Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al.

/ International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473


EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF
INCONEL 718 DURING DIE-SINKING
ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MACHINING

PUSHPENDRA S BHARTI
*

Research Scholar, University School of Engineering and Technology,
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi-110006, India

S. MAHESHWARI
Manufacturing Process and Automation Engineering Division,
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi, India

C. SHARMA
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering,
Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Delhi-110006, India



Abstract:

This work investigates the machining characteristics of Inconel 718 during die-sinking electric discharge machining
process with copper as tool electrode. Experiments have been carried out to see the effects of input parameters like
shape factor, pulse-on-time, discharge current, duty cycle, gap voltage, flushing pressure and tool electrode lift time
on performance measures like material removal rate, surface roughness and tool wear rate. Taguchis method has
been used as Design of Experiments technique for experimental investigation. Experiments have been designed as
per Taguchis L36 orthogonal array. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is employed to indicate the level of
significance of machining parameters. Discharge current and pulse-on time are found the most influential common
input parameter on each performance measure. Duty cycle and tool electrode lift time are found the least influential
parameters.

Keywords: Electric-discharge machining(EDM); Material removal rate(MRR); Surface roughness (SR);
Tool wear rate (TWR); Taguchis Method; Design of experiments (DOE); Inconel 718.

1. Introduction

Nickel based super alloy are extremely useful in gas turbine, space vehicles, aircraft, nuclear reactors, submarine,
petrochemical equipments and other high temperature applications. Inconel 718, a nickel based super alloy, is a
precipitation-hardenable nickel-chromium alloy containing significant amounts of iron, niobium, and molybdenum
along with lesser amounts of aluminum and titanium. It combines corrosion resistance and high strength with
outstanding weldability, including resistance to post weld cracking. The alloy has excellent creep-rupture strength at
temperatures up to 700 C (1300 F). Owing to its excellent mechanical and metallurgical properties this alloy finds
extensive use in gas turbines, rocket motors, spacecraft, nuclear reactors, pumps and tooling. Its outstanding high
temperature strength and toughness create difficulties during machining due to its work hardening tendency. Inonel
718 is one of the most difficult-to-machine super alloys in order to satisfy production and quality requirement. This
difficulty in machining is attributed to its ability to maintain hardness at elevated temperature which otherwise is
very useful for hot working environment. Formation of complex shapes by this material along with reasonable speed
and surface finish is not possible in traditional machining. Therefore, EDM is one of the most suitable processes to
shape this alloy. This alloy has attracted many researchers because of its increasing applicability in high temperature
conditions. Still, the available research data pertaining to EDM of Inconel 718 is not sufficient. The authors during
the literature survey did not come across any work that investigates the machining characteristics of Inconel 718
during die-sinking EDM. Therefore its machining behavior and its response to change in input parameters of the
process needs to be evaluated. Hence, attempts have been made to investigate the machining characteristics of
Inconel 718 during die-sinking EDM process.
ISSN: 0975-5462 6464
Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473


