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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Optimization of machining parameters in magnetic force assisted EDM based on Taguchi method
Yan-Cherng Lin a, , Yuan-Feng Chen a , Der-An Wang a , Ho-Shiun Lee b
a b

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nankai University of Technology, Caotun, Nantou 54243, Taiwan Graduate Institute of Engineering Technology, Chungchou Institute of Technology, Yuanlin, Changhau 51003, Taiwan

a r t i c l e
Article history:

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
A versatile process of electrical discharge machining (EDM) using magnetic force assisted standard EDM machine has been developed. The effects of magnetic force on EDM machining characteristics were explored. Moreover, this work adopted an L18 orthogonal array based on Taguchi method to conduct a series of experiments, and statistically evaluated the experimental data by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The main machining parameters such as machining polarity (P), peak current (Ip ), pulse duration ( p ), high-voltage auxiliary current (IH ), no-load voltage (V) and servo reference voltage (Sv ) were chosen to determine

Received 22 February 2008 Received in revised form 19 July 2008 Accepted 29 July 2008

Keywords: EDM Magnetic force Taguchi method Material removal rate Surface roughness Debris

the EDM machining characteristics such as material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR). The benets of magnetic force assisted EDM were conrmed from the analysis of discharge waveforms and from the micrograph observation of surface integrity. The experimental results show that the magnetic force assisted EDM has a higher MRR, a lower relative electrode wear ratio (REWR), and a smaller SR as compared with standard EDM. In addition, the signicant machining parameters, and the optimal combination levels of machining parameters associated with MRR as well as SR were also drawn. Moreover, the contribution for expelling machining debris using the magnetic force assisted EDM would be proven to attain a high efciency and high quality of surface integrity to meet the demand of modern industrial applications. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

The development of manufacturing technique is very rapid to t the demands of recent industrial applications. In addition, the multi-variety and small batch product has become a major trend. In order to accommodate the development in modern manufacture and market lead for commercial purpose, industrial producers must shorten the time-to-market in the exploitation of a new product. Consequently, to develop a new process with high efciency, high quality of surface nishing and reliability are crucial points to support the development of modern industrial applications. Indeed, electrical discharge

machining (EDM) is widely used in mold and die manufacturing. Fallbohmer et al. (1996) surveyed applications of the EDM process and pointed out that almost 90% of mold and die makers employed the EDM process to nish the products in USA, Germany, and Japan. Therefore, the EDM technique is an essential approach for mold and die making industries to fabricate their products with superior performance and accuracy. The EDM technique is extensively applied in mold and die making industries. During the EDM process, the tool electrode and the workpiece are separated by a small gap (about 5100 m). The gap width between workpiece and electrode is extremely small, so the machining debris resulted from

Corresponding author. E-mail address: ycline@nkut.edu.tw (Y.-C. Lin). 0924-0136/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.07.052

