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org © 2018 IJCRT | Volume 6, Issue 1 February 2018 | ISSN: 2320-2882

OPTIMIZATION OF MRR IN WIRE CUT EDM

ON MONEL K-400
(Optimization by Taguchi Technique)
1
Jakirahemed.MD, 2D.Bahar
1
Assistant Professor, 2Assistant Professor,
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2Department of Mechanical Engineering,
1
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Basar, Nirmal-504107(TS), India
2
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Basar, Nirmal-504107(TS), India

Abstract: Wire cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is one of the non-traditional machining processes, based on thermo
electric energy between the work piece and an electrode. In this process material removal occur electro thermally by a series of
successive discrete discharges between electrode and the work piece. In the present work nine experiments were conducted on
the Monel K- 400 material by using brass as tool material and distilled water as dielectric fluid. The objective of the present
work is to optimize the process parameters of WEDM such as Pulse on time (T on), Peak current (IP) and Wire tension (WT) on
Material removal rate (MRR). L9 orthogonal array is constructed in designing the experiment and with the help of Taguchi
method; results are analyzed by using Minitab software to optimize the process parameters. From the study it is found that the
optimum value of MRR is 4.9656 mm3/min at the following process parameters: T on = 115 µs, IP = 200 A, WT = 5 kgf. Analysis of
variance (ANOVA) also indicates that Pulse on time has highest contribution (91%) following peak current (5.5%) and wire
tension has the least contribution (3.5%) on MRR. Therefore it is conspicuous from the study that dominating parameter is pulse
on time and less important parameter is wire tension.

Keywords: WEDM, MRR, Taguchi, ANOVA.

1. INTRODUCTION

Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) is an electro-thermal non-traditional machining process in which electrical energy is used
to generate the spark and material removal process mainly occurs due to thermal energy of the spark. EDM is mainly used to
machine difficult to machine materials and high strength temperature resistant alloys and also to machine difficult geometries.
Only electrically conductive work material can be machined by EDM. Spark erosion Machining is a process based on the
disintegration of the dielectric and current conduction between the Job and work piece by an electrical discharge occurring
between them. In this method the Job and the work piece (which act as electrodes) are separated by a certain gap filled with a
dielectric medium. Depending upon the micro irregularities of Tool and Work piece surfaces, and presence of carbon and metal
particles, the dielectric is broken down at several points producing, the dielectric is broken down at several points producing
ionized columns which allow a focused stream of electrons to flow and produces compression shock waves and there is an
intense increase in the local temperature. Due to the combined effect of these two particles of metal are thrown out. Before wire
EDM, costly processes were used to produce finished parts. Now a days with the help of computer and WEDM, extremely
complex shapes can be processed automatically, precisely and economically irrespective of hardness of the material. Initially
WEDM machine worked simply without any complication and wire choices were limited to copper and brass only. Many
researchers analyzed WEDM to modify its cutting speed as well as overall capabilities and many attempts were made to satisfy
various manufacturing requirements. In accordance with applications, WEDM has huge potential in today’s scenario for instance
in metal cutting industry to achieve a significant dimensional accuracy, surface finish and contour generation features of
products. The cost of wire is about only 10% of operating cost of WEDM process. The problems surfaced in die sinking EDM
are avoided by WEDM, by replacing the complex design tool with moving conductive wire and relative movement of wire
guides. It is essential to improve the Material removal rate (MRR) to meet the industrial application needs and study of the
influence of the process parameters on the machining of materials helps in achieving the goal in a better way. Gostimirovic et al.
[1] conducted the experiments for MRR of manganese vanadium tool steel, ASTM A681 on EDM by using graphite tool
electrode and they concluded that the MRR is increased due to discharge current and pulse duration. Chandramouli et al. [2]
investigated the experimental analysis to predict the MRR, tool wear rate (TWR) and surface roughness of RENE80 nickel super
alloy with aluminium tool on EDM and they found that the current has more influence on MRR, TWR and surface roughness.
Harpreet Singh et al. [3] performed the experiments on machining of AISI D3 die steel using copper and brass Electrode In wire
EDM and found that the MRR is increased with increase in pulse off time, MRR is decreased with increase in pulse on time in
case of brass electrode and decrease in copper electrode. Anand et al. [4] did the analysis on surface quality, MRR, EWR and
micro hardness of OHNS tool steel by considering the various EDM parameters and they conclude that the MRR can be
increased with duty cycle and peak current where as with least values of peak current and pulse on time surface roughness and

