Study of machining parameters optimization for different materials in WEDM

In process planning of wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM), determination of appropriate machining conditions is likely to face problems in many ways. In addition to the construction of the relationship between machining parameters and machining characteristics, optimization search technique, a large number of experiments must be conducted repeatedly to renew parameters for different workpiece materials. The concept of specific discharge energy (SDE) was employed in this paper to represent the WEDM property of workpiece materials as one of the machining parameters. Two kinds of materials with distinctive SDE values, i.e., higher and lower, respectively, were selected for our experiments. The experimental data obtained were used, and a neural network that can accurately predict the relationship between machining parameters and machining characteristics was constructed. It was found that the predicted error was less than 7 %. The optimization technique of genetic algorithms was employed, and the optimal combination of machining parameters that meet the required machining characteristics for different workpiece materials was obtained. The system proposed in this study is both user-friendly and practical. It can save considerable time and cost during the construction of the database for the expert system of process planning.