Analysis and experimental investigation of powder concentration and stirring velocity on powder mixed electrical discharge machining performance with 3D printed electrodes

In this work, CuO mixed lemon peel dielectric is used along with the 3D printed aluminium electrodes to enhance the electrical discharge machining (EDM) performance. This work mainly focuses on improving the surface quality by optimizing the powder concentration and stirring velocity. A full factorial of 27 experiments is carried out with input parameters such as pulse off time with 3 levels (28, 58 and 98 μs), powder concentration with 3 levels (1, 2 and 3 g/L) and stirring velocity with 3 levels (900, 1800 and 2700 rpm), while keeping the current, pulse on and voltage as constant. For all trials, the output responses viz. surface roughness (SR) and material removal rate (MRR) are noted. It is evidenced that EDM performance is influenced by the stability of powder mixed dielectric. To understand the most influential input parameter and its level, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and grey relational analysis (GRA) are carried out. The output analysis exhibited that powder concentration of 2 g/L, stirring velocity of 1800 rpm and pulse off time of 28 μs as the best combination for the best quality of finish (4.72 μm) with high MRR (0.0035 g/min) than the 1 g/L PC with 900 rpm SV for the best quality finish (5.87 μm) along high MRR (0.0029 g/min) and 3 g/L PC with 2700 rpm SV for the best quality finish (5.38 μm) with high MRR (0.0030 g/min) having pulse off time of 28 μs. The experimental findings are validated with a 3D surface plot and SEM images taken on the machined surface. Also, a simulation model is built to understand the flow velocity profiles. This helps ensure the minimum stirring velocity to be maintained to enhance the stability of powder mixed dielectric.