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EWR can be minimized an also they found the micro hardness is increased by increasing pulse on time and duty cycle. Misbah
Niamat et al. [5] conducted experiments on EDM to know the effect of Ton, IP on MRR, EWR and microstructures of
Aluminum 6061 T6 alloy by using different dielectric fluids and they finalized that the MRR is increased with increase of Ton,
EWR increases as IP increases while a varying effect was observed with increase in Ton value. Also they found higher MRR and
lower EWR can be achieved by using kerosene as dielectric fluid. At higher IP values gives rougher surface when distilled water
is used as dielectric as compared to kerosene. Aniza Alias et al. [6] performed the experiments to examine the effect of
parameters on kerf width, Material removal rate (MRR) and roughness (Ra) of Ti-6Al-4V on WEDM and found that the values
of MRR and Ra proportional to feed rate where as kerf width inversely proportional. Vikas et al. [7] carried out the experiments
to find the effect of EDM parameters on MRR for EN41 and EN19a and they found that the PI has more effect on MRR. Dabade
et al. [8] performed the analysis on MRR and dimensional deviation (DD) of Inconel 718 by considering various WEDM
parameters and they confirmed that Pulse on time is more effect parameter on MRR, Ra, Kerf width and DD and they finalized
that surface quality can be improved by increasing Pulse off time, WT and spark gap voltage. Ramanuj kumar et al. [9]
conducted an experiment on EDM to investigate the effect of process parameters on MRR and Ra of Ti-6Al-4V ELI Titanium
alloy and found that the MRR can be enhanced by augmenting discharge current at moderate pulse on time and at lowest voltage
supply. Jaganjeet Singh et al. [10] done experimental analysis on MRR and Ra of P20 Tool Steel by machining on WEDM and
they concluded that the MRR increases as pulse on time, peak current increase and R a decreases as pulse off time, servo voltage
and wire tension increases. However, even though some considerable experimental investigations have been done by many
researchers, a huge research gap is realized. Therefore in present study, effect of process parameters such as Pulse on time, Peak
current and Wire tension is analyzed and optimized on MRR in WEDM with the help of Taguchi method.

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS & METHODOLOGY

The present work is carried out on a WEDM shown in figure-1 and the experimental setup is shown in firuge-2 which is carried
out in the Manufacturing Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering Department, RGUKT-Basar, Telangana State, India.

2.1 Specifications of WEDM

Design : Fixed column, moving table

Table size : 440 mm x 650 mm
Maximum workpiece size : 600 mm x 780 mm x 200 mm
Maximum workpiece weight : 400 kg
Main table traverse (X,Y) : 300 mm x 400 mm
Auxiliary table traverse (u,v) : 80mm x 80mm
Wire electrode diameter : 0.25 mm (standard), 0.15 mm and 0.2 mm (optional)
Generator : ELPULS-40 A DLX
controlled axes : X,Y U,V simultaneous/independent
Interpolation : Linear and Circular
Least input increment : 0.0001 mm
Least command input(X,Y u,v) : 0.0005 mm
Input power supply : 3 phase, AC 415V 50 Hz
Connected load : 10 KVA
Average power consumption : 6 KVA to 7 KVA

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Figure-1: CNC Electro Discharge machine sprintcut Figure-2: Experimental setup

2.2 Material

To investigate the effect of process parameters on MRR by using WEDM in the present work Monel K-400 material is used
which is a nickel-copper alloy and is a solid solution alloy that can only be hardened by cold working. The characteristics of the
alloy are good corrosion resistance, good weldability and high strength. Chemical composition of the Monel K-400 material is
given in table 1. Its density is 8800 kg/m3, melting point is 1300-1390 0C, tensile strength is 517-612 MPa, yield strength is 172-
345 MPa, modulus of elasticity is 179 GPa, poissons ratio is 0.32. This material shows very good resistive properties to sea water
and steam. It is a corrosion resistance material especially to hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids when they are deaerated. This
material can be used in various applications such as in marine fixtures, pumps, valves for sea water applications, aerospace
applications, musical instruments, industrial heat exchangers, chlorinated solvents and crude oil distillation towers etc.

