force. Thus, when the wire is
subjected to distributed resultant force and wire tension, the wire
deection in the discharging area can be described by the method
of fourth-order function tting as in Eq. (30). Considering the
symmetry of wire trajectory, the maximum deection (y
max
y
2
)
is acquired at the point of x h=2, and the maximum rotation
angle is gained at the point of x0 or xh.
y ax
4
bx
3
cx
2
dxe 30
a, b, c, d, e are undetermined coefcients, and they can be worked
out by the below boundary conditions.
Boundary conditions are as below:
when x0, y0,
2
y=x
2
0;
when xh, y0,
2
y=x
2
0;
when xh/2, yy
2
.
So y and y=x can be deduced as
y ax
4
2ahx
3
ah
3
x
16y
2
x
4
5h
4

32y
2
x
3
5h
3

16y
2
x
5h
31
y
x
4ax
3
6ahx
2
ah
3
32
In Fig. 13, the analysis of innitesimal unit of the wire has been
conducted. Then bending moment equation can be gained as
dM T4ax
3
6ahx
2
ah
3
dxqx 33
Fig. 11. Wire bending deformation between the two guide wheels.
Fig. 12. Wire bending deformation in the discharging area.
Fig. 13. The bending moment analysis of innitesimal unit of wire.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 47
Through four integrating processes and the limit of boundary
conditions, the nal equation of deection curve can be derived as
E
T
Iy
8y
2
Tx
6
75h
4

8y
2
Tx
5
25h
3

8y
2
Tx
3
15h

8y
2
Thx
25

1
24
qx
4

1
12
qhx
3

1
24
qh
3
x 34
At the point of xh,
y y
2

125qh
4
9600E
T
I 976Th
2
35
At the point of x0, taking the derivative of x,
E
T
I
y
x

8y
2
Th
25

qh
3
24
36

max

y
xmax

qh
3
24E
T
I

5qTh
5
1200E
2
T
I
2
122E
T
ITh
2
37
Because the wire in the non-discharging area is considered as a
straight line, the wire deection y
1
can be worked out as
y
1
l
max

qlh
3
24E
T
I

5qTlh
5
1200E
2
T
I
2
122E
T
ITh
2
38
From Eqs. (35) and (38), the wire deection has the positive
correlation with distributed resultant force (q), workpiece thick-
ness (h) and the distance (l) from workpiece to guide wheel, while
the wire deection has the negative correlation with wire tension
(T), wire speed (v), exural rigidity (E
T
I) and section area (S).
In addition, Young's modulus of the wire electrode has a decreas-
ing trend with the increase of the temperature in discharge
channel according to Fig. 9.
3.2.2. Model of wire vibration behavior between the two guide
wheels
The wire vibration is a very complicated phenomenon because
the discharge condition, number of discharge spark and location of
the discharge force acting on the wire are random in nature, and
its behavior can be inuenced by the wire tension, discharge
reaction force, damping force of uid, cutting feedrate, etc. The
geometric accuracy of workpiece (taper error, corner error and
kerf width) is mainly inuenced by wire vibration in machining
thin workpiece.
In this subsection, a model of wire electrode vibration is
developed under single discharge, and a theoretical solution of
vibration equation is solved by the method of variables separation.
Firstly, the wire electrode can be regarded as a plumb line in the
cutting section, and the vibration behavior can also be treated
as string vibration according to the classical vibration theory.
Secondly, in the stable machining process, there is enough time
to allow the wire electrode to vibrate hundreds of times, and the
forced vibration can be ignored. So the amplitude of wire vibration
in each cutting section is about the same. Thirdly, the main cause
of wire vibration is the discharge impact force (F
p
(t)) under the
single discharge, and the discharge impact force (F
p
(t)) at one spot
can be simplied as
F
p
t n
s
F
d

t
39
For simplication, the following basic assumptions are required in
order to obtain the amplitude of the wire vibration:
1. The wire electrode is slender, exible and not moving.
2. Workpiece is symmetrically set between two guide wheels.
3. The axial tensile force (T) remains constant between the two
guide wheels, and the wire mass is uniformly distributed along
its length.
According to the classical vibration theory, the string vibration
equation at spot can be expressed as
T

