International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 10, Issue 08, August 2019, pp. 150-165, Article ID: IJMET_10_08_013
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=8
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359
© IAEME Publication

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF
COATED AND UNCOATED TOOLS USED IN
ELECTRO DISCHARGE MACHINING PROCESS
FOR MACHINING OF TI6AL4V
S.S. Shirguppikar
Research Scholar at VTU, Belagavi and Assistant Professor in RIT,
Rajaramnagar affiliated to SUK, India

Dr. M.S. Patil

Professor, KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum, India

Mohit Ranade
Research Scholar at RIT, Rajaramnagar affiliated to SUK, India

ABSTRACT
Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) is a thermal erosion method in which
material is removed by melting minuscle areas at the surface of workpiece. Ti6Al4V is
amongst the foremost widely used alloys due to its potential in maintaining wonderful
exceptional properties even at high temperatures. This article gives the exposure on
use of the coated electrodes with aluminum as the base metal. The following paper
highlights the effect of different process parameters, on the machining performance of
Ti6Al4V using coated and uncoated electrodes. This study compares and analyzes the
effects of coated and uncoated electrodes and optimization of the process parameters
in machining of Ti6Al4V for better performance results.
Key words: EDM, Ti6Al4V, Coated Electrodes, GRA
Cite this Article: S.S. Shirguppikar, Dr. M.S. Patil, Mohit Ranade, Experimental
Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
Process for Machining of Ti6Al4V. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering
and Technology 10(8), 2019, pp. 150-165.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Electric discharge machining (EDM) is the thermal erosion method during which material is
removed by melting or vaporizing minuscule areas at the surface of workpiece. The EDM
method removes material by controlled erosion of the workpiece by repetitive electrical
sparks between the work and tool electrode submerged in a dielectric medium [1]. The EDM
technique was developed during 1940's by Russian scientists B.R Lazarenko and N.I
Lazarenko [2]. The electro-discharge machining is extensively employed in the assembly of

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 Experimental Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
Process for Machining of Ti6Al4V

dies, molds tools made from tungsten carbide, hard alloy steels, hastalloy, nimonic, etc [3].
EDM is widely used as non-traditional machining method within the current manufacturing
situation. Basically, EDM is employed to machine those materials that are tough to machine
by the traditional machining method. Finishing components of aeronautical and automobile
industries are machined by the EDM method. [4].
Ti-6Al-4V is one of the most widely used alloys due to its ability to retain exceptional
physical properties even at high temperatures. The various properties of these alloys embody
the light weight associated with high strength, excellent resistance to fatigue and creep, good
protection in corrosive environments, and biocompatibility. Ti-6Al-4V is used in various
fields such as automotive industry, biomedical industry, aerospace industry, marine industry
and chemical process industry [5]. Due to machining limitations, conventional machining,
non-conventional machining methods such as laser processing, electrochemical methods, and
this alloy with an EDM process (such as low thermo-physical phenomena and work
hardening) Used to machine some materials [6],[7],[8].

2. STATE OF THE ART REVIEW

Electrical parameters (fluid flow, peak current and pulse width) on Ti6Al4V electrical
discharge machining (EDM) method and machining performance parameters (material
removal rate (MRR) and tool wear rate (TWR)) using bundled die-sinking tool electrode on
investigation showed that it can withstand high peak currents, compared to solid die sinking
electrodes, resulting in relatively high material removal rate (MRR) and low tool wear rate
(TWR) [12].
Lin Gu et al., found that multi-hole inner flushing of bundled tool electrode makes it
helpful for application of large area machining. The MRR is influenced by the peak current,
the fluid flow and therefore by the interactions between the peak current and the pulse time,
while the TWR is considerably influenced by the peak current and the fluid flow throughout
EDM with bundled conductor [13].
Ahmet Hasçalık et al., studied the electrical discharge machining (EDM) of titanium alloy
(Ti6Al4V) with various electrode materials for specific tools like graphite, electrolytic copper
and aluminium and process parameters such as pulse current and pulse-on time, experiments
were conducted to verify the influence of EDM process parameters on several aspects of
Ti6Al4V surface integrity. It was found that the integrity of the surface of the machined part
showed roughening due to the decomposition of the recasted layer on the surface; they
additionally found that there's the increase in layer with the increase in the process parameters
of the EDM. They determined there's increase in MRR and surface roughness with increase
within the values of the process parameters, among the various electrodes used graphite
showed the very best MRR followed by electrolytic copper and then aluminium. The graphite
showed the lowest TWR at the minimum levels of applied conditions, while the aluminium
tool electrode showed the best performance with respect to the surface finish [14].
L L. Li et al., studied the processing characteristics of Ti6Al4V with electrode of Cu-SiC
composite tools. During this study surface topography, submerged microstructure, energy
dispersive spectroscopic analysis and micro-hardness are analysed. They determined that the
surfaces treated by the electrode of the Cu-SiC had a greater radius of spark and less variety
of cracks than those worked by the Cu electrode. A hardened layer was formed which
presented a considerably high hardness compared to most of the material due to the new TiC
and TiSi2 phases created when machined with Cu-SiC tool in their experiments. They
concluded that extraneous components of Cu and Si migrated from the tool electrode material
to the workpiece material [15].