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EDM process is difcult to remove out of the machining gap. The state of dielectric uid isolation does not recover completely during a short interval, if an enormous amount of debris is clogged in the machining gap. Hence, abnormal electrical discharges will inevitably form in the machining zone during EDM process. In general, the stability of EDM progress signicantly affects the machining characteristics. When the machining debris is expelled from the machining gap fast and easily, the machining characteristics of EDM process would be improved. Therefore, when magnets were attached to the standard EDM machine, the machining zone generates magnetic forces to drive the suspending debris expelled from the discharge gap. Thus, the debris stacked on the machining zone can be reduced, so the machining condition becomes more stable and the machining performance will be improved. Several researchers focused their efforts on magnetic force applications to promote the manufacturing technique recently, and the benecial effects of magnetic force process were veried from the experimental ndings. The feasibility and reliability of the magnetic abrasive media for nishing machined surface have been investigated. The magnetic abrasive media could be applied in various elds of surface nishing; Khairy (2001) used magnetic abrasive nishing method to rene the machined surface of silver steel. Chang et al. (2002) investigated the nishing characteristics of unbounded magnetic abrasive. Kim (2003) discussed an application of magnetic abrasive composed of WC-Co powder using in an internal polishing system. Yamaguchi and Shinmura (2004) presented a magnetic eld assisted nishing process for the inner surfaces of alumina ceramic components, and this investigation also revealed a mechanism to smooth the inner surface of alumina ceramic tube and to improve the form accuracy. Wang and Hu (2005) proposed a technique of internal magnetic abrasive nishing for producing highly nished inner surfaces of tubes. The process principle and the nishing characteristics of unbounded magnetic abrasive were also described in this work. Moreover, Yan et al. (2004) adopted magnetic abrasive nishing to improve the quality of EDM machined surface. Singh and Shan (2002) employed a magnetic eld around workpiece in abrasive ow machining (AFM) process to improve the machining performance. The experimental results showed that magnetic abrasive nishing method is ideally suited to nish surface integrities associated with both external and internal surfaces of the components. Mori et al. (2003) claried the mechanism of magnetic abrasive for a non-magnetic material to examine the magnetic eld as well as acting force, and in this research a fundamental understanding of the process mechanism was provided. Jayswal et al. (2005) evaluated a distribution of magnetic forces on the workpiece surface by means of the nite element method in the magnetic abrasive process. Singh et al. (2006) reported the experimental ndings about the acting forces during the magnetic abrasive nishing process and provided a correlation between the surface nish and the acting force. The experimental results suggested that applying the magnetic abrasive process was one of the most promising processes for surface nishing. Kim et al. (1997) investigated the effect of a magnetic eld on the electrolytic nishing process associated with the migration of ions. They found that the migration

path of the electrolytic ion would be changed by the magnetic eld. In addition, the surface nishing effects would be improved to obtain a high quality surface integrity effectively and quickly. De Bruijn et al. (1978) investigated the effect of magnetic eld on the gap cleaning and indicated that the magnetic eld can improve gap cleaning. Nevertheless, there are few relative reports associated with the magnetic force used in the EDM process to improve machining characteristics. The ability of expelling debris out of the machining gap was a crucial point to maintain the EDM stability, so the machining efciency and the machined surface quality of the EDM process were directly affected by the debris expulsion. The effects of dielectric ushing methods and ejection mechanisms of machining debris for EDM have been investigated. The debris formation, size distribution, and ejection mechanism were investigated theoretically and experimentally. Rajurkar and Pandit (1988) derived an expression for the sizes of debris to understand the inuences of machining debris on machining performance during the process. Cetin et al. (2004) developed a debris exclusion model to calculate and simulate the debris concentration in the machining gap. Lou (1997) conducted a study in discharge transitivity upon the gap debris, in this study the function of the debris was the dominant factor in realizing the discharge movement. Masuzawa et al. (1992) proposed a dynamic jet ushing method to improve the debris distribution and evacuation. Soni (1994) thoroughly explored the debris shape, composition, and size distribution, and the experimental result suggested that the size distribution of debris revealed a stochastic nature during their formation. In order to improve the debris expulsion and to prevent the debris from clogging in the machining gap, Kremer et al. (1991) treated an EDM assisted with ultrasonic vibration of the electrode, and a benet effect of the ultrasonic vibration was determined in this investigation. Thoe et al. (1999) dealt with the problem of drilling small diameter holes using a combination process of ultrasonic machining (USM) with EDM. The experimental results specied that using ultrasonic vibration during EDM greatly increased the machining efciency, and a more stable discharge as well as a lower incidence of abnormal arcing could be obtained in the combination process of EDM with USM. Lin et al. (2000) conducted an experimental investigation of the machining characteristics of Ti6Al4V alloy using a combination process of EDM with USM. The experimental results concluded that the combination process of EDM with USM could increase the machining efciency and decrease the thickness of the recast layer. Zhang et al. (2002) proposed a new method of ultrasonic vibration electrical discharge machining (UVEDM) in a gas medium, and the experimental results showed that the ultrasonic vibration of the workpiece could improve the machining performance during the process. Their research ndings revealed that the prevention of the debris accumulated on the machining zone had an important benet for promoting machining efciency. Furthermore, Lin et al. (2001a) studied the feasibility of the added abrasives that could be regarded as the surface strengthening agent transferred to the machined surface through the ionization of discharge column during the process, and the added abrasives could be acted as the USM media for the combined process of EDM with USM. The com-

