Experimental Investigations on Concentric Flow Dry Ultrasonic Assisted Wire Electric Discharge Machining (CFDUAWEDM) Using Regression Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents an application of concentric flow mode of dry dielectric (compressed air) supply for ultrasonic assisted wire electric discharge machining process (CFDUAWEDM). The concentric flow mode of dielectric supply using ultrasonic assistance is expected to offers improved surface integrity, environmental and operator friendliness during wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) process. Experimental set up was developed wherein, the ultrasonic vibration was applied to the electrode wire using an ultrasonic stepped horn and compressed air was injected concentrically into the machining gap through a nozzle around wire. Experiments were performed varying control parameters and responses were recorded. Experimental results indicated that the cutting velocity was affected by current, kerf width of the cutting slot was significantly affected by the pressure and pulse off time. Moreover, air pressure influenced the surface roughness significantly. It was observed that there exists an optimal relationship between response parameters and amplitude. The empirical models of the cutting velocity, surface roughness and kerf width have been developed using the regression analysis to investigate the statistical behavior of process. Results obtained suggested that the concentric flow with ultrasonic assistance can be an alternate to conventionally used dry WEDM. Concentric flow with ultrasonic assistance of dielectric supply method has the potential to overcome inherent drawbacks of dry WEDM.