2
y
x
2

y
t
F
p
tx S

2
y
t
2
40
This string vibration equation can be solved by variables separa-
tion method and boundary conditions as follows:
y
0;t
0
y
L;t
0
_
y
x;0 0
y
x
x;0
0
_
_
_
Theoretical solution of vibration equation is shown as
y

; x; t
2nF
d
L

1
n 1
e
=2t

n
sin
n
L
_ _
sin
nx
L
_ _
sin
n
t 41

n
2

2
T
2

2
L
2


2
4
2

n 1; 2; 3; 4; 42
The maximum amplitude of vibration occurs at the middle plane
of the workpiece (xL/2), and it is expressed as
Y
max
4n
s
F
d

1
n 1
1

4n
2

2
T
2

2
L
2
_ e
=2t
n 1; 3; 5; 43
On the basis of Eq. (43), it can be seen that the Y
max
is directly
proportional to the discharge impact force (F
p
(t)), and it also has a
decreasing trend with the increase of wire tension (T), the span of
two guide wheels (L) and damping co-efcient (). In addition, the
coefcient (e
=2t
) suggests that the maximum amplitude will
attenuate with time.
Because the discharge spot on the wire electrode is stochastic
in nature, the maximum vibration amplitudes in all directions are
about the same. As shown in Fig. 14, the kerf width (D
F
) can be
obtained by Eq. (44). Hence, the maximum amplitude of wire
vibration can be obtained by measuring the kerf width:
Y
max
A D
F
2r 2d
1
44
3.2.3. Superposition of maximum lag (y
1
y
2
) and vibration
amplitude (Y
max
)
According to analysis in Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, the maximum
wire lag (y
1
y
2
) and wire vibration amplitude (Y
max
) occur at
point of the wire electrode simultaneously. Hence, the maximum
wire deection (W
max
) can be obtained by superposition of
maximum lag (y
1
,y
2
) and vibration amplitude (Y
max
) based on
vector superposing method in MS-WEDM, as shown:
W
max
y
1
y
2
Y
max
45
Fig. 14. The top view of cutting kerf width.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 48
4. The conrmation experiment
In this conrmation experiment, the discharge breakdown
distance (d
1
) is 2 m when the pulse voltage is 100 V, the wire
electrode diameter (2r) is 180 m and the metrical data of kerf
width ranges from 185 m to 186 m in machining 20 mm-
thickness workpiece. This fact means that the maximum ampli-
tude of wire vibration is about 12 m according to Eq. (44). This
conclusion is consistent with the research result of Mohri and Puri
[1,18,19]. The wire deection is the main cause to decrease the
geometric accuracy in machining thick workpiece, while the wire
vibration is the main factor of reducing the geometric precision in
cutting thin part. This phenomenon is attributed to large specic
damping co-efcient () in machining thick workpiece and small
specic damping co-efcient () in cutting thin part. In other
words, the wire vibration is an insignicant effect on machining
accuracy in machining thick workpiece.
4.1. Experimental equipment and conditions
This conrmation experiment was carried out on a high-end
MS-WEDM with maximum output current of 5 A, maximum wire
feed rate of 20 m/s, surface roughness less than 1:0 m, (Dongguan
Hustinova Precision Machinery Co., Ltd, China). Workpiece thick-
ness of 20 mm and molybdenum wire of 0.18 mm diameter were
used for all experiments. In addition, the workpiece is a SKD-11
(Cr
12
MoV) steel block, which is a high carbon high chromium alloy
steel used in the production of dies, plastic injection molding dies,
precision gauges, spindle, jigs and xtures, etc.
4.2. Experiment theory
The distributed resultant force (q) is in direct proportion to the
discharge energy (E
t
) [20]. In order to obtain the value of E
t
,
statistical analysis of the voltage and current of the process must
be carried out. E
t
can be nally calculated using Eq. (46) accord-
ing to the description of Plaza [20]:
E
t

