Ultrasonic assisted EDM: Effect of the workpiece vibration in the machining characteristics of FW4 Welded Metal

Abstract

This paper presents the results of experimental studies carried out to conduct a comprehensive investigation on the influence of ultrasonic vibration of workpiece on the characteristics of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process of FW4 Welding Metal in comparison with the conventional EDM process. The studied process characteristics included the material removal rate (MRR), tool wear ratio (TWR), and surface roughness (R_a and R_max) of the workpiece after the EDM and ultrasonic assisted EDM (US-EDM) processes. The experiments performed under the designed full factorial procedure and the considered EDM input parameters included pulse on-time and pulse current. The experimental results show that in short pulse on-times, material removal rate in the US-EDM process is approximately quadruple than that of the EDM process. On the contrary, in the long pulse on-times, ultrasonic vibration of work‌‌piece leads to the reduction in the MRR. On the other hand, in short pulse on-times, the TWR in the US-EDM process is lower than that of in the EDM process, and this condition reverses with increase in the pulse on-time. Furthermore, the surface roughness of the workpiece machined by EDM process is slightly lower than that of applied to the US-EDM process.

Keywords

electrical discharge machining (EDM) / material removal rate (MRR) / tool wear ratio (TWR) / surface roughness

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Iran Tractor Foundry Company for supporting this research.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg