Enhancing of Material Removal Rate and Surface Roughness in Wire EDM Process using Grey Relational Analysis

Abstract

Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) is a non-conventional machining technique that utilizes electrical discharges to remove material from a workpiece. This study investigates the effects of three WEDM parameters: feed rate (500, 600, and 700 m/min), pulse-on time (20, 25, and 30 μs), and pulse-off time (10, 30, and 50 μs) on the Material Removal Rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra) of stainless-steel workpieces. Experiments were conducted based on an L9 orthogonal array, and the results were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). ANOVA revealed that the pulse-on time had the most significant influence on both MRR and Ra. GRA was employed to determine the optimal combination of machining parameters, which were found to be a pulse-on time of 25 μs, pulse-off time of 10 μs, and feed rate of 600 m/min. Under these conditions, the highest MRR (12.444 g/min) and best surface finish (2.169 μm) were achieved. The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of using GRA in conjunction with ANOVA to optimize the WEDM process for improving the MRR and Ra in stainless steel machining.