Optimization of WEDM Cutting Parameters on Surface Roughness of 2379 Steel Using Taguchi Method 05-11-02-0010

Surface roughness is one of the important aspects in producing quality die. Wire Electrical Discharge Machine (WEDM) is commonly used in tool and die fabrication, since the die material is usually difficult to cut using traditional metal removal processes. Selection of optimal WEDM cutting parameters is crucial to obtain quality die finish. In this study, 2379 steel which equivalent to SKD 11 is selected as the die material. Four main WEDM cutting parameters, namely, pulse duration (A), pulse interval (B), servo voltage (C), ignition pulse current (D), were experimentally evaluated for both main cut and multiple trim cuts using Taguchi Method. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array is employed for experimental design and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used in recognizing levels of significance of WEDM cutting parameters. It was found that in the main cut experiments, the pulse duration gives a significant effect on surface roughness, while the remaining parameters has minimal influence. In contrast, for the multiple trim cuts, all four parameters were significant to the surface roughness. According to signal to noise (S/N) ratio response, the optimal combination of A1B3C2D1 and A2B2C2D3 gave the lowest surface roughness for main cut and multiple trim cuts, respectively. It is also observed that the predicted results agree with the confirmatory test values with an error of 4.31% for main cut and 1.23% for multiple trim cuts.