EDM machining of carbon-carbon composite - a Taguchi approach

The objective of this paper is to determine the optimal setting of the process parameters on the electro-discharge machining (EDM) machine while machining carbon-carbon composites. The parameters considered are pulse current, gap voltage and pulse-on-time; whereas the responses are electrode wear rate (EWR) and material removal rate (MRR). The optimal setting of the parameters are determined through experiments planned, conducted and analysed using the Taguchi method. It is found that the electrode wear rate reduces substantially, within the region of experimentation, if the parameters are set at their lowest values, while the parameters set at their highest values increase the MRR drastically. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.