In the current scenario, micro-manufacturing through the electro-discharge machining (EDM) process is a prominent technique for achieving desired complex micro/nano-features of any product. The precision and accuracy of producing features are the prerequisites of micro-machining. The current work aims to check the feasibility of the novel Maglev EDM for fabricating micro-holes on a thin nickel sheet (thickness = 500 m). The study presents the viability of the newly developed system by comparing it with the conventional EDM process. A pure direct current power supply is assembled with a magnetic levitation-based gap monitoring mechanism to overcome the setbacks of conventional EDM. The novel setup utilizes the combined effect of the permanent electromagnet to diminish arcing and short-circuiting. The control parameters for the operation were 12 V open-circuit voltage and 2 A peak current while maintaining a duty factor of 95.564 percent. The measured discharge voltage and discharge current were 6.64 V and 900 mA, respectively. Tungsten rod (ø 650 m) and deionized water were used as a tool and a dielectric medium, respectively, for the experiment. Further, the machined micro-hole and micro-tool analysis have been carried out using high-resolution microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy reports. The newly developed Maglev EDM’s feasibility to produce micro-holes on conductive materials has been confirmed in the present work with an average material removal rate of 40 g/min.
Titanium alloys are very hard to machine materials, which can be machined effectively by using advanced manufacturing processes. Electro discharge machining (EDM) process is one of the most efficient methods of machining electrically conductive materials. EDM is focused more on the precision and accuracy of the machined parts. This particular work focuses on the machinability study of titanium diamond using micro-EDM. Input parameters such as voltage, capacitance, feed rate and tool rotation speed (TRS) are varied and their effects are analyzed by evaluating responses such as material removal rate (MRR), machining time (MT), overcut (OC) and circularity error (CE). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the material is also conducted to observe the material phases and elements. The observed responses are simultaneously optimized by formulating overall evaluation criteria (OEC) for generating the optimal value of process parameters. Further, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) provides the influence of input parameters on each output response. The variation of different response measures with respect to input parameters is shown through 3D response surface plots. It is observed in micro EDM that the MT decreases with the increase in voltage, capacitance, feed rate and TRS, whereas MRR and OC increase with an increase in voltage and capacitance. In the case of CE, it decreases with the increase in voltage and it increases with the increase in capacitance.
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