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bined process of EDM with USM had the potential to prevent the accumulation of debris, to improve the machining efciency, and to modify the machined surface. However, to design USM equipment for machining was intensively constricted, and the degree of tool fastened on USM system was rigorous. Therefore, the construction of the combined process of EDM with USM for various workpiece dimensions with convenience, effectiveness, and economy was a complex and real challenge. Especially, using EDM process to manufacture molds and dies with large projection area is required urgently in the industrial applications recently. The ability to expel machining debris in such situation was relatively difcult during EDM. Consequently, a magnetic force device was attached to EDM machining zone to facilitate and drive the machining debris expelled from the machining zone, and the effects of this attached device necessitated a comprehensive understanding on improving the stability of EDM progress owing to preventing debris accumulation on the machining zone. Taguchi method has been widely used in engineering analysis, and is a powerful tool to design a high quality system. Moreover, Taguchi method employs a special design of orthogonal array to investigate the effects of the entire machining parameters through small number of experiments. Recently, the Taguchi method was widely employed in several industrial elds and research works. Liao et al. (1997) used this method to determine the optimal parameter setting in WireEDM. Lin et al. (2001b) adopted the Taguchi method to obtain the optimal machining parameter of a hybrid process of EDM with ball burnish machining. Yang and Tarng (1998) employed this approach to nd the optimal cutting parameter for turning operation. Moreover, Bagci and Ozcelik (2006) used the Taguchi method to explore the effects of drilling parameters on the twist drill bit temperature for a design optimization of cutting parameters. Their works revealed that the Taguchi method was a powerful approach using in design of experiment. The parameter design via Taguchi method can optimize the machining characteristics through the settings of process parameter and reduce the sensitivity of the system performance to sources of variation. The high quality of machining characteristics can be achieved without increasing the operation cost. In this investigation, the benets of magnetic force assisted EDM were determined. Moreover, the essential EDM parameters such as machining polarity (P), peak current (Ip ), auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ), pulse duration ( p ), no-load voltage (V), and servo reference voltage (Sv ) were varied to explore their effects on MRR and SR, which were conducted by magnetic force assisted EDM. An L18 orthogonal array based on the Taguchi experimental design method was utilized to plan the experiments of this work. In addition, the experimental data were transferred to signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios and were assessed by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the signicant machining parameters and to obtain the optimal combination levels of machining parameters for MRR and SR. Therefore, the optimal machining parameters of the magnetic force assisted EDM were established to achieve a sophisticated process with high efciency and high quality of surface integrity to evolve the EDM applications for modern industrial requirements.

Table 1 Chemical compositions of SKD 61 Element

C Si Mn Cr Mo V

wt.%
0.320.42 0.81.2 <0.5 4.55.5 1.01.5 0.81.2

2.
2.1.

Experimental methods
Experimental materials

The workpiece material was a SKD 61 steel, widely used in die and mold manufacturing industry, and its dimensions were 50 mm 50 mm 5 mm in this investigation. The specimens were initially milled and ground to ensure the parallelism before conducting the experiments. Table 1 presents the chemical composition of the workpiece materials. The electrode material was electrolytic copper, which is the most common material of tool electrode used in EDM industries. The electrode front face was 35 mm with 5 mm thickness to create a consecutive electrical discharge during the EDM process, and the stem diameter of electrode was 8 mm with 40 mm length to fasten on the spindle of EDM machine. The front face of the electrode against the workpiece was ground using 600, 800, and 1200 grit emery paper to guarantee surface nishing and the atness of each electrode at the same level. Table 2 shows the essential properties of electrolytic copper. Kerosene (commercial grade) was employed as a dielectric uid in this investigation.

2.2.

