Title: Modelling and optimisation of material removal rate and surface roughness in surface-electrical discharge diamond grinding process

Authors: Shyam Sunder; Vinod Yadava

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S.A. College of Engineering and Technology, Mathura – 281004, Uttar Pradesh, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad – 211004, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract: Metal matrix composites (MMCs) can be machined using electrical discharge machining (EDM) but the process is found slow. Electrical discharge diamond grinding (EDDG), which is a hybrid machining process (HMP) comprising of diamond grinding (DG) and electrical discharge grinding (EDG), has been found a viable machining method which enhances MRR and produce better surface finish. During EDDG, abrasive grains eradicate the non-conducting material particles of MMCs, and spark discharges thermally softened the surrounding binding material. In the present work, an attempt has been made for modelling of EDDG in surface grinding mode for outputs MRR and average surface roughness (R_a) and inputs wheel speed, depth of cut, workpiece speed, pulse on-time, current and duty factor. Experiments were carried out on a newly self-developed surface grinding setup for EDDG on a die sinking EDM machine for Al-10wt.%Al₂O₃ composite. Finally, weighted principal component (WPC) is proposed for optimising the machining parameters.

Keywords: surface grinding; electrical discharge machining; EDM; electrical discharge diamond grinding; EDDG; aluminium MMCs; metal matrix composites; artificial neural networks; ANNs; weighted PCA; principal component analysis; electro-discharge machining; modelling; optimisation; material removal rate; MMR; surface quality; surface roughness; wheel speed; depth of cut; workpiece speed; pulse on-time; current; duty factor.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2014.061990

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2014 Vol.17 No.2, pp.133 - 151

Published online: 25 Jul 2014 *

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