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Graphite is widely used as a material for EDM tool electrodes. Graphite electrodes (Poco
EDM-3) and copper infiltrated graphite (Poco EDM-C3) with electrical parameters such as
discharge current, pulse-on time, duty cycle, etc., with performance parameters such as
material removal rate and tool wear rate were considered to examine the impact on EDM of
Ti6Al4V material [16]. The MRR was found to be larger and EWR lower while using EDM-3
compared with EDM-C3, while EDM-C3 gave better surface roughness than that of EDM-3.
EDM process increases the hardness in the form of white layer, 3-4 times that of the Ti6Al4V
substrate [16].
Comparative study using electrodes, i.e. copper, brass and zinc in EDM of grade 6
titanium alloy, the performance of the method was assessed by the material removal rate
(MRR) and the tool wear rate (TWR). The highest material removal rate was obtained by
using the tool electrode of brass and zinc followed by the electrode of the copper, while the
electrode of the copper tool showed the rate of tool wear lowest followed by brass and zinc.
The surface obtained from the copper was smooth and with a lower cracking dimension and a
lower recast layer than the brass and zinc tool electrodes [17].
Rahul et al., carried out an experimental work to research the electrical discharge
processing of Ti6Al4V using tungsten and copper electrodes (normal and cryogenically
treated), with completely different peak currents to study the performance parameters, ie.
Material Removal Rate, surface roughness, surface crack density and white layer thickness.
The cryogenically treated copper showed a higher material removal rate, a better surface
roughness, a reduced tool wear rate compared to the traditional copper tool electrode.
Tungsten tool electrode correspondingly showed lower MRR and also poor surface roughness
because of the lower thermal conductivity of tool electrode as well as TI6Al4V workpiece
substrate. Regardless of the materials chosen for the tools, increase within the surface crack
density [37] and white layer thickness with increasing peak current value was observed
[9],[10],[11],[18].
J Prasanna et al., contemplated the gap voltage, peak current, pulse-on time and duty cycle
as processing parameters and tungsten copper composite as a tool electrode to study
machining characteristics. Material removal rate (MRR) and tool wear rate (TWR) on EDM
of Ti6Al4V. MRR decreases because the gap voltage decreases, the MRR increase because
the peak current increases [9], [10], [19]. The foremost important factor for MRR is Gap
Voltage and the least significant for MRR is duty factor [38]. As peak current and pulse on
time increase the surface roughness increases [20].
Vishal John Mathai et al. has studied the result of the planetary tool implementation using
electrodes for copper and graphite tools with numerous processing parameters on the
performance parameters of the Ti6Al4V EDM. Pulse on time was determined to be dominant
element among the others on performance parameters. Surface roughness was determined to
be most affected by pulse ON time and tool path offset once copper is employed as the tool
electrode [21].
Various literary surveys reveal that numerous studies on the performance of EDM have
been conducted using different types of electrodes, dielectric medium and also different types
of machining process along with EDM on Ti6Al4V. There is no study on EDM considering
Ti6Al4V as workpiece and aluminum and aluminum coated with copper.
In the present study, experimental investigations were conducted on Ti6Al4V using
uncoated and coated with copper on aluminum electrode to determine performance
characteristics such as material removal rate (MRR) and tool wear rate (TWR) considering the
current process parameters (I), voltage gap (Vg) and pulse on time (TON).Taguchi method was
used for designing the experiments, for three input process parameters and their four levels.
The experimental work also focuses on the comparative study of coated and uncoated

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 Experimental Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
Process for Machining of Ti6Al4V

electrodes using ANOVA and optimization is carried out using Grey Relational Analysis
method.