Equipment and procedure

In this investigation, a transistor controlled EDM machine with built-in capacitors in the circuit was used, which was a commercial type die-sinking EDM (Model YAWJET-5 manufactured by YIHAWJET Corp., Taiwan). A novel self-designed magnetic force assisted device was attached to the standard EDM machine, so the EDM process and the magnetic force device operated synchronously. In addition, this versatile apparatus was used to conduct a series of experiments to explore the performance of the magnetic force assisted EDM on SKD 61 steel. The dielectric uid was cycled by a pump and delivered to the machining tank. The dielectric uid delivery system operated without ushing jet in the machining zone, but the electrode jumped with a setting height (2 mm) as

Table 2 Essential properties of copper electrode Essential properties

Specic gravity (g/cm ) Melting range ( C) Thermal conductivity (W/mK) Specic heat (J/kg K) Electrical resistivity ( -cm) Thermal expansion coefcient (1/ C)
3

Descriptions
8.94 10651083 388 385 1.7 106 16.7 106

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experiment to calculate the MRR and EWR. In addition, the relative electrode wear ratio (REWR) was dened as the ratio of EWR to MRR. The measurement of SR employed a precision prolometer (Mitutoyo Surfest 4) to evaluate the quality of the machined surface. The SR values were obtained by averaging ve measurements made stochastically at different positions on the front machined surfaces.

2.3.

Experimental design based on Taguchi method

Fig. 1 Demonstration of the conguration with magnetic force assisted EDM.

well as a xed period (2 s). The magnetic force assisted device employed a rotational disk, which was fastened with two symmetric magnets and was driven by an electrical motor set under the EDM machining zone. Fig. 1 schematically demonstrates the conguration of the magnetic force assisted EDM process. This magnetic force assisted device would facilitate the debris expelling from the machining zone more easily and quickly. Moreover, a fast oscilloscope was connected to the two electrodes (tool and workpiece) to detect the waveforms of discharge current and voltage during the EDM process, and then the discharge waveforms were utilized to explore the benecial effects of the magnetic force assisted EDM as compared with the standard EDM process. The stability of the EDM process could be evaluated and determined through diagnosing the discharge waveforms and counting the number of effective discharge waveforms during a xed period. A fast digital oscilloscope (Tektronix TD 2014) that coupled with current probe (Chauvin Arnoux E3N) and a passive voltage probe (P2200) was used in the experiments. The electrical discharge power supply system used in this work was an iso-energy type; the discharge waveforms would be distinguished into normal discharge, arcing, and short. Since the elapsed machining time of EDM process was prolonged, the machining debris would easily aggregate in the machining gap. The intensive debris accumulated in the machining gap would inevitably result in abnormal electrical discharges such as arcing and shorting. The machining characteristics such as material removal rate (MRR, mm3 /min), electrode wear rate (EWR, mm3 /min) and surface roughness (SR, Ra/ m) were adopted to assess the effects of machining parameters. The workpiece and electrode specimens were weighed by a precision electronic balance (Percisa XT 220A) with 0.1 mg resolution before and after each

The experimental design was according to an L18 orthogonal array based on the Taguchi method, while using the Taguchi orthogonal array would markedly reduce the number of experiments. The L18 orthogonal array had eight columns and 18 rows, so it had 17 degrees of freedom to manipulate one parameter with two levels and seven parameters with three levels. Thus, eight machining parameters can be apportioned to the columns and the rows designate 18 experiments with various combination levels of the machining parameters. In this investigation only six machining parameters were considered, so two columns were empty. The orthogonality is preserved, even if two columns of the array remained empty. Two observed values of MRR and SR were examined. The levels of each machining parameter were set in accordance with the L18 orthogonal array, based on the Taguchi experimental design method. The S/N ratios are calculated from the observed values. In this work, the experimentally observed MRR value is the higher the better (HB), and the SR value is the lower the better (LB). Therefore, the optimal observed MRR was its maximum value, and the optimal SR value, in contrast, was the minimum value. Based on the Taguchi method, the S/N ratio calculation was decided as the higher the better, HB and the lower the better, LB as are given in the following equations: 1 n
n

