Comparison of Cryo-treatment Effect on Machining Characteristics of Titanium in Electric Discharge Machining

Abstract

Earlier studies on cryogenic treatment highlighted that certain metals, after being cryogenically treated, show a significant increase in tool life when used in manufacturing, cutting and shaping processes. The present work deals with experimental investigation of the role of cryogenic treatment on the machining characteristics of titanium in electric discharge machining (EDM). EDM is a potential process to commercially machine tough materials like titanium alloys, due to the properties of non-mechanical contact between the tool and workpiece and the capability to machine intricate shapes. In this research work an effort has been made to compare the machining characteristics of titanium with EDM, before and after cryogenic treatment of the tool and workpiece using a Taguchi design approach. The output parameters for study are material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR), surface roughness (SR) and dimensional accuracy (Δd). The results of the study suggest that with cryogenic treatment MRR, TWR, SR and Δd show an improvement of 60.39%, 58.77%, 7.99% and 80.00% respectively.