Wire electric discharge machining studies on SS304 experimental investigation and parametric analysis

Abstract

With the growing demands for the high surface finish with complex shape geometries, traditional machining is now being substituted by unconventional machining processes. Wire Electric Discharge Machining (WEDM) is one of the unconventional metal cutting processes. Stainless steel 304 (SS304) is an austenitic and nonmagnetic steel material and has outstanding corrosion battle and forming characteristics due to high ductility. SS304 has the properties of high strength, toughness, work hardening coefficient and low thermal conductivity, which cause great difficulty by conventional machining processes. Through conventional machining of SS304, industries are encountering many troubles, for instance, high tool wear because of reduced thermal conductivity and high Built-Up Edge (BUE) affinity on the tool side. newlineIn view of the exceeding applications and challenges in traditional machining of SS304, in the present investigation, WEDM was utilized since it is widely used to cut hard-to-machine materials like steels, titanium and other superalloys. Aerospace, automobile, and electronic industries often use the WEDM process to cut intricate shapes and designs, fragile geometries, dies, molds, etc. Therefore, the objectives of the present study are (a) Detail study of the effect of wire electrode materials on different WEDM responses, (b) to improve the surface finish of WEDM surface by reducing the recast layer thickness through multipass cutting, (c) To utilise the application of WEDM on the creation of 3D profiles for different applications using 3D taper machining studies. newline