Optimization of Control Parameters for MRR in Injection Flushing Type of EDM on Stainless Steel 304 Workpiece

The operating control parameters of injection flushing type of electrical discharge machining process on stainless steel 304 workpiece with copper tools are being optimized according to its individual machining characteristic i.e. material removal rate (MRR). Lower MRR during EDM machining process may decrease its’ machining productivity. Hence, the quality characteristic for MRR is set to higher-the-better to achieve the optimum machining productivity. Taguchi method has been used for the construction, layout and analysis of the experiment for each of the machining characteristic for the MRR. The use of Taguchi method in the experiment saves a lot of time and cost of preparing and machining the experiment samples. Therefore, an L18 Orthogonal array which was the fundamental component in the statistical design of experiments has been used to plan the experiments and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to determine the optimum machining parameters for this machining characteristic. The control parameters selected for this optimization experiments are polarity, pulse on duration, discharge current, discharge voltage, machining depth, machining diameter and dielectric liquid pressure. The result had shown that the higher the discharge voltage, the higher will be the MRR. Keyword—ANOVA, EDM, Injection Flushing, L18 Orthogonal Array, MRR, Stainless Steel 304