EDM is one of the most extensively used non-conventional material removal processes. EDM is a thermo-
electric process in which material is removed from work piece by erosion effect of series of electric discharges
(sparks) between tool and work piece immersed in a dielectric liquid. The electric energy induced by electric sparks
converts into thermal energy resulting in high temperature which melts and evaporates the work piece and tool
electrode. The eroded particles are flushed away by dielectric liquid. Physical and metallurgical properties do not
create any limitation for the materials to be machined on EDM as there is no physical contact between tool and work
piece.
This work investigates the influence of input parameters on performance measures during die-sinking EDM
of Inconel 718 with copper as tool electrode. There are many input parameters of electric discharge machine that
could be taken for experimental investigation of Inconel 718. Exploratory experiments were conducted to select the
input parameters and their levels. In this work, Shape factor (SF), Pulse-on-time (T
on
), Discharge current (I
d
), Duty
cycle (), Flushing pressure (P) and Tool electrode lift time (T
L
) have been taken as input parameters. Material
removal rate (MRR), Surface Roughness (SR) and Tool Wear Rate (TWR) have been taken as performance
measures. The level of influence of input parameters has also been identified after experimental investigation.
Experimental investigation requires a number of experimental runs that may be an expensive and time
consuming affair. Design of experiments techniques like Taguchis method, Response surface methodology etc. are
used to reduce the experimental runs in a scientific manner. DOE, a statistical technique, is used to study the effects
of various input parameters on performance measures simultaneously. In this work, experiments have been designed
as per Taguchis L36 (2
1
3
6
) orthogonal array. Seven input parameters are taken, out of which one has 2 levels and
the rest six have 3 levels each. Orthogonal array allows to assess the effect of each factor independently of the
effects of other factors. Many authors have applied DOE technique to explain the machining characteristics of
different materials during electric discharge machining. George et al. [1] employed Taguchis method to explain the
machining characteristics of carbon-carbon deposits during electric discharge machining. Liu et al. [2] employed L9
orthogonal array to see the effect of various input parameters on MRR. Ramasawmy and Bunt [3] did quantative
assessment of process parameters of EDM by Taguchis method by taking M300 (tool steel) as the work piece.
Ramasawmy and Bunt [4] presented experimental work that was done in order to quantify the effect of some of
EDM main parameters on surface texture. This work was then verified was Taguchis method. Ramakrishnan and
Krishnamurthy [5] reported the effect of pulse-on-time and delay time on MRR and SR during wire EDM of Inconel
718. But they did not discuss the effect of other parameters on performance measures. They reported that higher
pulse-on-time gives more MRR but poor surface finish. Puri and Bhattacharya [6 ] analyzed the effect of 13 process
parameters on MRR, SR and accuracy of WEDM. There are many references in which Taguchis method has been
used as DOE technique to explain the machining characteristics of different material on EDM [7] [8] [9].
However, some authors have employed other techniques also [10] to see the influence of process
parameters on performance measures, DOE technique is found very simple and efficient. The authors during the
literature survey did not come across any work that uses DOE technique to investigate the machining characteristics
of Inconel 718 during die-sinking electric discharge machining. Hence, attempts have been made to investigate the
die sinking EDM characteristics of Inconel 718 by DOE techniques in this work.

2. Experiments

Material employed in this study is Inconel 718. The mechanical properties of Inconel 718 are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Mechanical properties of Inconel 718

Property Unit Value
Density g/cm
3
8.19
Melting Point/range C 1260-
1336
Ultimate tensile strength MPa 1240
Yield Strength MPa 1036
Hardness HRC 36
Average Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion
m/m K 13
Thermal Conductivity W/m K 11.4

ISSN: 0975-5462 6465
Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473


Inconel 718 has been chosen for the investigation because of its increasing demand in high temperature applications
and lack of literature available on eclectic discharge machining of this material.
Experiments have been carried out on Elecktra Plus S-50 ZNC oil die-sinking electric discharge machine in
which the Z-axis is servo controlled and X and Y axis are manually controlled.
Based on literature survey and preliminary investigations, the parameters chosen as inputs are shape factor,
pulse-on-time, discharge current, duty cycle, gap voltage , flushing pressure, tool electrode lift time. The working
range of input parameters and the levels taken are shown in Table 2. Preliminary experiments were conducted in the
given range of different input parameters to select their levels. For accurate characterization of the process,
experiments must be designed properly. L
36
(2
1
3
6
) orthogonal array, shown in Table 3, has been used which
contains 36 experimental runs at various combinations of seven input variables.

Table 2. Machining parameters and their levels

Input parameters Unit Symbol Range
(as specified by
machine
manufacturer)
Levels and values
1 2 3
Shape factor (SF) - A - Square Circular -
Pulse-on-time (T
on
) s B 0.25-4000 50 100 150
Discharge current (I
d
) A C 0.5-50 3 8 12
Duty cycle () % D 0-1 0.7 0.75 0.83
Gap voltage (V
g
) V E 1-150 50 70 90
Flushing pressure (P) kg/cm
2

F 0-1 0.3 0.5 0.7
Tool electrode lift time
(T
L
)
sec G 1-12 1 2 3

Since stable machining conditions are achieved after 10 minutes, a study of 15 minutes machining or 0.5 mm depth
of cut (whichever is earlier) is taken in this work.

