A study on capabilities of different electrode materials during electrical discharge machining (EDM)

• Main Authors: Al Hazza, Muataz Hazza Faizi, Khan, Ahsan Ali, Yeakub Ali, Mohammad, Hasim, Siti Fatihah, Che Daud, Mohd Radzi
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) 2017
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/59907/1/755-3902-1-PB.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/59907/7/59907_A%20study%20on%20capabilities%20of%20different%20electrode%20materials_scopus.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/59907/; http://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal/index.php/iiumej/article/view/755/484

Electrode material in the electro discharge machining (EDM) process plays an important role in terms of material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear rate (EWR) and surface roughness (Ra). The purpose of this research is to investigate the capability of different electrode materials: copper, aluminum, and graphite in EDM of AISI 304 stainless steel as a work piece. The research focuses on three current settings: 2.5A, 4.5A, and 6.5A using kerosene as a dielectric fluid. The experiment was planned and analyzed using the full factorial of experimental design using response surface methodology (RSM). In this research, two outputs have been investigated: MRR and EWR. The results indicated that the responses increased with the increase in current. Finally, the desirability function method has been used to determine the optimum values. The results show that maximum MRR and minimum EWR were achieved using a graphite electrode at current 6.5A. Bahan elektrod dalam proses pengeluaran elektron pada mesin EDM berperanan penting dalam kadar pengeluaran bahan (MRR), kadar penggunaan ekektrod (EWR) dan kekasaran permukaan (Ra). Kajian ini bertujuan bagi menilai keupayaan pelbagai jenis bahan elektrod yang berlainan: tembaga, aluminium, dan grafit dalam EDM pada AISI 304 keluli tahan karat sebagai bahan kajian. Fokus kajian ini pada tiga takat arus: 2.5 A, 4.5 A dan 6.5 A menggunakan kerosin sebagai cecair dielektrik. Eksperimen ini telah dirancang dan diuji menggunakan faktorial penuh pada binaan eksperimen menggunakan kaedah tindak balas pada permukaan (RSM). Dalam kajian ini, dua keputusan telah diuji: MRR dan EWR. Keputusan menunjukkan tindak balas bertambah dengan kenaikan arus. Akhirnya kaedah fungsi keperluan telah digunakan untuk mencari nilai optimum. Keputusan menunjukkan MRR maksimum dan EWR minimum telah dicapai menggunakan elektrod grafit pada arus 6.5 A.