Effect and Optimization of Process Parameters using Taguchi Method in WEDM for AISI M42 HSS Material

The most popular and an inevitable non-conventional machining process used for the machining of hard and difficult-to-cut material such as tungsten carbide and its composites is Wire cut EDM or WEDM process. Higher productivity, accuracy and reliability are the most important goals of WEDM to achieve. Due to a large number of variables and improper combination of process parameters, the optimal performance of WEDM processes is very difficult to achieve. This goal can be achieved by determining the relationship between the process parameters and response variables of the WEDM process and selecting the optimum process parameters. The objective of current research work is to determine the optimum process parameters i. e. , pulse on time (Ton), pulse off time (Toff), wire feed rate (Wf) and their effect on the response variables i. e. , material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (Ra), kerf width (KW) in WEDM for AISI M42 HSS material using Taguchi method and ANOVA. The study reveals that, the most significant factors for MRR, SR are Ton followed by Toff. Wire feed rate is significant for KW and interaction of Toff and Wf also plays significant role. Wire feed rate is insignificant for MRR.