HB : = 10 log

yi2
i=1 n

(1)

LB : = 10 log

1 n

yi2
i=1

(2)

where denotes the S/N ratio calculated from the observed values (unit: dB), yi represents the experimentally observed value of the ith experiment, and n is the repeated number of each experiment. Notably, each experiment in the L18 array is conducted three times. The S/N ratios determined from the experimental observed values were statistically studied by ANOVA to explore the effects of each machining parameter on the observed values and to elucidate which machining parameters signicantly affected the observed values. The related equations are as follows: i 18 2 Ai
2

Sm =

ST =

2 Sm i

(3)

SA =

Sm ,

S E = ST

SA

(4)

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Table 3 Experimental conditions Working conditions

Workpiece Electrode Magnetic ux density Polarity Duty factor No-load voltage Peak current Auxiliary current with high voltage Pulse duration Servo reference voltage Dielectric uid Working time

Descriptions
SKD 61 Electrolytic copper 0.3 T (), (+) 0.5 120, 160, 200 V 5, 10, 20 A 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 A 20, 50, 150, 350, 460 s 10, 20, 40 V Kerosene (commercial) 45 min

the machining parameters based on Taguchi method. The S/N ratios were calculated from the experimental observed values, according to Eqs. (1) and (2). The optimal combination levels of the machining parameters correlated with the magnetic force assisted EDM that yielded high MRR and low SR were determined by analyzing the S/N ratios. Moreover, the signicant machining parameters associated with MRR and SR were also determined by ANOVA.

3.
3.1.

Results and discussion

Discharge waveforms of analysis

VA =

SA , fA

FA0 =

VA VE

(5)

where Sm is the sum of squares based on the mean, ST is the sum of squares based on the total variation, SA is the sum of squares based on parameter A (for example, A = P, Ip , IH , p , V and Sv ), SE is the sum of squares based on the error, i is the value of in the ith experiment (i = 118), Ai is the sum of the ith level of parameter A (i = 1, 2 or i = 13), N is the repeating number of each level of parameter A, fA is the number of degrees of freedom of parameter A, VA is the variance of parameter A, and FA0 is the F-test value of parameter A. Herein, the contribution of the input parameters is dened as signicant if the calculated FA0 values exceed F0.05,n1,n2 .

2.4.

Experimental conditions

The effects of machining parameters associated with the magnetic force assisted EDM on machining characteristics were extensively investigated in this study. Moreover, the signicant parameters and the optimal combination levels of machining parameters were determined. The machining parameters, such as machining polarity (P), peak current (Ip ), auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ), pulse duration ( p ), no-load voltage (V), and servo reference voltage (Sv ) were varied to determine their effects on the machining characteristics MRR and SR. The detailed machining conditions used in this investigation were given in Table 3. Moreover, According to the L18 orthogonal array based on the Taguchi experimental design method, the machining polarity was set to two levels, and other machining parameters were set to three levels, individually. Table 4 presents the experimentally observed values, machining parameters (control parameters) and the levels of

Fig. 2 shows the comparison of discharge waveforms between the magnetic force assisted EDM and standard EDM obtained at the elapsed machining time 35 min. As shown in this gure, the number of effective discharge waveforms obtained by the magnetic force assisted EDM was larger than that by standard EDM. As mentioned above, the stability of EDM progress can be monitored and determined from inspecting the discharge waveforms. If the number of effective discharge waveforms moves up, the stability of the EDM progress is ameliorated, and then the machining efciency will be increased. When the elapsed machining time is extended, more machining debris would be produced and suspended in the machining gap. The debris accumulated on the machining zone would also affect the EDM progress due to the abnormal discharge. Consequently, from the results of assessing the discharge waveforms, the magnetic force assisted EDM had a better machining stability, since the debris driven by the magnetic force would be expelled more completely to reduce the abnormal discharge.

3.2.

