Performance evaluation of wire electrode discharge machining (WEDM) On Inconel 718

Abstract

Superalloys are known as unique materials ever produced in manufacturing industries. It’s capable to withstand in high temperature and the excellent resistance in mechanical and chemical degradations. Inconel 718 is one of the superalloy material whichs is which is widely used in aeronautical and aerospace industries. This nickelbased superalloy is a high strength, thermal resistance with extreme toughness and work hardening characteristics materials. It is also noted for its excellent corrosion resistance in many conditions of engineering applications. Due to it extremely tough nature, the machinability studies of this material had been carried out by many researchers for the past few years. This master project presents the machining of Inconel 718 using wire electro-discharge machining with zinc coated brass electrode wire diameter of 0.25mm. The objective of this master project is mainly to investigate the performance of wire electro-discharge machining on Inconel 718. This is done by observing the influence of the various WEDM machining characteristics namely, surface roughness (Ra), sparking gap (Gap), material removal rate (MRR) and cutting speed (CS). A full factorial design of experiment (DOE) approach with two-level was employed to conduct this experiment. Design expert software was used to perform the ANOVA analysis and confirmation test was also conducted to verify and compare the results from the theoretical prediction using software. Overall result showed that pulse duration (ON) was the most significant factor that appeared to influence on all machining characteristics that had been investigated. The experimental results also acceptable due to the results obtain fall in acceptable values with less than 15% of margin error.