Title: Application of Taguchi method for optimisation of powder mixed electrical discharge machining

Authors: H.K. Kansal, Sehijpal Singh, P. Kumar

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, SLIET, Longowal, 148106, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, G.N.D. Engineering College, Ludhiana 147001, India. ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, I.I.T. Roorkee, 247667, India

Abstract: The aim of this research paper is to establish optimum process conditions for Powder Mixed EDM (PMEDM) in the rough machining phase using the Taguchi Method. In this work, the effect of graphite powder addition into kerosene oil (dielectric fluid of EDM) has been analysed. The process performance is measured in terms of material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR) and surface roughness (SR). Experiments are performed on a newly designed experimental setup. The test results are analysed to study the effect of selected process parameters, on MRR, TWR and SR. The experimental results show that the addition of an appropriate amount of the graphite powder into the dielectric fluid, caused discernible improvement in MRR and reduction in TWR as well as in SR.

Keywords: material removal rate; powder mixed EDM; process optimisation; surface roughness; tool wear rate; electrical discharge machining; electro-discharge machining; Taguchi methods; rough machining; non-traditional machining; advanced machining; graphite powder; kerosene oil; dielectric fluid.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2005.006836

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2005 Vol.7 No.2/3/4, pp.329 - 341

Published online: 17 Apr 2005 *

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