Effects of magnetic force assisted EDM

Fig. 3 depicts a comparison of MRR, REWR, and SR between the magnetic force assisted EDM and standard EDM. Based on the experimental results, the MRR of the magnetic assisted EDM was almost three times as large as standard EDM, and the REWR was improved from 1.03% to 0.33% when employed the magnetic force assisted EDM. Moreover, the SR of the magnetic force assisted EDM was less than that of standard EDM. The average value of SR reduced from Ra 3.15 to 3.04 m. The surplus workpiece materials were removed from the machining area caused by the EDM removal mechanisms such as melting, vaporization, and dielectric explosion to form the machining debris. The more the discharge energy was delivered to

Table 4 Experimental observed values and levels of machining parameters Observed values
Material removal rate, MRR (mm3 /min) Surface roughness, SR ( m)

Control parameters
A. Machining polarity (P) B. Peak current (Ip ) C. Auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ) D. Pulse duration ( p ) E. No-load voltage (V) F. Servo reference voltage (Sv ) () 5 0.4 50 120 10

Levels
10 0.8 150 160 20 (+) 20 1.2 460 200 40

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Fig. 2 Discharge waveforms of magnetic force assisted EDM and standard EDM (obtained at 35 min).

machining zone, the more the debris was produced within the dielectric uid. Moreover, when the elapsed machining time is prolonged, the amount of debris produced form the workpiece was increased. The extensive debris accumulated in the machining gap would interrupt the progress of EDM, and the stability of EDM would be deteriorated. When an assisted device of magnetic force was attached to the EDM machine, the debris would be driven by the assisted magnetic force to expel from the machining gap more easily and quickly, and the prob-

ability of abnormal discharge would be diminished. Therefore, the MRR of the EDM was facilitated by the assisting magnetic force, and then the REWR would also be improved when a larger MRR was received in magnetic force assisted EDM. Moreover, the un-expelled debris accumulated on the machining zone would result in abnormal discharge and would re-melt to the machined surface, so the machined surface would be damaged and the recast layer would be thickened. As a result, the surface roughness obtained by standard EDM was higher than that by the magnetic force assisted EDM. The machining debris would be driven by the magnetic force to prevent their clogging in the machining gap, and the debris would also be expelled from the machining gap more completely and quickly. Therefore, the probability of abnormal discharge was reduced, and the thickness of the recast layer on which the re-melted debris to be deposited was also diminished. Therefore, the surface roughness was improved due to the presence of an additional magnetic force.

3.3. EDM

Surface integrities after magnetic force assisted

Fig. 3 Comparison of MRR, REWR and SR between magnetic force assisted EDM and standard EDM.

Fig. 4 shows the comparison of SEM micrographs at 20 A peak current and 350 s pulse duration. As shown in the micrographs, the discharge craters obtained by standard EDM were bigger and deeper than those by the magnetic force assisted EDM. In addition, the machined surface of standard EDM depicted more obvious micro-cracks on magnied micro-

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Fig. 4 (ad) SEM micrographs of machined surface obtained by magnetic force assisted EDM and standard EDM (Ip = 20 A, p = 350 s). graphs (see Fig. 4(c) and (d)). Since the magnetic force assisted EDM would facilitate the expulsion of the machining debris in machining gap to reduce the probability of abnormal discharge and to prevent the deposition of re-melted debris on the machined surface to form a thicker recast layer, the surface cracks were also diminished proportionally on the machined surface. Therefore, the machined surface of the magnetic force assisted EDM process revealed a ner nishing integrity than that of standard EDM. EDM from the L18 orthogonal array based on the Taguchi method. Moreover, the S/N ratios were considered to evaluate the effects of machining parameters (control parameters) on MRR and SR, by performing the statistical analysis of ANOVA. The optimal combination levels of the machining parameters to optimize MRR and SR were also determined from the S/N ratios response graphs.

3.4.1.

Analysis of MRR

3.4.