_
tp
0
U
t
I
t
dt 46
According to Eq. (46), if pulse voltage, pulse-on time and pulse-off
time remain constant in the machining process, both q and E
t
will
be in direct proportion to the discharge current I
t
. Thus, q can be
expressed as the simplied model:
q k
q
I
t
47
4.3. Experiment steps and results
1. The workpiece is set symmetrically between two guide
wheels, and wire electrode has been kept perpendicular to
workpiece.
2. By the method of control variables, different processing
factors are set as Table 3, and the other processing parameters
remain constant: pulse voltage 100 V, pulse-on time 50 s, pulse-
off time 250 s, wire speed 10 m/s, track coefcient 45.
3. Fig. 15 shows that cut processing is conducted along the
L
1
(y) direction to gain a reference plane parallel to the wire
electrode, and a new workpiece coordinate system (O is the origin
of coordinate) is established in each group experiment.
4. In No. 15 and No. 1120 experiments, 3 mm-cutting is
conducted along the L
2
direction (x) as in Fig. 15 (means the
deection y
0
direction and the deection y
1
direction are the
same) at the beginning coordinate point (0, 5.000, 0) mm, and
then cut off the pulse power suddenly and withdraw the wire
electrode. On the reverse side to the reference plane, beginning
with the coordinate point (5.000, 5.090, 0) mm, the specimen is
cut down along the L
3
direction (x) (the opposite of the L
2
means
the deection y
0
and the deection y
1
are in opposite directions),
and the wire deection at the edge of specimen is y
0
y
1
.
5. In No. 610 experiments, 3 mm-cutting is conducted along
the L
3
(x) direction at the beginning coordinate point (0, 5.000,
0) mm and then cut off the pulse power suddenly and withdraw
the wire electrode. On the reverse side to the reference plane,
beginning with the coordinate point (5.000, 5.090, 0) mm, the
specimen is cut down along the L
2
(x) direction, and the wire
deection at the edge of specimen is jy
1
y
0
j.
6. Along the Z direction of specimens, the distance from the
edge of cutting mark to the reference plane is measured every
1 mm interval by KEYENCE VH-Z500R (a high accuracy digital
microscope).
The measurement results (Nos. 120) are shown in Table 4, and
the cutting surface of No. 4 sample amplied 400 times with the
microscope as shown in Fig. 16.
Table 3
Values of processing variables.
No. It (A) T (N) h (m) l (m) Cut direction
1 1 20 0.02 0.05 L
2
2 2 20 0.02 0.05 L
2
3 3 20 0.02 0.05 L
2
4 4 20 0.02 0.05 L
2
5 5 20 0.02 0.05 L
2
6 1 20 0.02 0.05 L
3
7 2 20 0.02 0.05 L
3
8 3 20 0.02 0.05 L
3
9 4 20 0.02 0.05 L
3
10 5 20 0.02 0.05 L
3
11 2 10 0.02 0.05 L
2
12 2 15 0.02 0.05 L
2
13 2 25 0.02 0.05 L
2
14 2 30 0.02 0.05 L
2
15 2 20 0.01 0.05 L
2
16 2 20 0.03 0.05 L
2
17 2 20 0.04 0.05 L
2
18 2 20 0.02 0.03 L
2
19 2 20 0.02 0.04 L
2
20 2 20 0.02 0.06 L
2
Fig. 15. Schematic diagram of cutting process.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 49
5. Analysis and discussion
5.1. The analysis of the model of wire deection in the area near the
guide wheel
According to the model of wire deection in the area near
the guide wheel, the parameters (wire tension(T), wire radius (r),
guide wheel radius (R) and wire speed (v)) are independent
variables, and the inuence trends of these parameters on the
wire deection can be obtained by the methods of control
variables and numerical calculation.
5.1.1. The analysis of relationship of wire deection and four
parameters
Fig. 17(a) shows the relationship of wire tension (T) and wire
deection (y
0
), and other parameters: E 3:29 10
11
Pa,
r0.09 mm, R15 mm, 1:028 10
4
kg=m
3
, v10 m/s. The
wire tension is the main reason for keeping the wire intertwined
at two guide wheels and wire deection falls down dramatically
with the increase of wire tension. However, the wire tension
cannot be increased without limit in the actual machining which
aims to avoid wire rupture, and it will be suitable when the wire
