Grey-Taguchi-Based Optimization of Wire-Sawing for a Slicing Ceramic

Abstract

Slicing ceramic (SC) is well-known as difficult-to-cut material. It is a hard and brittle material. The Grey-Taguchi method, which converts multiple response problems into a single response, is used to determine the effect of the process parameters for wire-sawing on multiple quality characteristics. The wire-sawing parameters include the wire tension (T), the slurry concentration (C), mixed grains mesh size (G), the wire speed (S), and the working load (P). The machining quality characteristics include a material removal rate (MRR), machined surface roughness (SR) of SC, kerf width (KW), wire wear (WW), and flatness (FT). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to identify the mixed grains and slurry concentration that have a significant effect on multiple quality characteristics. The results of the ANOVA using the Grey-Taguchi method show that the optimum conditions are T2C1G1S2P1 (wire tension of 24 N, slurry concentration of 10% wt., mixed grains of #600 + #1000 mesh size, wire speed of 2.8 m/s, and working load of 1.27 N). The respective improvement in MRR, machined SR of SC, KW, WW, and FT is 2.43%, 2.36%, 1.08%, 2.33%, and 14.27%. The addition of #600 + #1000 mixed grains mesh size to the slurry improves the machined SR of SC, KW, and WW. An increase in wire speed and working load and the use of appropriate mixed grains mesh size and slurry concentration increases the MRR for wire-saw machining.