3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
3.1. Selection of Material
Ti-6Al-4V plates had used as material to be machined. The mechanical properties and
chemical composition of Ti6Al4V are shown in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively.

Table 1 Mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V [14]

Property Value
Hardness (HV20) 600
Melting point C 1660
Ultimate tensile strength 832
(MPa)
Yield strength (MPa) 745
Impact-toughness (J) 34
Elastic modulus (GPa) 113

Table 2 Chemical composition of Ti-6Al-4V [14]

Element Ti Al V Fe O C N H
Range 89.464 6.08 4.02 0.22 0.18 0.02 0.01 0.0053
(% wt.)
Electrodes used were (a) Aluminum (b) Aluminum coated with copper, for machining of
Ti6Al4V using EDM. The experimentation was carried on the ELECTRONICA S-50 ZNC
(die-sinking type) EDM machine.

3.2. Experimental Design and Machining Parameters

Experimentation is led to study the various effects of process parameters and coated electrode.
These experiments are used to find out the experiment conditions and required control factors
to obtain improved performance parameters. It also focuses on comparative study of
performance of coated and non-coated tool electrodes.

Table 3 Process parameters and their levels

Parameters Symbol Levels Unit
1 2 3 4
Peak Current I 10 20 30 40 A
Gap Voltage Vg 40 45 50 55 V
Pulse-ON Time TON 100 500 1000 1500 µS

Fixed
Parameters 0.5 kg/cm2
Dielectric 10 min
Pressure 9
Machining Time 5
Servo Sensitivity
Anti-arc
sensitivity
The processing parameters considered in the study are the pulse-on time (TON), the peak
current (I) and the gap voltage (Vg). The response variables are chosen so as to provide useful

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information on the performance of the process in question. The response variables chosen for
the study are the material removal rate (MRR), the tool wear rate (TWR). The processing
parameters and their levels are shown in Table 3 and Table 4 for Ti6Al4V titanium alloy.
According to various literature studies Taguchi method tool has been implemented in
designing experiments, as it improves performance characteristics by optimizing process
parameters and reducing the sensitivity of system performance to noise. Design of
experiments obtained by Taguchi method for EDM process has been discussed in the
following table.

Table 4 Experimental L16 Orthogonal Array for Final Experiments on Ti6Al4V

Expt. Current Gap Voltage Pulse-ON Time
No. (I) (Vg) (TON)
1 10 40 100
2 10 45 500
3 10 50 1000
4 10 55 1500
5 20 45 100
6 20 40 500
7 20 55 1000
8 20 50 1500
9 30 50 100
10 30 55 500
12 30 40 1000
13 30 45 1500
14 40 55 100
15 40 50 500
16 40 45 1000

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The experiments for Ti6Al4V titanium alloy machined by aluminum and aluminum coated
with copper electrode are carried out according to design of experiments obtained by Taguchi
Method. Fig. 1 shows photographic image of the machined surface of Ti6Al4V plate of 2.5
mm thickness by using die sink EDM process as per L16 orthogonal array.

4.1. Experimental Data for Aluminum Electrode

The experimental results obtained using aluminum electrode for MRR and TWR by varying
current (I), pulse-on time (TON) and gap voltage (Vg) according to L16 orthogonal array are
shown in Table 5.