tension ranges from 20 to 30 N. Moreover, keeping the wire
tension constant plays an important role in maintaining high
precision of the MS-WEDM process, because dramatic uctuation
of wire tension will result in signicant change of wire deection
and wire vibration, which has the extremely bad impact on the
performance of MS-WEDM process.
Table 4
The results of experiment Nos. 120.
Z No.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1 2870 2774 2650 2605 2510 2959 2890 2762 2701 2647 2643 2700 2783 2797 2880 2498 1990 2821 2787 2747
2 2872 2776 2640 2604 2512 2957 2891 2760 2695 2645 2641 2701 2781 2795 2881 2489 1987 2822 2786 2745
3 2866 2772 2647 2597 2503 2958 2885 2761 2698 2643 2639 2698 2780 2796 2879 2494 1985 2820 2780 2746
4 2864 2768 2649 2593 2501 2959 2887 2761 2699 2639 2635 2694 2781 2793 2878 2493 1980 2817 2784 2743
5 2865 2766 2645 2580 2496 2954 2886 2755 2684 2633 2637 2690 2778 2791 2875 2490 1983 2815 2783 2742
6 2860 2769 2637 2589 2493 2955 2884 2758 2694 2627 2639 2692 2773 2792 2877 2485 1975 2817 2780 2741
7 2861 2765 2635 2587 2495 2953 2882 2753 2686 2629 2630 2686 2779 2794 2878 2483 1974 2816 2781 2740
8 2863 2763 2638 2584 2498 2952 2878 2747 2684 2624 2628 2685 2775 2793 2876 2480 1970 2813 2780 2742
9 2862 2764 2634 2585 2490 2951 2880 2750 2680 2620 2630 2687 2771 2792 2874 2482 1965 2815 2782 2737
10 2862 2766 2631 2583 2487 2953 2878 2742 2673 2623 2626 2684 2770 2790 2879 2481 1964 2810 2778 2739
11 2864 2761 2625 2585 2485 2954 2880 2745 2677 2621 2629 2683 2772 2787 2480 1970 2814 2779 2743
12 2863 2762 2630 2587 2491 2952 2879 2751 2685 2628 2630 2685 2773 2792 2475 1963 2812 2781 2741
13 2862 2765 2634 2583 2490 2953 2885 2746 2683 2635 2635 2682 2771 2794 2476 1962 2819 2780 2742
14 2861 2763 2632 2585 2496 2955 2882 2748 2684 2638 2637 2680 2774 2792 2472 1957 2815 2783 2746
15 2864 2768 2636 2587 2498 2954 2881 2753 2690 2642 2642 2683 2776 2790 2471 1958 2817 2784 2745
16 2865 2758 2639 2599 2495 2957 2883 2780 2694 2630 2641 2685 2770 2792 2474 1954 2819 2787 2747
17 2863 2774 2637 2594 2497 2959 2885 2754 2693 2647 2647 2680 2774 2790 2475 1953 2822 2785 2744
18 2865 2779 2640 2598 2502 2963 2884 2753 2697 2652 2645 2687 2773 2793 2479 1951 2828 2793 2748
19 2868 2778 2648 2603 2500 2961 2879 2755 2695 2650 2649 2688 2780 2792 2477 1954 2826 2790 2751
20 2866 2780 2647 2601 2511 2960 2886 2759 2703 2653 2647 2692 2775 2790 2479 1953 2827 2791 2750
21 2480 1955
22 2485 1957
23 2482 1962
24 2484 1958
25 2487 1959
26 2489 1962
27 2490 1964
28 2497 1969
29 2495 1967
30 2496 1968
31 1972
32 1978
33 1980
34 1982
35 1984
36 1993
37 1988
38 1989
39 1995
40 1998
d
1
132 223 352 395 438 355 304 220 202 120 503 1006 176 210 250
d
2
40 112 240 299 329
d
3
6 10 17 22 27 6 9 16 24 29 18 12 9 8 5 24 46 11 12 10
The distance d
1
y
0
y
1
(m), d
2
jy
1
y
0
j (m), d
3
y
2
(m).
Fig. 16. Observation picture of the cutting surface of Sample 4.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 50
Fig. 17(b) shows the relationship of wire radius (r) and wire
deection (y
0
) and other parameters: E 3:29 10
11
Pa, T20 N,
R15 mm, 1:028 10
4
kg=m
3
, v10 mm/s. Wire deection
soars up signicantly with the increase of wire radius due to the
increase of exural rigidity EI. The acceptable wire radius should
be less than 0.1 mm, and in this case, the wire deection is under
80 m in the area near the guide wheel in MS-WEDM.
Fig. 17(c) shows the relationship of guide wheel radius (R)
and wire deection (y
0
), and other parameters: E 3:29 10
11
Pa,
T20 N, r0.09 mm, 1:028 10
4
kg=m
3
, v10 m/s. Wire
deection drops gradually with the increase of guide wheel radius
because of the increase of curvature k of the wire electrode in the
area near the guide wheel.
Fig. 17(d) shows the relationship of wire speed (v) and wire
deection (y
0
), and other parameters: E 3:29 10
11
Pa, T20 N,
r0.09 mm, R15 mm, 1:028 10
4
kg=m
3
. Wire deection rises
up slowly with the increase of wire speed due to the increase of
inertial force of the wire. Hence, the wire speed is a nonsignicant
parameter of wire deection in the area near the guide wheel.
5.1.2. The conrmatory analysis of model of wire deection in the
area near the guide wheel
The cutting direction (L
2
) of No. 15 experiments is opposite to
the direction (L
3
) of No. 610 experiments under the correspond-
ing currents, while the other parameters are T20 N, h0.02 m,
l 0.05 m. Then y
0
, y
1
, y
2
can be obtained as in Table 5.
As Table 5 shows, it can be concluded that the deection (y
0
) is
an approximate constant, and the average value of y
0
is 52 m. The
deection (y
0
) is independent of the cutting direction and dis-
charge condition, while it is as relevant to wire tension as y
0
is in
the theoretical model. When the wire tension is 20 N, deection
(y
0
) in the theoretical model is 55:5 m, and its relative error is
just 6.7% compared with the experiment results. Hence, it can be
conrmed that the theoretical model is reliable and reasonable.
5.2. The analysis of macroscopic mechanical model of wire deection
between the two guide wheels
The effect of temperature increment on wire Young's modulus
has been obtained in Section 2.4, and the pulse current was set the
same in Section 2.4 and the conrmation experiment. Hence,
corresponding pulse current and wire Young's modulus can also
be obtained from Table 2.
In addition, the exact value of discharge resultant force cannot
be measured due to complicated discharge environment. From
Eqs. (35) and (38), the coefcient (k
q
) of distributed resultant force
per unit current can be calculated by using the reverse problem
method. Furthermore, the feasibility of our model is conrmed by
comparing result of the theoretical models with the experiment
results and other researchers theoretical models.
5.2.1. The analysis of the macroscopic mechanical theoretical model
According to the 20 groups experiment results and reverse
problem method, the coefcient (k
q
) can be obtained by the
method of interpolation and tting based on Eqs. (35), (38) and
(47), and then the relative errors between the macroscopic
Fig. 17. The relationship plot of y
0
and control factors. (a) wiretension (T), (b) wire radius (r), (c) guide wheel radius (R) and (d) wire speed (v)
Table 5
The results of Nos. 110.
No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
It (A) 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
y
0
y
1
(m) 132 223 352 395 438
jy
1
y
0
j (m) 40 112 240 299 329
y
2
(m) 6 10 17 22 27 6 9 16 24 29
y
0
(m) 46 55.5 56 48 54.5
y
1
(m) 86 168 296 347 384
y
2
(m) 6 9.5 16.5 23 28
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 51
mechanical theoretical model data and the experimental data can
be worked out.
In order to calculate the coefcient (k
q
) in this conrmation
experiment condition, rst of all, the models of wire deection are
assumed to be Eqs. (48) and (49). Secondly, by the method of
nonlinear least-squares tting, the tting model can be deduced as
Eqs. (50) and (51) according to experimental data. Furthermore, in
comparison with the experimental data, the average relative errors of
wire deection (y
1
) and wire deection (y
2
) in the tting model are
9.30% and 10.48%, respectively. This fact means the tting model is
reliable and appropriate. Then, the coefcient (k
q
) is calculated as
2.315 N/(mA) by comparing the theoretical model (Eqs. (35) and (38))
and the tting model (Eqs. (50) and (51)), and this value of the
coefcient (k
q
) is applied to calculate wire deection (y
1
) and wire
deection (y
2
) in the theoretical model. Eventually, compared with the
experimental data again, the average relative errors of wire deection
(y
1
) and wire deection (y
2
) in the theoretical model are 10.11% and
12.12%, respectively, which means macroscopic mechanical theoretical
models are reliable and feasible too:
y
2

