Minimization of Wire Breakage in WEDM of EN-19 Material

Wire electric discharge machining is based on material removal through a series of electrical discharges applied between two electrically conductive electrodes. Dielectric fluid is injected into the gap, i.e in space between electrodes. Main challenges in wire electrical discharge machining is to eliminate wire breakage. The present work highlights the development of mathematical models using RSM for correlating the inter-relationships of various WEDM parameters. Performance measures considered for improvement are elimination of wire breakage along with maximization of material removal rate. A relatively new advanced optimization technique, known as PSO is then applied to find the optimal combination of process parameters. The results obtained showed an improvement of about 40% over the handbook recommendations, it is also observed that the standard deviation is 0.10 i.e. 10% only. It clearly indicates that the results obtained by optimum parameter setting are consistent within 10% inaccuracy. This significant improvement in results indicates the potential of the proposed approach to deal with real life complex problems related to parametric optimization of machining processes.

Autorentext

Kiran M. ThorveProf. Kiran M. Thorve did ME Production from Savitribai Phule Pune University under the supervision of Dr. P. J. Pawar. He did his BE Mechanical from University of Mumbai. At present he is working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with IETES'S Bharat College of Engineering, Badlapur, Thane.