Analysis of Taguchi method

Table 5 lists the S/N ratios of MRR and SR correlated with each experimental measurement of the magnetic force assisted

Table 6 shows the results of ANOVA associated with MRR obtained from the L18 array based on Taguchi method. As shown in Table 6, the machining polarity (P) and peak current (Ip ) were the signicant parameters affecting MRR associated with the essential machining parameters of the magnetic

Table 5 L18 orthogonal array, control parameters and S/N ratios No. P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 () () () () () () () () () (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+) (+)

Control parameters Ip
5 5 5 10 10 10 20 20 20 5 5 5 10 10 10 20 20 20

S/N ratios () Sv
10 20 40 20 40 10 40 10 20 20 40 10 10 20 40 40 10 20

IH
0.4 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.8 1.2

V
120 160 200 160 200 120 120 160 200 200 120 160 200 120 160 160 200 120

e1
1 2 3 3 1 2 2 3 1 2 3 1 3 1 2 1 2 3

e2
1 2 3 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 2 3 1

MRR
12.9776 12.3339 9.1522 8.7987 19.8172 21.1437 31.0490 32.4472 24.1391 17.5704 25.9989 21.5329 3.4676 6.3516 7.0600 11.8307 5.8927 1.9406

SR
3.5073 2.8915 2.3906 10.0777 10.7425 3.1443 12.0536 8.6626 11.4144 2.3851 3.4986 1.9798 2.0122 6.3592 4.5232 4.7669 5.5085 4.5433

50 150 460 50 150 460 150 460 50 460 50 150 150 460 50 460 50 150

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Table 6 ANOVA of MRR Parameter (A)

P Ip IH
p

Degree (fA )
1 2 2 2 2 2 6 17

Square sum (SA )

1292.7839 3759.4728 23.2370 228.8847 8.1885 10.4764 169.0851 5492.1285

Variance (VA )
1292.7839 1879.7364 11.6185 114.4424 4.0943 5.2382 28.1809

FA0
45.8745* 66.7026* 0.4123 4.0610 0.1453 0.1859

F0.05,n1,n2
5.99 5.14 5.14 5.14 5.14 5.14

V Sv Ee1+e2 Total

Signicant parameter.

Fig. 5 S/N ratios response graph of MRR.

Fig. 6 S/N ratios response graph of SR.

force assisted EDM. The cathode received more electrical discharge energy at a longer pulse duration, and using a negative machining polarity (workpiece connected to the cathode) would generally increase the MRR. In addition, more electrical energy was conducted into the machining zone within a single pulse upon increasing the peak current. Therefore, more surplus workpiece materials were removed within a single pulse using large peak current and negative machining polarity. The S/N ratios response graph of MRR plotted in Fig. 5 reveals that the optimal combination levels of the machining parameters. The optimum MRR of the magnetic force assisted EDM on SKD 61 steel are: negative machining polarity (P); 20 A peak current (Ip ); 0.8 A auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ); 460 s pulse

duration ( p ); 120 V no-load voltage (V); 10 V servo reference voltage (Sv ).

3.4.2.

Analysis of SR

Table 7 depicts the results of ANOVA associated with the magnetic force assisted EDM of SR. As shown in this table, the peak current (Ip ) was a signicant parameter affecting SR. As mentioned above, when the peak current was set at a high level, a huge discharge energy would be delivered into the machining zone within a single pulse, so the machined surface presented a larger crater size. The S/N ratios response graph of SR in Fig. 6 shows that the optimal combination levels of machining parameters for minimum SR include positive machining polar-

Table 7 ANOVA of SR Parameter (A)

P Ip IH
p

Degree (fA )
1 2 2 2 2 2 6 17

Square sum (SA )

33.4189 108.7009 19.5129 21.6425 1.2370 14.1970 57.0440 255.7532

Variance (VA )
33.4189 54.3505 9.7565 10.8213 0.6185 7.0985 9.5073

FA0
3.5151 5.7167* 1.0262 1.1382 0.0651 0.7466

F0.05,n1,n2
5.99 5.14 5.14 5.14 5.14 5.14

V Sv Ee1+e2 Total

Signicant parameter.

