Electric discharge machining (EDM) is a non-contact type manufacturing process used to machine hard materials. Obtaining surfaces with the desired surface finish is the primary challenge when employing this process in any industry. Powder blended EDM, a process in which properties of dielectric are varied by blending it with an appropriate weight of powder, is one among many methods coined to overcome this challenge. Also, previous researchers concentrated on blending dielectrics with semi-metal, metal and non-metallic powders to understand the variations in material removal rate and surface finish. Results inferred employing ceramic powders as a blend in EDM dielectric medium have been still limited. Hence, to bridge this gap, the current work attempts to investigate the influence of ceramic powder concentration, pulse-on time, peak current, gap voltage on the surface roughness of AISI D3 Die steel. Several experiments have been conducted with different combinations of process parameters using Taguchi method. Results indicated that powder concentration plays a significant role in enhancing surface finish, i.e., the quality of the machined surface. Further, among the other parameters considered peak current has the highest impact followed by pulse-on time and voltage on the performance response. Also, the optimum levels of process parameters have been obtained as peak current – 6 Amp, pulse-ON-time – 100µs, gap voltage – 70V and SiC nano powder concentration – 0.5g/L.

中文翻译：

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主导变量的影响及其对纳米粉末共混EDM工艺的优化

放电加工（EDM）是用于加工硬质材料的非接触式制造工艺。在任何行业中采用此方法时，获得具有所需表面光洁度的表面都是主要挑战。粉末共混电火花加工是通过克服这种挑战而创造的众多方法之一，该方法是通过将电介质与适当重量的粉末共混来改变电介质的性能。同样，以前的研究人员专注于将电介质与半金属，金属和非金属粉末混合，以了解材料去除率和表面光洁度的变化。使用陶瓷粉末作为EDM电介质中的混合物的推断结果仍然受到限制。因此，为了弥合这一差距，当前工作试图研究陶瓷粉末浓度，脉冲接通时间，峰值电流，间隙电压对AISI D3模具钢表面粗糙度的影响。使用田口方法对工艺参数的不同组合进行了一些实验。结果表明，粉末浓度在提高表面光洁度（即加工表面的质量）方面起着重要作用。此外，在其他参数中，峰值电流对性能响应的影响最大，其次是脉冲接通时间和电压。此外，还获得了最佳的工艺参数水平，例如峰值电流– 6 Amp，脉冲导通时间– 100µs，间隙电压– 70V和SiC纳米粉末浓度– 0.5g / L。结果表明，粉末浓度在提高表面光洁度（即加工表面的质量）方面起着重要作用。此外，在其他参数中，峰值电流对性能响应的影响最大，其次是脉冲接通时间和电压。此外，还获得了最佳的工艺参数水平，例如峰值电流– 6 Amp，脉冲导通时间– 100µs，间隙电压– 70V和SiC纳米粉末浓度– 0.5g / L。结果表明，粉末浓度在提高表面光洁度（即加工表面的质量）方面起着重要作用。此外，在其他参数中，峰值电流对性能响应的影响最大，其次是脉冲接通时间和电压。此外，还获得了最佳的工艺参数水平，例如峰值电流– 6 Amp，脉冲导通时间– 100µs，间隙电压– 70V和SiC纳米粉末浓度– 0.5g / L。