Experimental Investigation on Metallurgical Characteristics and Surface Roughness of Inconel 825 using Micro Electrical Discharge Machining with Cryogenically Treated Brass Electrode

Efficiency and surface superiority would extensively affect the performance of micro electrical discharge machining process (µEDM). Thus the machining performance would be better by improving the material removal rate and surface quality. In this investigation, cryogenic LN2 cooling was introduced to the conventional µEDM setup for developing a modern process of cryogenically cooled µEDM process (CµEDM). The positive outcomes of this method were projected by selecting discharge current (Ip) and pulse on duration (Ton) for concluding the effects of the machining performance includes material removal rate (MRR) and surface integrity. Surface quality was also analyzed by micro structural analysis and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for evaluation of the effects cryogenically cooled µEDM process. The experimental result shows 60 to 80% of improvement in material removal rate and 30 to 48% in average roughness values. Hence it is suggested that cryogenically cooled µEDM facilitates improvement in productivity and surface quality.