MRR, TWR and SR have been used to evaluate machining performance. MRR and TWR (mm
3
/min) are
calculated by measuring the amount of material removed and the machining time by using following equation
(min) time machining )
3
(g/mm electrode or piece work of density
(g) electrode or piece work of in weight Reduction
/min)
3
(mm TWR or MRR

=

Initial and final weights of work piece and electrode were measured by electronic weighing balance having a
resolution of 0.001 g. Surface roughness was measured by a contact type stylus based surface tester. The centre line
average (CLA) surface roughness parameter R
a
war used to quantify the surface roughness.
Copper electrodes of cross sections: square and circle were used to conduct the experiment. The area of both square
and circular shaped electrodes was kept same to avoid any ambiguity in machining.

3. Analysis method

3.1 Taguchis method

Taguchis method is a well accepted methodology for experiment design. In this, signal-to-noise ratio(S/N) is used
to represent a response or quality characteristics and the largest S/N ratio is required. There are three types of quality
characteristics viz. nominal-the-better, larger-the-better and smaller-the-better. In this work, experimentally
observed MRR value is larger-the-better and TWR and SR are lower-the-better. Based on Taguchis method,
S/N ratio calculation is done as below-
i) Larger-the-better
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
=
n
i
i
y
n
N S
1
2
1 1
log 10 / [1]
ISSN: 0975-5462 6466
Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473


ii) Smaller-the-better
|
.
|

\
|

=
=
n
i
i
y
n
N S
1
2
1
log 10 / [2]
Where
i
y is the experimentally observed value and nis the repeated number of each experiment.

Table 3. Design experiment of L 36(2
1
3
6
) array with different experimental parametric levels
Exp
No.
SF
T
on

(s)

I
d
(A)

(%)
V
g

(V)
P
(kg/ cm
2
)
T
L

(sec)
M SR

TWR
S/N
(MRR
S/N
(SR)
S/N
(TWR
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
4
4.25 0.0300 13.0984 -12.5678 30.4684
2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
2
7.3 0.6995 28.0212 -17.2665 3.1041
3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3
3
9.46 0.9407 31.2768 -19.5178 0.5311
4 1 1 1 1 1 2 2
4
6.145 0.1114 13.5607 -15.7704 19.0619
5 1 2 2 2 2 3 3
3
7.9 0.9235 29.7169 -17.9525 0.6912
6 1 3 3 3 3 1 1
4
8.55 0.3780 33.8087 -18.6393 8.4509
7 1 1 1 2 3 1 2
2
5.05 0.0741 8.6729 -14.0658 22.6018
8 1 2 2 3 1 2 3
2
9 0.3960 29.5153 -19.0849 8.0465
9 1 3 3 1 2 3 1
3
11.07 0.3010 30.9475 -20.883 10.4297
10 1 1 1 3 2 1 3
1
5.36 0.0150 5.6339 -14.5833 36.4890
11 1 2 2 1 3 2 1
1
7.03 0.1029 21.0218 -16.9391 19.7523
12 1 3 3 2 1 3 2
3
10.73 0.1598 30.7536 -20.612 15.9310
13 1 1 2 3 1 3 2
2
8.05 0.3109 28.9105 -18.1159 10.1483
14 1 2 3 1 2 1 3
5
9.8 0.2391 34.8871 -19.8245 12.4298
15 1 3 1 2 3 2 1
2
4.92 0.0075 8.7134 -13.8393 42.5096
16 1 1 2 3 2 1 1
1
7.16 0.1624 24.7165 -17.0983 15.7857
17 1 2 3 1 3 2 2
3
9.63 0.5226 29.7869 -19.6725 5.6366
18 1 3 1 2 1 3 3
7
5.2 0.0479 17.4441 -14.3201 26.3999
19 2 1 2 1 3 3 3
1
6.33 0.2283 24.6541 -16.0281 12.8310
20 2 2 3 2 1 1 1
4
10 0.5958 33.5252 -20 4.4973
21 2 3 1 3 2 2 2
4
4.29 0.0215 13.8749 -12.6491 33.3329
22 2 1 2 2 3 3 1
1
5.76 0.1750 21.6117 -15.2084 15.1385
23 2 2 3 3 1 1 2
4
7.25 0.3855 32.4808 -17.2068 8.2784
24 2 3 1 1 2 2 3
4
4.67 0.0156 12.7863 -13.3863 36.1345
25 2 1 3 2 1 2 3
3
7.09 0.7231 31.9521 -17.0129 2.8160
26 2 2 1 3 2 3 1
4
6.11 0.0599 12.0518 -15.7208 24.4478
27 2 3 2 1 3 1 2
1
8.31 0.0202 23.2525 -18.392 33.8737
28 2 1 3 2 2 2 1
1
6.88 0.2196 24.4669 -16.7518 13.1675
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Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473



