Estimation of Surface Integrity Parameters in Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) Process-A Review

Abstract

The quality of machined surface is important from performance point of view and for deciding the life of the machined components. In EDM process, the quality of machined surface is related with the surface integrity parameters such as surface finish, surface topology, micro cracks, layer formation, and residual and thermal stresses. This paper deals with review of various surface integrity parameters and estimation of these parameters by experimental and numerical methods. In the first part of this paper surface integrity parameters have been reviewed for different experimental conditions such as machining conditions (discharge current, duty factor, pulse on/off, dielectric fluid), experimental techniques (scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy) and in second part the numerical estimation (using 2D and 3D models, FEM analysis) has been reviewed. In numerical estimation the frequency graph has been plotted which indicates that few researchers have contributed to surface integrity related to surface roughness, tool wear rate (TWR), debris formation and Layer formation parameters. Based on the previous literature it was concluded that analysis of EDM surface integrity parameters by numerical (FEM-ANSYS software) method is the best tool to predict the solution. Hence FEM analysis need to be implemented which saves the time, avoids material wastage and increases the productivity of any firm.