Performance Evaluation on Cryogenic Cooling of Electrode in Electrical Discharge Machining in AISI D2 Steel
This research has been conducted to evaluate the performance of the Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) cooling of copper electrode in electrical discharge machining (EDM) on AISI D2 steel. The experimental process parameter such as discharge current, pulse on time and gap voltage were varied to explore their effects on machining performance, including the electrode wear and surface roughness. It was found that for electrode wear, discharge current, pulse on time, and gap voltage has the most significant effect, while the pulse on time and discharge current have the most significant effect on surface roughness. Analysis on the influence of cooling responses has been carried out and presented in this study. It was found that the electrode wear reduced up to 18% during LN2 cooling. Surface roughness was also significantly reduced while machining with LN2 electrode cooling. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was carried out to study the surface characteristics of machined surface. EDMed machined surface was also acceptable in LN2 cooling of the electrode.