Figure 1 Machined surface of Ti6Al4V using Aluminum Electrode

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 Experimental Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
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Table 5 Experimental results for Ti6Al4V using Aluminium Electrode

Expt. Current Gap Voltage Pulse-ON MRR TWR
No. (I) (Vg) Time (TON)
1 10 40 100 0.002 0.0023
2 10 45 500 0.0022 0.0028
3 10 50 1000 0.0019 0.0041
4 10 55 1500 0.0027 0.0029
5 20 45 100 0.0019 0.005
6 20 40 500 0.0073 0.0058
7 20 55 1000 0.0075 0.0076
8 20 50 1500 0.0111 0.0087
9 30 50 100 0.0053 0.0068
10 30 55 500 0.0097 0.0098
11 30 40 1000 0.0141 0.0118
12 30 45 1500 0.0172 0.0124
13 40 55 100 0.0093 0.0106
14 40 50 500 0.0164 0.0145
15 40 45 1000 0.0229 0.0177
16 10 40 100 0.0282 0.0212
MRR indicates material removed per unit time. MRR is calculated as per following
equation,
( ) ( )
( )
( )
Where,
Wi= Initial weight of the workpiece
Wf = Final weight of the workpiece
t = time consumed for machining
TWR shows the quantity of material removed from tool. TWR is calculated as per
following equation
( ) ( )
( )
( )
Where,
Ti= Initial weight of the tool
Tf = Final weight of the tool
t = time consumed for machining
Material Removal Rate (MRR) Analysis
From MRR ANOVA Table 6, we find that, current (I) is the major affecting parameter for
the highest removal rate of material at 100% confidence interval. It can be stated that the gap
voltage (Vg) is also a major parameter for a higher removal rate of material with a 99.7%
confidence interval followed by a pulse-on time (TON) with a 60% confidence interval.

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Table 6 MRR ANOVA table using Aluminium electrode

Source DF SS MS F-Value P-Value Contribution
%
I 3 0.000629 0.000210 45.01 0.000 65.93
Vg 3 0.000223 0.000074 15.94 0.003 23.37
TON 3 0.000074 0.000025 5.31 0.40 7.75
Error 6 0.000028 0.000005 2.93
Total 15 0.000954
S = 0.0021585; R-Sq = 97.07%; R-Sq(adj) = 92.67%
The graph of the main effects of SN ratio for MRR is shown in Fig. 2 at condition of
larger is better gives optimum level of current, gap voltage and pulse on time at 40 amp, 55 V
and 100 µs respectively.

Figure 2 MRR Main-Effects Plot for SN Ratios

Fig.3 shows the graph of the main effects for MRR. These graphs show the behaviour of
process parameters in relation to MRR. The MRR chart is a linear graph that increases from
10 to 40 amps.
The experiments are conducted at 100µs, 500µs, 1000µs and 1500µs at constant duty
cycle (90%). From the graph of the main effects for MRR, it can be seen that the material
removal rate decreases with increasing pulse time. With a higher pulse time, deeper
discharges form and more material is removed along with each spark, since the spark energy
is directly proportional to the pulse-on time. In this case, the MRR is linearly decreased with
increase in TON value from 1000 µs to 1500 µs, at the constant duty cycle value the MRR
values increase. For high pulse time values, the drop may be explained, due to pulse-OFF
values. As the duty cycle was kept constant during the experimentation, at higher values of
TON corresponding TOFF values are also higher due to which reduction in the MRR was
observed. This phenomenon was been observed by few researchers which support our
statement [22], [23], [24], [25].

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 Experimental Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
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Figure 3 MRR Main-Effects Plot

Tool Wear Rate (TWR) Analysis
From TWR ANOVA Table 7, the results found are, current and gap voltage with 100% and
98.8% confidence levels respectively they are the most notable parameters affecting TWR
followed by pulse-ON time with confidence level of 80.0%.

