Effect of WEDM machining parameters on material removal rate of tungsten carbide using DOE

Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a specialised thermal machining process capable of accurately machining parts with varying hardness or complex shapes, which have sharp edges that are very difficult to be machined by main stream machining processes The main scope of this research work is to study the effects of various operational parameters like pulse on time (Ton), pulse off time (Toff), servo voltage (SV) and peak current (IP) on Material Removal Rate (MRR) of Tungsten carbide by WEDM. It is found that as Ton increases the Material Removal Rate increases, Toff increases Material Removal Rate(MRR) decreases, SV increases Material Removal Rate (MRR) decreases, IP increases Material Removal Rate(MRR) increases. Full factorial design of four factors with two levels each was conducted which consist of 16 runs. The machining responses that were analyzed is Material removal rate (MRR). All data obtained were then used as input to the Design Expert software for further analysis, according to steps outline for full factorial design. As Ton increased a projecting increment of MRR approximately 59.41% was observed.