Title: A novel approach to measure kerf-width in wire-electric discharge machining

Authors: M. Baburaj; K. Manoj Kumar; Nithin Tom Mathew; S. Ragu Nathan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, 517506, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Muthoot Institute of Technology and Science, Kerala, India ' Work Integrated Learning Programmes Division, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, India ' Micromachining Research Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, India

Abstract: Wire-electric discharge machining is best suitable for manufacturing components from materials having poor machinability. Numerous studies have been carried out on the process optimisation of wire electric discharge machining for achieving better surface finish and higher material removal rates. These parameters depend on kerf loss, which is usually quantified in terms of the average kerf-width. However, arbitrary selection of discreet points to measure kerf loss often makes this method ineffective to reveal the details of actual kerf loss. An area-based measurement procedure, which considers all irregularities on the kerf wall, is proposed in this study as a solution to estimate the kerf loss. On analysing the possibility of reducing kerf loss during the machining of duplex stainless steel, it was observed that a pulse on time, current and voltage combination of 12 µs, 1 A and 80 V is suitable for achieving high dimensional accuracy.

Keywords: WEDM; duplex stainless steel; DSS; kerf-width; area-based tool; spark gap.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMM.2022.126594

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2022 Vol.24 No.5, pp.331 - 349

Received: 28 Apr 2021
Accepted: 16 Jul 2021

Published online: 28 Oct 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article