4.
Analysis of experimental results

4.1 Material Removal Rate

Table 3 shows the orthogonal array based experimental results of MRR and its corresponding S/N ratio, whose
ANOVA results are shown in Table 4. Observation of Table 6 indicates that discharge current is the most
dominant factor having percentage contribution as 89.07, followed by gap voltage and pulse-on-time. Fig. 1
shows that MRR increases with the increase in discharge current. This is because at higher discharge current,
more spark energy is induced which causes larger overcuts and thus produces larger chips. Fig. 2 shows that
MRR increases as the value of pulse-on-time increases. Higher pulse-on-time i.e. duration time of EDM sparks
indicates that spark energy is induced for a longer time which results in larger craters on work piece indicating
high MRR. But at a certain value of pulse-on-time, MRR is almost maximum and further increment in pulse-on-
time does not affect MRR considerably. Fig. 3 shows the graph between MRR and gap voltage which indicates
that initially MRR increases with increase in gap voltage but after certain point MRR decreases with further
increase in gap voltage. Further increment in gap voltage increases the discharge gap distance which in effect
reduces the effect of induced energy at work piece and hence MRR decreases. Shape factor, duty cycle, flushing
pressure and tool electrode lift time do not have considerable effect on MRR.



Fig. 1 Relationship between MRR and discharge current

29 2 2 1 3 3 3 2
3
5.82 0.0300 10.5735 -15.2985 30.4684
30 2 3 2 1 1 1 3
3
7.28 0.0874 30.0572 -17.2426 21.1659
31 2 1 3 3 3 2 3
3
6.9 0.2781 30.8659 -16.777 11.1154
32 2 2 1 1 1 3 1
4
4.49 0.0653 13.9080 -13.0449 23.6984
33 2 3 2 2 2 1 2
2
7.03 0.0694 27.0865 -16.9391 23.1781
34 2 1 3 1 2 3 2
3
7.19 0.4013 31.7398 -17.1346 7.9310
35 2 2 1 2 3 1 3
2
6.03 0.0150 8.3155 -15.6063 36.4890
36 2 3 2 3 1 2 1
2
7.32 0.3037 28.1843 -17.2902 10.3518
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Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473



Fig. 2 Relationship between MRR and pulse-on-time

Fig. 3 Relationship between MRR and gap voltage

4.2 Surface Roughness

Orthogonal array based experimental results of SR and their corresponding S/N ratios are represented in Table
3. ANOVA results for SR, reported in Table 5, show that discharge current is the most dominant factor having
percentage contribution as 68.42, followed by pulse-on-time and shape factor. Fig. 4 and 5 shows that SR
increases when discharge current and pulse-on-time increase. The electric-discharge machined surface consists
of a multitude of overlapping craters that are formed by spark discharges. The size of these craters depends on
the discharge energy and duration. More is the discharge energy (i.e. discharge current) and duration (pulse-on-
time), the larger are the craters resulting in more surface roughness. It is also observed from Fig. 6 that circular
tool electrode gives better surface finish than the square one. Duty cycle, gap voltage, flushing pressure and tool
electrode lift time do not have considerable effect on SR.
ISSN: 0975-5462 6469
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Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473




Fig. 4 Relationship between SR and discharge current


Fig. 5 Relationship between SR and pulse-on-time

Table 4. ANOVA results for MRR
Source
Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square F-ratio
Percentage
contribution
Shape factor (A) 1 2.3 2.3 0.3970 0.0805
Pulse-on-time(B) 2 238.8017 119.40 20.6121 8.3538
Discharge
current(C) 2 2151.7568 1075.87 185.7285 75.2731
Duty cycle(D) 2 6.3 3.15 0.54378 0.2204
Gap voltage(E) 2 308.0027 154 26.5851 10.7746
Flushing
pressure(F) 2 5.3 2.65 0.4574 0.1854
Time interval(G) 2 18.7 9.35 1.61409 0.6542
Error 22 127.44 5.7927 1 4.4581
Total 2858.6 100
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Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473



