OPTIMIZATION OF MACHINING PARAMETERS IN ELECTRIC

DISCHARGE MACHINING OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY USING

TAGUCHI METHOD

V.Ganesan, S.V.Alagarsamy, M.Meignanamoorthy

PG Scholar, Manufacturing Engg., Chendhuran of Engg & Tech, Pudukkottai-622 503.
Asst. Professor, Mechanical Engg., Mahath Amma Institute of Engg & Tech, Pudukkottai-622 101.
Asst. Professor, Mechanical Engg., Mother Terasa college of Engg & Tech, Pudukkottai-622 101.

Present manufacturing industries are facing challenges from these advanced materials
viz. super alloys, ceramics, and composites, that are hard and difficult to machine, surface
quality which increases machining cost. To meet these challenges, non-conventional
machining processes are being employed to achieve higher metal removal rate and better
surface finish. Electric Discharge Machining (EDM), a non-conventional process, has wide
applications in automotive, defence and aerospace industries plays an excellent role in the
development of least cost products with more reliable quality assurance.

In the present investigation, an effective approach for the optimization of electric

discharge machining parameters based on the Taguchis design of experiments method is
presented. The objective of the study is minimizing surface roughness and maximizing the
metal removal rate in machining of Aluminium Alloy 7075 using copper electrode.
Experiments are established on the Taguchis technique L27orthogonal array and Minitab-16
statistical software is used to generate the array. Three parameters are chosen as machining
process parameters: Pulse ON Time, Pulse OFF Time and Gap Voltage. The orthogonal array,
signal to noise ratio and analysis of variance are employed to study the performance
characteristics in electric discharge machining process. Optimal values of process parameters
for desired performance characteristics are obtained by using confirmation experiment.

Key Words: AA7075, EDM, MRR, Surface Roughness, Taguchi method, ANOVA.