Abstract—Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) is a nontraditional electro-thermal machining process capable of machining parts having complicated shapes and higher hardness. Materials having higher hardness are difficult to machine by traditional machining process. The technology on which WEDM works is conventional electro discharge sparking phenomenon widely accepted and implemented for industrial applications. In this paper, the effect of various heat treatment processes and machining parameters of WEDM like pulse on time (TON), pulse off time (TOFF), gap voltage (SV), peak current (IP) has been investigated to reveal their impact on surface roughness of tool steel AISI D2. During this research work, it is tried to investigate the effect of one variable at a time. The efforts are made to set the process parameters to minimize the surface roughness. The experimental studies were carried on Electronica Spring Cut WEDM machine and surface roughness is measured using Hommel Surface Roughness Tester T8000. It is observed that the surface roughness increases with increase in pulse on time (TON) and peak current (IP) while decreases with increase in number of tempering cycles after hardening for the same process parameters.

Index Terms—Tool steel, Hardening, Tempering, WEDM, Surface roughness

Cite: M M Dhobe, I K Chopde, and C L Gogte, "Effect of Heat Treatment and Process Parameters on Surface Roughness in Wire Electro Discharge Machining," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 275-281, April 2013.