Table 7 TWR ANOVA table using Aluminium electrode

Source DF SS MS F-Value P-Value Contribution
%
I 3 0.000364 0.000121 53.43 0.000 80
Vg 3 0.000062 0.000021 9.13 0.012 13.62
TON 3 0.000015 0.000005 2.17 0.192 3.29
Error 6 0.000014 0.000002 3.07
Total 15 0.000455
S = 0.0015078; R-Sq = 97.00%; R-Sq(adj) = 92.51%
The absolute values of tool wear show that there are two phenomena that regulate the
wear characteristics of the tools: the erosion of the tool electrode material and the deposition
of the workpiece material on the tool electrode. When high MRR conditions occur, large
quantities of debris are produced and the quantity of material deposits increases on the tool
electrode. In such conditions, the amount of actual material removed from the tool electrode
also increases. Similarly, the amount of detritus stick on the tool electrode and the actual
amount of the material separated from the workpiece for low MRR conditions is also less.
Since tool wear rate was obtained by measuring the difference in weight of the tool prior and
after machining, the collaborative effect of deposition and removal of material from the tool
was considered in the calculated TWR. Main effects plot for TWR is shown in Fig. 4.
Increase in current and gap voltage shows the increase in the tool wear rate (TWR) which
can be determined from main effects graph, thereby increasing temperature leading to
premature melting of the tool electrode. Therefore, as the current level is increased the tool
wear rate is increased due to increment in the spark energy.
Main effects graph for SN ratio for MRR is shown in Fig.5 at condition of smaller is
better gives optimum level of current (I), gap voltage (Vg) and pulse-on time (TON) at 40 amp,
55 V and 100 µs respectively.

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Figure 4 TWR Main-Effects Plot

Figure 5 TWR Main-Effects Plot for SN Ratios

4.2. Experimental Data for Aluminum Coated with Copper Electrode

The experimental outcomes obtained employing aluminum electrode coated with copper for
Material Removal Rate and Tool Wear Rate by varying current (I), pulse-on time (TON) and
gap voltage (Vg) according to L16 orthogonal array are shown in Table 8.
Fig. 6 shows photographic image of the machined surface of Ti6Al4V plate of 2.5 mm
thickness by using die sink EDM process as per L16 orthogonal array.

Figure 6 Machined surface of Ti6Al4V using Aluminum coated with Copper Electrode
Material Removal Rate (MRR) Analysis
From MRR ANOVA Table 9, it is noticed that, current (I) is the highly notable process
parameter for the highest MRR with 100% confidence interval. It can be said that gap voltage
(Vg) following the current (I) is important factor for higher MRR at 85% confidence interval
followed by pulse-on time with confidence interval 59.6%.

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Table 8 Experimental results for Ti6Al4V using Aluminium Coated with Copper Electrode
Expt. No. Current Gap Pulse-ON MRR TWR
(I) Voltage Time (TON)
(Vg)
1 10 40 100 0.0033 0.003
2 10 45 500 0.0004 0.0042
3 10 50 1000 0.0019 0.0034
4 10 55 1500 0.0021 0.0045
5 20 45 100 0.0062 0.0064
6 20 40 500 0.0088 0.0092
7 20 55 1000 0.0092 0.0126
8 20 50 1500 0.0048 0.0174
9 30 50 100 0.0114 0.011
10 30 55 500 0.0201 0.0137
11 30 40 1000 0.0214 0.0159
12 30 45 1500 0.0204 0.021
13 40 55 100 0.0151 0.0148
14 40 50 500 0.028 0.0214
15 40 45 1000 0.0296 0.0262
16 10 40 100 0.0281 0.0281

Table 9 MRR ANOVA table using Aluminium coated with Copper electrode
Source DF SS MS F- P- Contribution
Value Value %
I 3 0.001331 0.000444 34.57 0.000 85.81
Vg 3 0.000099 0.000033 2.57 0.150 6.38
TON 3 0.000044 0.000015 1.15 0.404 2.83
Error 6 0.000077 0.000013 4.96
Total 15 0.001551
S = 0.0035827; R-Sq = 95.04%; R-Sq(adj) = 87.59%
Main effects plot for SN ratio for MRR is shown in Fig. 7 at condition of larger is better
gives optimum level of current, gap voltage and pulse on time at 40 amp, 50 V and 100 µs
respectively.

Figure 7 MRR Main-Effects Plot for SN Ratios

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Fig.8 gives Main-Effects Plot for MRR. These graphs show response of process
parameters with respect to MRR. The MRR plot is a linear plot which increases from 10 amps
to 40 amps.

Figure 8 MRR Main-Effects Plot

From the main effects plot for MRR, it can be seen that material removal rate decrease
with an increase in pulse on time. While it increases with increase in the current and while for
gap voltage it shows increase initially thereby decreasing at higher levels.
Tool Wear Rate (TWR) Analysis
From TWR ANOVA Table 10, it is found that, current and gap voltage with 100% and 99.1%
confidence levels respectively are the most significant parameters affecting TWR followed by
pulse-on time with confidence level of 63.7%.

