Optimization of surface roughness by design of experiment techniques during wire EDM machining

Wire EDM technique has been often employed in fabricating electrically conductive difficult to cut metal complex shape components with high tolerance and precision. In WEDM process, generally employed conventional brass wire electrode is employed for machining operation. In this study we have employed zinc coated brass wire electrode for enhanced machining speed, accuracy, and precision. To investigate the variation in process parameters, i.e. peak current (Ip), pulse on time (Ton), pulse off time (Toff) and feed rate (FR) with optimization during WEDM machining operation. The obtained results have optimized by the Taguchi's methodology. ANOVA analyses reveal critical factors for improvement of surface roughness. In this study, it was concluded that surface roughness increases with decrease in pulse off time, and spark gap set voltage. The surface roughness on the sample was enhanced with increase in Ton and IP.