k
1
I
t
h
4
k
2
E
T
I k
3
Th
2
48
y
1

k
4
I
t
lh
3
E
T
I

k
5
I
t
Tlh
5
k
6
E
T
I
2
k
7
E
T
ITh
2
49
y
2
'
298I
t
h
4
29649E
T
I 1006:5Th
2
50
y'
1

0:1163I
t
lh
3
E
T
I

10:6914I
t
Tlh
5
571:18E
T
I
2
93:46E
T
ITh
2
51
5.2.2. Comparison with other researchers' models
Luo [9] established a new practical model, an arc tting, to
calculate the wire bow error. While Puri and Dauw [2,10] pre-
sented a new approach, a parabolic tting, to describe the wire
trajectory. But there was no experiment to conrm their models in
their researchers. In this subsection, using similar analysis method
and experimental data from Section 4, the compared results of our
models, Luo's model and Puri's models are illustrated Table 6 and
Fig. 18. They suggest that the models of three author's research are
reliable and reasonable, and the inuence trends of factors on
wire deection agree with the practical machining. Moreover, the
Table 6
The comparison of three models and experimental data.
Category Our macroscopic mechanical models Luo's model Puri's model
Deection y
2
y
1
y
2
y
2
y
1
Theoretical model
125qh
4
9600E
T
I 976Th
2
qlh
3
24E
T
I

5qTlh
5
1200E
2
T
I
2
122E
T
ITh
2
qh
4
384E
T
I=58Th
2
qh
2
8T
qlhl
2T
Fitting model
298It h
4
29649E
T
I 1006:5Th
2
0:1163It lh
3
E
T
I

10:6914It Tlh
5
571:18E
T
I
2
93:46E
T
ITh
2
298It h
4
29649E
T
I 1006:5Th
2
0:2738It h
2
T
0:5931It lhl
T
kqN=m A 2.315 2.372 1.6883
Fitting errors (%) 10.48 9.30 10.48 10.50 39.02
Theoretical errors (%) 12.12 10.11 18.50 23.74 75.20
Fig. 18. The comparison results between three models and the experiment data.
G. Zhang et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 78 (2014) 4153 52
calculated results of wire deection (y
1
and y
2
) in our macroscopic
mechanical theoretical models are closer to experimental data
than other researches model on the basis of the less average
relative errors.
6. Conclusions and future work
The following conclusions can be drawn from the above
investigation:
1. Some causes of wire deection have been analyzed to under-
stand the fundamental mechanism of wire deformation, and
the discharge resultant force and temperature increment prove
to be the main causes of wire deection according to a detailed
analysis of each causes.
2. Two macroscopic mechanical models of wire deection have
been developed in the area near the guide wheel and between
the two guide wheels considering temperature increment in
machining 20 mm-thickness workpiece process. The former model
has been conrmed that the deection (y
0
) is an approximate
constant when the wire tension remains unchanged, and MS-
WEDM will be more stabilized when the wire deections y
0
and y
1
are in different directions. In addition, compared with other
models, our second macroscopic mechanical models turn out to
be reasonable, and it can be concluded from the results of
conrmation experiment that our models are more appropriate
and practical than other researchers models
3. According to the two macroscopic mechanical models of wire
deection, some practical approaches can be proposed to
control the wire trajectory, such as decreasing the wire radius
(r) and the span (L) of two guide wheels, employing the pulse
generator with lower single pulse discharge energy and higher
discharge frequency, and increasing the wire tension (T).
In the future work, these high-precision models of wire
deection can be used for analyzing the corner error, taper error
and other geometric accuracy. Moreover, they can be applied to set
a lead compensation for wire deection into NC system.
Acknowledgment
This research is mainly supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant nos. 51175207
and 51121002. In addition, National Key Technology R&D Program
no. 2012BAF13B07 and Science and Technology Planning Project of
Guangdong Province no. 2012B011300015 both aid this study.
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