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Table 8 Results of the conrmation experiments Initial levels of machining parameters Optimal combination levels of machining parameters Prediction
MRR Level Observed values (mm3 /min) S/N ratio (dB) SR Level Observed values (Ra/ m) S/N ratio (dB) A1 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 13.84 22.82 A1 B3 C2 D3 E1 F1 26.36

Experiment
A1 B3 C2 D3 E1 F1 42.58 32.58

A1 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2 2.98 9.21

A2 B1 C3 D3 E3 F1 1.98

A2 B1 C3 D3 E3 F1 1.26 3.27

ity (P); 5 A peak current (Ip ); 1.2 A auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ); 460 s pulse duration ( p ); 200 V no-load voltage (V); 10 V servo reference voltage (Sv ).

3.4.3.

Conrmation experiment

(3)

The optimal combination levels of the machining parameters were determined and conrmed as follows. The estimated S/N ratios are calculated as,
n0

= m +
i=1

(i m )

(6)

(4)

where is the estimated S/N ratio for optimal combination levels of machining parameters, m the total mean S/N ratio, n0 the number of signicant parameters, and i is the mean S/N ratio at the optimal level. Table 8 displays the results of conrmation experiments. As this table indicates, the MRR increased from 13.84 (mm3 /min) to 42.58 (mm3 /min), and SR (Ra) improved from 2.98 ( m) to 1.26 ( m). In addition, the S/N ratios correlated with MRR and SR for the optimal combination levels of machining parameters are 9.76 and 12.48 dB larger than those obtained at the initial experimental conditions; the initial conditions were set at P (), Ip (10 A), IH (0.8 A), p (150 s), V (160 V) and Sv (20 V). Therefore, the experimental results conrm that the machining parameters of the magnetic force assisted EDM would be optimized for MRR and SR, so the observed values would thus be signicantly improved.

(5)

(6)

4.

Conclusions

improved from 1.03% to 0.33% when employed the magnetic force assisted EDM. Moreover, the SR of the magnetic force assisted EDM was less than that of standard EDM. The average value of SR reduced from Ra 3.15 to 3.04 m. The discharge craters obtained by standard EDM were bigger and deeper than those by the magnetic force assisted EDM. Moreover, the machined surface of standard EDM depicted more obvious micro-cracks than that of magnetic force assisted EDM. The machining polarity (P) and peak current (Ip ) were the signicant parameters affecting MRR associated with the magnetic force assisted EDM. Moreover, the optimal combination levels of machining parameters of maximized MRR of the magnetic force assisted EDM on SKD 61 steel were: negative machining polarity (P); 20 A peak current (Ip ); 0.8 A auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ); 460 s pulse duration ( p ); 120 V no-load voltage (V); 10 V servo reference voltage (Sv ). The peak current (Ip ) was the signicant parameter affecting SR associated with the magnetic force assisted EDM. The optimal combination levels of machining parameters with minimum SR of the magnetic force assisted EDM were: positive machining polarity (P); 5 A peak current (Ip ); 1.2 A auxiliary current with high voltage (IH ); 460 s pulse duration ( p ); 200 V no-load voltage (V); 10 V servo reference voltage (Sv ). The S/N ratios correlated with MRR and SR for the optimal combination levels of machining parameters are 9.76 and 12.48 dB higher than those obtained at the initial experimental conditions. Therefore, the experimental results conrm that the machining parameters of the magnetic force assisted EDM can be optimized for both MRR and SR.

The effects of attached magnetic force to EDM were determined and the optimal machining parameters of the magnetic force assisted EDM were estimated based on Taguchi method. According to the experimental results, and statistical analysis of ANOVA, the following conclusions have been drawn. (1) The magnetic force assisted EDM had a better machining stability, since the debris driven by the assisted magnetic force would be expelled more quickly and completely to reduce the abnormal discharge. Moreover, the number of effective discharge waveforms obtained by the magnetic force assisted EDM was higher than that by standard EDM. (2) The MRR of magnetic force assisted EDM was almost three times as large as the value of standard EDM; the REWR was

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for nancially supporting this research under Contract No. NSC 92-2212-E-235-005.

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