Optimization of Cutting Parameters in Wire Electric Discharge Machining (Wedm) to Reduce Energy Consumption and Surface Roughness During Aisi D2 Steel Machining

Abstract

Abstract Energy efficiency in manufacturing processes has become a critical issue for the industry, so a worldwide effort is being made to improve energy efficiency in all manufacturing activities. Also, manufacturers are concerned about being competitive worldwide, so a decrease in production times is required without affecting the quality of products. Therefore, there are studies to characterize energy efficiency and surface roughness in manufacturing processes. Such studies have been mainly applied to conventional processes, such as for example, turning or milling. However, studies in unconventional manufacturing processes remain absent. The main objective of this work is to optimize cutting factors in Wire Electric Discharge Machining, such as Pulse on time (Ton), Pulse off time (Toff), servo voltage (SV), wire tension (WT), wire-speed (WS), and voltage (V), in order to reduce energy consumption and improve surface roughness, both separate and as a whole. The experiments were carried out according to Taguchi's L27 (6³) approach. AISI D2 steel was used as the material to be machined. As a result of the study, the optimal factors that reduce energy consumption are Ton (16µs), Toff (11µs), SV (44V), WT (50g), WS (70dm/min), and V (9V). Furthermore, the optimal factors that improve the surface roughness are Ton (10µs), Toff (11µs), SV (44V), WT (30g), WS (70dm/min), and V (5V). Finally, to reduce energy consumption and improve the surface roughness, the optimal values are Ton (10µs), Toff (11µs), SV (44V), WT (50g), WS (70dm/min), and V (9V). This methodology has been tested and validated on a SODICK VZ300L.