Table 10 TWR ANOVA table using Aluminium coated with Copper electrode
Source DF SS MS F-Value P-Value Contribution
%
I 3 0.000743 0.000248 43.4 0.000 76.51
Vg 3 0.000172 0.000057 10.00 0.009 17.71
TON 3 0.000022 0.000007 1.28 0.363 2.26
Error 6 0.000034 0.000006 3.50
Total 15 0.000971
S = 0.0023930; R-Sq = 96.46%; R-Sq(adj) = 91.15%
From the graph of the main effects, it can be stated that the wear of the tools increases
with the increase of the current and the gap voltage, due to which the temperature increases so
that the melting starts earlier. Increase in current results in increased wear rate of the tool
because of the increase in spark energy. It was also noticed that with increase in pulse-on time
there was decrease in TWR, this phenomenon is caused due to the material deposition on the
tool surface. Fig. 9 shows the Main Effects Plot for TWR.
Main effects plot for SN ratio for MRR is shown in Fig.10 at condition of smaller is better
gives optimum level of current, gap voltage and pulse on time at 40 amp, 55 V and 500 µs
respectively.

4.3. Optimization of Process Parameters

The optimization of the process parameters is performed using the GRA method (Grey
Relational Analysis).The grey theory is based on the random uncertainty of small samples
developed in an evaluation technique to solve complex system problems with incomplete

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information. A system for which the relevant information is completely known is a "white"
system.

Figure 9 Main-Effects Plot for TWR

Figure 10 Main-Effects Plot for SN Ratio for TWR

While a system for which the relevant information is completely unknown is a „black‟
system. Any system within these limits is a "grey" system with limited information [26].
Grey Correlation Analysis (GRA) is a normalized evaluation technique that can
effectively solve complex multi-performance attribute optimization problems. Since as per the
grey theory two response variables are selected for the GRA such as MRR and TWR. Grey
relational analysis of both uncoated and coated electrodes is given in following Table 11 and
Table 12. Grey relational analysis consist calculation of grey relational generation which is
based on response variable using equations given below.
Larger is Better

Smaller is Better

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Where,
Yij is the ith performance characteristic in the jth experiment (i=1, 2, 3…..27; k= 1, 2, 3)
maxi Yij and are the maximum and minimum values of ith performance characteristics
for alternate j respectively.
Then calculation of Grey relational coefficient (GRC) which analyzes the relational
degree of the multiple responses was calculated as per the following equation [27], [28].

( ( ))
( )
Where,
i = 1, 2…; k =1, 2, 3
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
Grey relational grade has calculated as per following equation and arranged them in
descending order. That descending order has named as rank and rank 1 indicates best
condition and rank 16 indicates worst condition.
( ) ∑ ( ( ) ( ))

Table 11 Grey Relational Analysis using Aluminium electrode

MRR TWR MRR
MRR (GRR) TWR(GRR) TWR (GRC) GRG Rank
(GRC)
0.002 0.0023 0.003802281 1.0000 0.5010 1.333333333 0.9171 16
0.0022 0.0028 0.011406844 0.9735 0.5029 1.336298932 0.9196 15
0.0019 0.0041 0 0.9048 0.5000 1.344262295 0.9221 14
0.0027 0.0029 0.030418251 0.9683 0.5077 1.336898396 0.9223 13
0.0019 0.005 0 0.8571 0.5000 1.35 0.9250 12
0.0073 0.0058 0.205323194 0.8148 0.5572 1.355263158 0.9562 10
0.0075 0.0076 0.212927757 0.7196 0.5596 1.36770428 0.9636 9
0.0111 0.0087 0.349809886 0.6614 0.6060 1.375745527 0.9909 6
0.0053 0.0068 0.129277567 0.7619 0.5346 1.362068966 0.9483 11
0.0097 0.0098 0.296577947 0.6032 0.5871 1.384146341 0.9856 8
0.0141 0.0118 0.463878327 0.4974 0.6510 1.400423729 1.0257 5
0.0172 0.0124 0.581749049 0.4656 0.7051 1.405579399 1.0553 4
0.0093 0.0106 0.281368821 0.5608 0.5819 1.390495868 0.9862 7
0.0164 0.0145 0.551330798 0.3545 0.6903 1.424719101 1.0575 3
0.0229 0.0177 0.798479087 0.1852 0.8323 1.457627119 1.1450 2
0.0282 0.0212 1 0.0000 1.0000 1.5 1.2500 1