Fig. 6 Relationship between SR and shape factor

Table 5. ANOVA results for SR
Source
Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square F-ratio
Percentage
contribution
Shape factor (A) 1 10.09 10.09 7.7344 5.6492
Pulse-on-time(B) 2 12.4 6.2 4.7526 6.9425
Discharge
current(C) 2 123.52 61.76 47.3421 69.1563
Duty cycle(D) 2 0.12 0.06 0.0459 0.0672
Gap voltage(E) 2 0.13 0.065 0.0498 0.0728
Flushing
pressure(F) 2 2.51 1.255 0.9620 1.4053
Time interval(G) 2 1.14 0.57 0.4369 0.6383
Error 22 28.7 1.304545 16.0685
Total 178.61 100

4.3 Tool Wear Rate

Orthogonal array based experimental results of TWR and their corresponding S/N ratios are represented in
Table 3. ANOVA results for TWR are reported in Table 6. ANOVA results show that discharge current is the
most dominant factor having percentage contribution as 63.24, followed by pulse-on-time, flushing pressure and
gap voltage. Fig. 7 shows that TWR increases as discharge current increases. High discharge current induces
high spark energy which facilitates more material removal from work piece and tool electrode. TWR increases
initially with increment in pulse-on-time but decreases with further increase in pulse-on-time as shown in Fig. 8.
This is because of deposition of carbon particles on tool electrode at a high temperature. While calculating the
weight loss of tool, actual loss is compensated, up to some extent, by carbon deposits. As a result tool wear rate
decreases with further increase in pulse-on-time. Fig. 9 depicts that TWR increases when flushing pressure
increases. High flushing pressure removes the eroded particles from the gap between tool and the work piece
more effectively and efficiently which in effect increases the tool wear rate. High gap voltage induces higher
spark energy which leads to more TWR. Shape factor, duty cycle, flushing pressure and tool electrode lift time
do not have considerable effect on TWR.
ISSN: 0975-5462 6471
Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473



Fig. 7 Relationship between TWR and discharge current


Fig. 8 Relationship between TWR and pulse-on-time


Fig. 9 Relationship between TWR and flushing pressure






ISSN: 0975-5462 6472
Pushpendra.S.Bharti. et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(11), 2010, 6464-6473


Table 6. ANOVA results for TWR

Source
Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square F-ratio
Percentage
contribution
Shape factor (A) 1 101 101 2.7237 2.1412
Pulse-on-time(B) 2 327 163.5 4.4091 6.9324
Discharge
current(C) 2 3020.2 1510.1 40.7234 64.0280
Duty cycle(D) 2 58 29 0.7820 1.2296
Gap voltage(E) 2 145 72.5 1.9551 3.0740
Flushing
pressure(F) 2 242 121 3.2630 5.1304
Time interval(G) 2 8 4 0.1078 0.1696
Error 22 815.8 37.0818 17.2949
Total 35 4717 100


7. Conclusions

The present work explains the machining characteristics of die-sinking EDM on Inconel 718. Taguchis method
has been employed as a design of experiments technique successfully for establishing the relationship between
various input parameters and performance measures. MRR increases with the increase in discharge current and
pulse-on-time. MRR increases initially, attains a maximum value and further decreases with increase in gap
voltage. SR increases with the increase in discharge current and pulse-on-time. TWR increases with the increase
in discharge current and flushing pressure. TWR increases initially with the increase in pulse-on-time but after
certain value it decreases. ANOVA has been applied to find the level of influence of input parameters on
performance measures. Discharge current is found the most influential input parameter on each performance
measure. Higher discharge current increases MRR, deteriorates surface finish and leads for more tool electrode
loss. Discharge current and pulse-on-time are identified as common influencing parameters for MRR, SR and
TWR.

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ISSN: 0975-5462 6473