Sustainable processing of Inconel 718 super alloy in electrical discharge machining process

Purpose This paper aims to present the performance of deionized water in electrical discharge machining (EDM) during machining of Inconel 718, copper tool electrode and deionized water as dielectric. Three parameters, namely, pulse-on-time, pulse-off-time and discharge current were taken as control parameters with individual parameter having three levels. Influence of these control parameters on response such as tool wear rate (TWR), material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra) is evaluated at various combinations of parametric levels. The results reveal deionized water can be effectively used as a sustainable dielectric and may substitute the hydrocarbon-based dielectric in electrical discharge machining. Also, the control parameters considered show significant impact on the process criteria. Super ranking method was adopted to achieve optimal integration of EDM control factors for obtaining higher MRR, lower TWR and Ra. Further, by applying analysis of variance test, discharge current is established as the dominant parameter during the machining process. Design/methodology/approach The experimentation was performed on Inconel 718 in SPARKONIX MOS, 35 A, ZNC EDM using deionized water as dielectric and copper tool as electrode. The dielectric circulatory system was developed without disturbing the existing dielectric circulation system. Figure 1 shows the EDM with newly developed dielectric system. The existing system consists of hydrocarbon-based dielectric, which has a number of drawbacks during the machining such as carbide deposition on the work material, which reduces removal of material from work material; carbon particle adhesion on tool, which results in inefficient discharge between the electrode; and the work material and production of CO and CH4 during machining, which makes the machining environment toxic. To overcome these drawbacks, a sustainable dielectric was adopted in present work. Trial experiments were conducted to select the ranges of parameters, namely, discharge current, pulse-on-time and pulse-off-time. The process characteristics were evaluated at different parametric combinations and the experimentation was designed as per Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Table 1 shows the properties of Inconel 718. Table 2 shows the parameters considered with its ranges. Table 3 shows the experimental values. The difference of weight of work piece before and after was taken and divided by the machining time used for calculating the MWR. Similarly, the difference of weight of tool material before and after was taken and divided by machining time and is used for calculating TWR. Measurement of surface roughness was done using Talysurf surface roughness meter. Findings The experimentation was conducted at different parametric combination on Inconel 718 taking copper as electrode and deionized water as dielectric. The performance criteria was evaluated at considered parametric combination. The result shows that the EDM parameters have significant contribution on the performance criteria and deionized water can be effectively used as dielectric medium in EDM. The use of deionized water as dielectric will improve the process and sustainable green machining can be performed. Super ranking method has been implemented to achieve the best combination of control factors and it is obtained that the combination A1B1C3 (i.e. discharge current = 3 A, pulse-on-time = 1 µs and pulse-off-time = 3 µs) is best combination for obtaining the higher MRR and lower TWR and Ra. The contributing factor in the proposed research work is discharge current. Further, ANOVA was implemented to check the adequacy of these result. It was established that discharge current is the most influential factor followed by pulse-on-time and the least contributing factor as pulse-off-time. The findings of this paper may open the guidelines for researcher for performing research in the field of sustainable machining of difficult to cut materials such as Inconel 718 with sustainable dielectrics in engineering applications. Originality/value The paper is original in nature. The findings of this paper may open the guidelines for researcher for performing research in the field of sustainable machining.