The selected experiments for aluminium electrodes on Ti6Al4V, are 16th (rank 1) and 15th
(rank 2) for best condition while experiments numbers 1st (rank 16) and 2nd (rank 15) are
worst conditions as per GRG ranks, are shown in Table 11(a) and 11(b)

Table 12 Grey Relational Analysis using Aluminium coated with Copper electrode
MRR TWR MRR
MRR (GRR) TWR(GRR) TWR (GRC) GRG Rank
(GRC)
0.0033 0.0030 0.099315068 1.0000 0.5261 1.333333333 0.9297 16
0.0004 0.0042 0 0.9522 0.5000 1.338731444 0.9194 15
0.0019 0.0034 0.051369863 0.9841 0.5132 1.335113485 0.9241 14
0.0021 0.0045 0.058219178 0.9402 0.5150 1.340108401 0.9275 13

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 Experimental Investigation of Coated and Uncoated Tools Used in Electro Discharge Machining
Process for Machining of Ti6Al4V

0.0062 0.0064 0.198630137 0.8645 0.5551 1.349095967 0.9521 12

0.0088 0.0092 0.287671233 0.7530 0.5840 1.363241679 0.9736 11
0.0092 0.0126 0.301369863 0.6175 0.5887 1.382039574 0.9854 9
0.0048 0.0174 0.150684932 0.4263 0.5407 1.412151067 0.9764 10
0.0114 0.0110 0.376712329 0.6813 0.6160 1.372956909 0.9945 8
0.0201 0.0137 0.674657534 0.5737 0.7545 1.388544892 1.0715 7
0.0214 0.0159 0.719178082 0.4861 0.7807 1.40224359 1.0915 5
0.0204 0.0210 0.684931507 0.2829 0.7604 1.438045375 1.0992 4
0.0151 0.0148 0.503424658 0.5299 0.6682 1.395275591 1.0317 6
0.0280 0.0214 0.945205479 0.2669 0.9481 1.44112478 1.1946 3
0.0296 0.0262 1 0.0757 1.0000 1.481765835 1.2409 1
0.0281 0.0281 0.948630137 0.0000 0.9511 1.5 1.2256 2

The selected experiments for aluminium electrodes on Ti6Al4V, are 15th (rank 1) and 16th
(rank 2) for best condition while experiments numbers 1st (rank 16) and 2nd (rank 15) are
worst conditions as per GRG ranks.

5. CONCLUSION
From the results and analysis carried out in the experimentation of machining of Ti6Al4V
with the coated and uncoated tool electrode the following conclusions can be derived as
follows.
 For both aluminum and aluminum coated with copper electrode it was found that current (I)
was the most notable parameter followed by gap-voltage (Vg) and pulse-on time respectively
for the MRR as well as TWR.
 Coated electrode i.e. aluminum coated with copper showed improved outcomes as compared
to the uncoated electrode i.e. aluminum for MRR while there was similarity in TWR.
 The optimum values of process parameters for aluminum electrode for maximum results are
40 A, 40 V and 1500 µS and for coated electrode it was determined as 40 A, 45 V and 1500
µS.
 From overall analysis it was observed that coating improves the surface properties of the tool
material thereby improving the performance of the tool electrode.

FUTURE SCOPE
This study showed that the coating on the tool electrode improves the properties thereby
increasing the performance, hence desired values of outcomes or response variables can be
obtained. There is a vast scope in this study
 To identify different types of coatings that can be used to improve the results.
 To identify the optimum machining time required for coated electrode with respect uncoated
electrodes.
 To identify proper coating techniques in order to reduce the premature removal of coat layer.
 To determine the coating thickness required accordingly.

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