Experimental Investigation and Machinability Study of Ni–Cr-Based Super Alloy Using Powder Mixed EDM

Abstract

The field of electrical discharge machining (EDM) is very vast and has a lot of applications and variations in its execution. The advent of powder mixed EDM and ultrasonic vibrating EDM has given the area of micromachining several new parameters to improve the machining output. However, the presence of a vast number of input parameters like gap voltages, on–off time, workpiece material, tool material, dielectric, powder material, etc. has resulted in difficulties in predicting output parameters like surface quality or machining rate. Higher nickel content induces more difficulty in machining as nickel, cobalt content, or titanium constituent gives tendency to work harden. In this paper, authors have made an attempt to study machinability and comparative investigation between the input and output parameters using powder mixed EDM for INCOLOY 800 containing high % of NI, Cr. For the experimentation, an isolated setup for powder mixed EDM is built within the already available EDM setup. Experiments are performed for various combinations of current, on time and concentration of powder. Also, the effects of all parameters for both the output variables are shown graphically and studied for confirmation with the theoretical behavior. Using PMEDM machining of enhances process mechanism results higher MRR with good quality characteristics, which saves energy directing sustainable manufacturing. Predictive modeling is also adopted for the process performance using ANN and regression analysis for PMEDM.KeywordsPowder mixed EDMMachinability of super alloyDesign of experimentSustainable manufacturingSurface quality improvement