Table 1 – The chemical composition of Monel K-400

Element Ni% Cu% Fe% Mn% Si% C% S%
Content 63 28-34 2.5 2 0.5 0.3 0.024

For the present work brass wire is used as a wire electrode, putting zinc coating around brass wire enhances cutting speed,
straightness and tensile strength to achieve good surface finishes. To conduct the experiments Pulse on time (Ton), Peak current
(IP) and Wire tension (WT) considered as process parameters and the effect of these parameters can be verified on MRR of the
given material by machining it on WEDM.
The Taguchi method is used to analyze effect of process parameters on MRR in the present work and is a powerful design of
experiments tool. This method allows a simple, efficient and systematic approach to find optimal machining parameters.
Conventional experimental design processes are too complex and expensive. A large number of experiments have to be carried
out to study these processes. Taguchi method uses an orthogonal array to analysis the entire process with only a least number of
experiments. Moreover, in traditional experiments one factor is variable while the rest are held constant. The major disadvantage
of traditional experimentation method is that it fails to consider possibilities of interaction between parameters. It is also not
possible to find all the factors involved in the experiment and to determine their main effects in a single experimental process.
Taguchi design of experiments overcomes all these drawbacks. Taguchi method is used to optimize the process parameters and
finding the optimal combination of factors for the desired responses [11].

Process parameters and their levels

For the present experimental work the three process parameters at each three levels have been decided. It is desirable to have
three levels of process parameters to reflect the true behavior of output parameters of study. The process parameters are called as
factors. For this experimental work the remaining process parameters keep at constant. They are wire feed rate 4 m/min, servo
feed 2100 mm/min, servo voltage 20 v and water pressure 1 bar.

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Table 2 – Selected factors and levels

Process parameters Units Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Pulse on time (Ton) µs 105 110 115

Peak current (IP) A 180 190 200

Wire tension (WT) kgf 4 5 6

MRR can be calculated as per the following expression

Wa  Wb
MRR (mm 3 / min) 
 *t
Where
Wa = Weight before machining (gm)
Wb =Weight after machining (gm)
 = Density of material (gm/mm3)
t = Time taken for machining or fabrication (min)
Based on L-9 orthogonal array experiments are conducted on Monel K-400 nickel based alloy with brass tool and distilled water
as dielectric medium for different experiment levels which are shown in Table 3 and experimental results were tabulated in table
4.

Table 3 – L-9 orthogonal array

Experiment Ton IP WT
No. (µs) (A) (kgf)
1 1 1 2
2 1 2 3
3 1 3 1
4 2 1 1
5 2 2 2
6 2 3 3
7 3 1 3
8 3 2 1
9 3 3 2

Figure 4 – Mean values of MRR Vs Process parameters

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1. Effect of process parameters on MRR

The MRR value is increases with pulse on time and peak current where as by increasing wire tension the MRR first increase and
then decreases. As the increase of peak current, the spark energy and the surface temperature of workpiece increases by which
material starts melting which leads to increase of MRR. Also with increase of pulse on time, the plasma channel width increases
and positive ions becomes more active in cathode (workpiece). This causes more melting and evaporation of the work piece, and
leads to increase of MRR. It can be seen from table 4 that the MRR achieves its higher value at the experiment number 9 and
same can be observed from figure-4. Therefore the process parameters pulse on time at 115 µs, peak current at 200 A and wire
tension at 5 kgf gives the larger value of MRR than other stages.

