Abstract

In the present research study on electric discharge machining (EDM) tool is developed using additive manufacturing with different primary and secondary coatings. Often conductive silver painting or electroless nickel coating are used for primary metallization and copper electroplating as subsequent metallization for rapid EDM tool development. The use of composite electroless nickel coating and electroplating is frequently applied on steels for improving wear, corrosion, and hardness as well as thermal stabilities. However, the use of the composite coating misses in EDM tooling. The rationale behind this investigation is to explore the impact of primary and secondary metallization on EDM tool performance, particularly employing tungsten base composite coatings. Tungsten is used as an alloying element to get the composite coating of nickel tungsten and copper tungsten during primary and secondary metallization respectively. Square shaped tools are 3D printed with digital Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) materials on polyjet printer employing a full factorial experimental plan. EDM machining is performed with standard settings for an hour, and the results of tool wear rate (TWR), material removal rate (MRR), and surface finish (Ra) are compared to identify the best combination of primary and secondary metallization for the optimum tool performance. The multi-objective optimization of the process is carried out by converting the output responses into a single performance index as a gray fuzzy reasoning grade (GFRG) using the fuzzy logic technique. The multi- objective optimization concludes that the electroless nickel tungsten composite coating with addition of tungsten micropowder as primary coating at a high level of primary coating thickness and copper as secondary coating forms the best combination of parameters for optimum tool performance.

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