A Soft Computing-Based Analysis of Cutting Rate and Recast Layer Thickness for AZ31 Alloy on WEDM Using RSM-MOPSO

In the present research, the AZ31 alloy is machined by wire-cut electric discharge machining (WEDM). The experiments were designed according to the Box-Behnken design (BBD) of response surface methodology (RSM). The input process variables, namely servo feed (SF), pulse on-time (Ton), servo voltage (SV), and pulse off-time (Toff), were planned by BBD, and experiments were performed to investigate the cutting rate (CR) and recast layer thickness (RCL). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the influence of machining variables on response characteristics. The empirical models developed for CR and RCL were solved using Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO). Pareto optimal front is used for the collective optimization of CR and RCL. The optimal solution suggested by the hybrid approach of RSM-MOPSO is further verified using a confirmation test on the random setting indicated by the hybrid algorithm. It is found that the minimum RCL (6.34 µm) is obtained at SF: 1700; SV: 51 V; Toff: 10.5 µs; and Ton: 0.5 µs. However, maximum CR (3.18 m/min) is predicted at SF: 1900; SV: 40 V; Toff: 7 µs; and Ton: 0.9 µs. The error percentage of ±5.3% between the experimental results and predicted solutions confirms the suitability of the proposed hybrid approach for WEDM of AZ31.

Response Surface Grey Relational Analysis On The Manufacturing of High Grade Biomedical Ti-13Zr-13Nb

Optimization of the manufacturing conditions with more than one performance characteristics have been a thing of concern, especially for Response Surface Method (RSM) optimization. Hence, this study addressed this challenge by reanalyzing a data presented in a previous study using grey relational analysis (GRA) and regression analysis. Central Composite Design (CCD) of RSM with high and low values of manufacturing conditions; voltage (50, 70) V, current (8, 16) A, pulse ON time (6, 10) μs, and pulse OFF time (7, 11) μs. The manufacturing conditions for optimal biomedical Ti-13Zr-13Nb alloy were obtained to be 50V voltage, 8A current, 6 μs pulse ON time, and 11 μs pulse OFF time. It was also revealed that the mathematical model was very efficient because the modeled GRG was in consonant with the experimental one. In addition, it was also established that current was the most significant manufacturing condition with a contribution of 47.27%. Voltage, factors interactions and residual error were insignificant on the GRG value of the titanium alloy. In conclusion, it can be deduced that the a small value of voltage within the considered settings could be used to manufacture better grade Ti-13Zr-13Nb alloy and also the small value of residual error showed the high manufacturability of the material.

Study on Fe-Based Metallic Glass Micro Hole Machining by Using Micro-EDM Combined with Electrophoretic Deposition Polishing

Fe-based metallic glass possesses high hardness and brittleness. It is a hard-to-cut metal material and difficult to machine by conventional methods. Although electrical discharge machining (EDM) has advantages in machining hard-to-cut metal materials, recast layer, pores, and micro cracks will form on the machined surface after machining. The study used a helical tool for the micro electrical discharge drilling (µ-EDD) process on Fe-based metallic glass. The influence of processing parameters, including the pulse on time, gap voltage, duty factor, and spindle rotational speed on the micro hole machining quality characteristics was investigated. The helical tool with SiC electrophoretic deposited (EPD) film was used to polish the inner surface of the electrical discharged micro hole. The findings show that the best micro hole accuracy, tool wear length, and inner surface were obtained at the spindle rotation speed of 1150 rpm, pulse on time of 5 μs, gap voltage of 30 V, and duty factor of 40%. The inner surface roughness can be reduced to 0.018 µm by using EPD tool. The inner surface was polished up to form a mirror surface.

WEDM Machining Performance of Al Based Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced with Rice Husk Ash

With the enhancement in science and technology, necessity of complex shapes in manufacturing industries becomes essential for more versatile applications. These lead to demand for light weight and durable materials for applications in aerospace, defence, automotive, as well as sports and thermal management. Due to its high-tech structural, functional applications like defence, automobile, aerospace, thermal sensitive materials. Al-Matrix composites are considered as one of those classes of advanced engineering materials. In the present study, Al-RHA (Rice Husk Ash) composites are prepared by powder metallurgy route using 10% and 15% RHA by weight as reinforcement. Presence of abrasive particles leads to difficulty of conventional machining on Al-RHA composites hence non-conventional machining WEDM (Wire-Electric Discharge Machining) has been investigated. Suitable machining parameters for composites using wire EDM have been tried to get maximum material removal rate and speed. Optimizations of experimental parameters have been studied using Taguchi and Anova to standardize the process parameters for machining. Prime process parameters like servo-voltage, pulse-on time and pulse-off-time have been taken into consideration to study cutting quality of Al-RHA Metal matrix Composite using cutting speed as response parameters while effect of RHA weight fraction addition is also considered for evaluation to understand its influence on affecting the response.

Experimental investigations and multi criteria optimization during machining of A356/WC MMCs using EDM

In the current paper, the authors are intended to manufacture the aluminum based metal matrix composite (MMC) employing the stir casting process. Further, the fabricated composite sample is investigated for machining characteristics during the die sink electrical discharge machining process (EDM). EDM is most commonly employed to satisfy the special needs of industry such as developing deep holes and complex contours from high strength materials such as composites, alloys, smart materials, and functionally graded materials. In the current study A356 and 4%, tungsten carbide (WC) powder are considered as matrix and strengthening materials respectively to fabricate the MMCs. During the machining activity, the input factors like discharge current (Ip), Voltage (Vg), Pulse On-Time (Ton), and flushing pressure (P) are optimized for achieving optimum surface roughness (SR), Tool Wear Rate (TWR) and Material Removal Rate (MRR). To estimate the ideal set of process factors grey regression analysis (GRA) is used. From the results, it was observed that the GRA is found to perform better than the RSM.

