Comparison in performance by emulsion and SiC nanofluids HS-WEDM multi-cutting process.

In this paper, possibility of improving high-speed reciprocating wire electrical discharge machine (HS-WEDM) machining performances using SiC nanofluids was studied. The performances of SiC nanofluid high-speed WEDM and conventional emulsion dielectric high-speed WEDM were compared. An extra dielectric circulating system was used to satisfy requirement of adding SiC nanofluids. Type of operation, dielectric medium combination, and pulse on time were taken as considerable process parameters of performance of average cutting speed (ACS), surface roughness (SR), surface morphology, recast layer thickness, and material transfer. The result showed that the SiC nanofluids dielectric medium gives a better surface quality and average cutting speed as compared to conventional emulsion dielectric. The average cutting speed increased from 16.9 to 21.22 mm2/min, surface roughness improved from 1.463 to 1.233 μm, and recast layer thickness reduced from 24.7 to 12.9 μm during the HS-WEDM multiple cutting process. The secondary discharge during SiC nanofluids multi-cutting process is the main reason for improvement of the surface quality. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation revealed a substantial transform of carbon and silicon from SiC nanofluids to the workpiece surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]