Experimental investigation on material removal rate, kerf width, surface roughness and the dimensional accuracy the accuracy of hole in Inconel 718 using wire electric discharge

Abstract

The main objective of research work to investigates the effects of various process parameters on the material removal rate, kerf width, surface roughness and the dimensional accuracy of Inconel 718 workpiece subjected to wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). The input parameters of this study were wire speed, wire tension and flushing rate. The individual as well as interacting effect of process parameters on surface roughness, kerf width and dimensional accuracy. It was found that, in order to minimize the diameter error for circular cuts, the flushing rate, wire speed and wire tension should all be held at maximum values. The wire tension and wire speed both exhibited an insignificant effect on the surface roughness. The dimensional accuracy of the machined holes decreased with increasing wire tension and in order to achieve maximum material removal rate, wire tension and wire speed must be around 1400–1600 gf and at 8 m/min respectively. The flushing rates over 5 L/min had a negligible effect on the material removal rate. The highest kerf width and material removal rate were obtained at medium values of wire tension (1400–1600 gf) and wire speed (8 m/min). The lowest diameter error is achieved in a combination of maximum flushing rate, wire speed and wire tension. Factors such as circularity, cylindricity and hole diameter were closely examined in order to gain a deeper understanding of their influence on dimensional accuracy.