Identification of Optimal Process Parameters in Electro-Discharge Machining Using ANN and PSO

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process is a widely used machining process in several fabrication, construction and repair work applications. Considering Pulse-On Time, Pulse OFF time, Peak-Current and Gap voltage as the inputs and among all possible outputs, in the present work Material Removal Rate and Surface Roughness are considered as outputs. In order to reduce the number of experiments Design of Experiments (DOE) was undertaken using Orthogonal Array and later on the outputs were optimized using ANN and PSO. It was found that the results obtained from both the techniques were tallying with each other.

Optimization of Wire Cut Electro Discharge Machining Process Parameters for Aluminium 6082 by using Taguchi Technique

The manufacturing industry is changing very drastically in all the aspect regarding the manufacturing technology as well as the quality concern as per as the quality is considered. Quality is becoming a significant trend in todays growing automobile industry. In the field of metal cutting operations, the surface roughness is becoming more dominant parameter as per as the quality of the component is considered. Electrical discharge machining is becoming a most powerful non conventional machining which is being widely used in the field of machining. Most specifically our work was conducted on the electrical discharge wire cut machining for achieving the desired surface roughness (Ra) and adequate material removal rate (MRR). The input parameter for our research work were selected as Peak current, pulse on time & pulse off time while the output parameter was selected as MRR and the surface roughness. Aluminum 6082 Grade material is used as a specimen and the research methodology implemented for the research work is taguchi and Anova. Keywords: Wire cut EDM, Taguchi, MRR surface roughness, Anova.

Multiple-Performance Optimization of Wire EDM Parameters for HDS H13 BY Using Taguchi Method

Wire electrical discharge machining is extensively used in machining of conductive materials. The WEDM process has the ability to machine complex shapes and hard electrically conductive metal components precisely. The main goal of wire electrical discharge machine manufacturers and users are to achieve a better stability and high productivity of the process with desired accuracy and minimum surface damage.The main objectives of the present research are to experimentally study the effect of various process parameters like pulse on time, pulse off time, wire feed, and wire tension on the performance measures like material removal rate, surface roughness and wire wear ratio. WEDM is a widely recognized unconventional material cutting process used to manufacture components with complex shapes and profiles of hard materials. In this paper we are presenting the development of WEDEM process using various pre define parameters using Taguchi method. Index Terms: WEDM, doe, orthogonal array, parameters, Taguchi method, H13, HDS, mean of means, SF, MRR, Ra, etc.

Surface and Subsurface Quality of Titanium Grade 23 Machined by Electro Discharge Machining

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a non-traditional cutting technology that is extensively utilized in contemporary industry, particularly for machining difficult-to-cut materials. EDM may be used to create complicated forms and geometries with great dimensional precision. Titanium alloys are widely used in high-end applications owing to their unique intrinsic characteristics. Nonetheless, they have low machinability. The current paper includes an experimental examination of EDM’s Ti-6Al-4V ELI (Extra Low Interstitials through controlled interstitial element levels) process utilizing a graphite electrode. The pulse-on current (IP) and pulse-on time (Ton) were used as control parameters, and machining performance was measured in terms of Material Removal Rate (MRR), Tool Material Removal Rate (TMRR), and Tool Wear Ratio (TWR). The Surface Roughness (SR) was estimated based on the mean roughness (SRa) and maximum peak to valley height (SRz), while, the EDMed surfaces were also examined using optical and SEM microscopy and cross-sections to determine the Average White Layer Thickness (AWLT). Finally, for the indices above, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted, whilst semi-empirical correlations for the MRR and TMRR were given using the Response Surface Method (RSM). The results show that the pulse-on time is the most significant parameter of the machining process that may increase the MRR up to 354%. Pulse-on current and pulse-on time are shown to have an impact on the surface integrity of the finished product. Furthermore, statistics, SEM, and EDX images on material removal efficiency and tool wear rate are offered to support the core causes of surface and sub-surface damage. The average microhardness of the White Layer (WL) is 1786 HV.

A Study of Fabricating Nano-W Colloid by Discharge Energy Enhancement of the micro-EDM System

This study enhanced the discharge energy of an existing micro-electric discharge machining (EDM) system to provide the system with the ability to prepare nano-tungsten (nano-W) colloid. The energy- enhanced EDM system, referred to as the upgraded-micro-EDM system, enables spark discharge using tungsten wires immersed in deionized water to produce nano-W colloids. Compared with the chemical preparation method, the processing environment for preparing colloids will not have nanoparticle escape in this study. Among the nano-W colloids prepared using the upgraded-micro-EDM system and an industrial EDM system, the colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system exhibited more favorable absorbance, suspensibility, and particle size. The colloid prepared by the upgraded-micro-EDM system with the pulse on time and off time of 10–10 µs had an absorbance of 0.277 at the wavelength of 315 nm, ζ potential of −64.9 mV, and an average particle size of 164.9 nm. Transmission electron microscope imaging revealed the minimum particle size of approximately 11 nm, and the X-ray diffractometer spectrum verified that the colloid contained only \({\text{W}}_{2.00}\) and W nanoparticles. Relative to industrial EDM applications for nano-W colloid preparation, the upgraded system boasts lower costs and smaller size, and produces nano-W colloid with superior performance. These advantages contribute to the competitiveness of electrical spark discharge method in the preparation of high-quality nano-W colloids.