Study on influence of process parameter in micro - Electrical discharge machining (μ-EDM)

In recent year's hardened steel is widely used for making micro dies, micro punches and micro gears due to its high hardness, wear resistance and high strength. μEDM is one of the most effective and efficient methods for machining hard materials. This study focuses on the influence of process parameter such as voltage, capacitance and spark gap on EDM process when drilling micro holes in hardened steel. A full factorial design was used for conducting the experiments. The effect of these process parameters on the Material Removal Rate (MRR) was analyzed. The experimental result shows that the MRR increases with increase in voltage and capacitance and decreases with increase in spark gap. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out to find the significant parameter. From the ANOVA, it is identified that the voltage is the most significant parameter and the capacitance is the next significant parameter that affects the MRR.