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Table 4 – Results of MRR

Initial Final MRR Final

Ton IP WT Time
S.NO. weight weight (mm3/ workpie
(µs) (A) (kgf) (min)
(gm) (gm) min) ce image

1 105 180 5 17.8 264.35 264.02 2.1067

2 105 190 6 13.43 264.02 263.86 1.354

3 105 200 4 14.87 259.85 259.6 1.9104

4 110 180 4 9.183 259.6 259.42 2.227

5 110 190 5 8.38 259.42 259.16 3.526

6 110 200 6 8.13 250.6 250.34 3.634

7 115 180 6 5.8 245.74 245.5 4.7022

8 115 190 4 5.62 241.42 241.21 4.2462

9 115 200 5 5.9 237.28 237.02 4.9656

3.2. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

In the present work ANOVA is used to know the significance of each parameter on MRR which can be calculated by find the
signal to noise ratios(S/N) at various levels. The S/N ratio is used to study the machining deviation. Which can be determined as
-10log (MSD), where MSD is mean square deviation for the output characteristics. The list of S/N ratio for MRR is given in
table 5.
1 n  1 
MSD  
n i 1  Yi 2 
For larger is better i.e. for Material removal rate (MRR)
Where n is the number of experiments (for one set of parameter, n=1) and Y represents the value of MRR obtained by the
experiments.

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After the collection of experimental data the calculated S/N ratio value for MRR is shown in Table 5. The response table for
means of MRR is shown in table 6. It can be observed from table 6 that the pulse on time, peak current and wire tension assigned
as rank 1, 3 and 2 respectively according to their larger value of delta. Delta represents the overall change in value. Delta is
considered the difference between an initial and end value, irrespective of fluctuations that might occur between these points.
Rank 1 means highest contribution factor for MRR and Rank 3 means lowest contribution for MRR. From this table peak current
has least contribution, wire tension has moderate contribution and pulse on time has highest contribution to increase MRR. From
the figure-5, the optimal value for MRR is Ton -115 µs, IP-200 A and WT-5 kgf. The contribution percentage of each parameter
to increase MRR can be calculated by considering “higher is best” ANOVA principle It can be observed from table 7 that the
Pulse on time (Ton) has the highest contribution (91%) followed by Wire tension (WT) (5.5%) and Peak current (IP) (3.5%).

Table 5- ANOVA data

Parameter Level Expt. No. S/N(MRR) S/Nij(MRR)
Pulse on time (Ton)
1 6.4721
Level 1 105 2 2.6324 4.909
3 5.6225
4 6.9544
Level 2 110 5 10.9456 9.702
6 11.2077
7 13.446
Level 3 115 8 12.56 13.308
9 13.9194
Peak current (IP)
1 6.4721
Level 1 180 4 6.9544 8.9575
7 13.446
2 2.6324
Level 2 190 5 10.9456 8.712
8 12.56
3 5.6225
Level 3 200 6 11.2077 10.25
9 13.9194
Wire Tension (WT)
1 6.4721
Level 1 5 5 10.9456 10.44
9 13.9194
2 2.6324
Level 2 6 6 11.2077 9.09
7 13.446
3 5.6225
Level 3 4 4 6.9544 8.378
8 12.56
S
   9.306
N
  MRR

Table 6- Response table for signal to noise ratios Larger is better for MRR

Level Ton IP WT
1 4.909 8.957 8.379
2 9.703 8.713 10.446
3 13.308 10.250 9.095
Delta 8.400 1.537 2.067
Rank 1 3 2

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Table 7- Contribution of process parameter on

MRR and Surface Roughness
Sum of
Squares %Contribution
Process
(SSi) for (MRR)
parameters
MRR

Pulse on
35.5028 91
time(Ton)
Peak current
1.3643 3.5
(IP)
Wire
2.197 5.5
tension(WT)

Figure 5 – Mean of S/N ratio Vs Process parameters

4. CONCLUSION
The result shows that peak current, pulse on time and wire tension have significant effect on MRR. The results of this project
reveals that the proper selection of input parameters will play a significant role in WEDM to machine Monel K-400 material .For
MRR, pulse on time is most influencing factor and then wire tension and at last is peak current. For optimum of MRR, Ton-115
(µs), IP-200 (A), WT-5 (kgf) levels must be selected. Pulse on time with 91% contribution is the most significant factor for
MRR, wire tension with 5.5% contribution and peak current with 3.5% contribution are the least significant factors for MRR.

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