Process optimization for rapid manufacturing of complex geometry electrical discharge machining electrode

Abstract

Rapid manufacturing techniques permit tools and dies to be fabricated in short duration of time with complex geometry. The major contribution of the present research was to fabricate copper complex geometry electric discharge machining electrode by using amalgamation of three-dimensional printing along with pressureless loose sintering. Response surface methodology was employed to study the sintering parameters’ (sintering temperature, heating rate and soaking time) effect on electric discharge machining electrode important characteristics such as density, shrinkage and electrical conductivity. Analysis of variance was used to investigate the significant contribution of the parameters on the responses. Density and electrical conductivity of fabricated electric discharge machining electrode were revealed to increase with respect to rise in soaking time and sintering temperature. The interaction between the heating rate and sintering temperature for density and electrical conductivity responses signified the less effect of heating rate at high temperatures. Further, multi-objective optimization was used to maximize density and electrical conductivity and to minimize volumetric shrinkage. Different shapes of electric discharge machining electrodes were fabricated at optimized parameters. In addition, the fabricated electrodes were tested on electric discharge machining of D2 steel for 5 mm depth. The dimensional analysis was carried out between the computer aided design (CAD) model, fabricated electric discharge machining electrode and the obtained cavity by electric discharge machining process. The results depicted high efficacy of the process to fabricate complex geometry electric discharge machining electrodes.

Keywords

Three-dimensional printing electric discharge machining rapid tooling response surface methodology optimization copper electrode

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Newman

. State of the art electrical discharge machining (EDM). Int J Mach Tools Manuf 2003; 43: 1287–1300.

Kumar

Batish

Singh

, et al. A hybrid Taguchi-artificial neural network approach to predict surface roughness during electric discharge machining of titanium alloys. Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 2014; 28: 2831–2844.

Singh

Maheshwari

Pandey

. Some investigations into the electric discharge machining of hardened tool steel using different electrode materials. J Mater Process Technol 2004; 149: 272–277.

Singh

Ramakrishna

Singh

. Material issues in additive manufacturing: a review. J Manuf Process 2017; 25: 185–200.

El-wardany T, She Y, Jagdale V, et al. Challenges in 3D prinitng of high conductivity copper. In: ASME 2017 international technical conference and exhibition on packaging and integration of electronic and photonic microsystems collocated with the ASME 2017 conference on information storage and processing systems, California, USA, 27 October 2017, pp.1–10. American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection.

Pogson

Fox

Sutcliffe

, et al. The production of copper parts using DMLR. Rapid Prototyp J 2003; 9: 334–343.

Ramirez

Murr

, et al. Open-cellular copper structures fabricated by additive manufacturing using electron beam melting. Mater Sci Eng A 2011; 528: 5379–5386.

Ramirez

Murr

Martinez

, et al. Novel precipitate-microstructural architecture developed in the fabrication of solid copper components by additive manufacturing using electron beam melting. Acta Mater 2011; 59: 4088–4099.

Yang L, Harrvsson O, West H II, et al. Design and characterization of orthotropic re-entrant auxetic structures made via EBM using Ti6Al4V and pure copper. In: International solid freeform fabrication symposium. University of Texas, Austin, 8–10 August 2011, pp.464–474.

10.

Singh

. Dimensional accuracy and surface finish of biomedical implant fabricated as rapid investment casting for small to medium quantity production. J Manuf Process 2017; 25: 201–211.

11.

Singh

Kapoor

. Investigating the surface roughness of implant prepared by combining fused deposition modeling and investment casting. Proc IMechE, Part E: J Process Mechanical Engineering 2016; 230: 403–410.

12.

Gill

Kaplas

. Comparative study of 3D printing technologies for rapid casting of aluminium alloy. Mater Manuf Process 2009; 24: 1405–1411.

13.

Rennie

AEW

Bocking

Bennett

. Electroforming of rapid prototyping mandrels for electro-discharge machining electrodes. J Mater Process Technol 2001; 110: 186–196.

14.

Yang

Leu

. Integration of rapid prototyping and electroforming for tooling application. CIRP Ann Manuf Technol 1999; 48: 119–122.

15.

Gillot

Mognol

Furet

. Dimensional accuracy studies of copper shells used for electro-discharge machining electrodes made with rapid prototyping and the electroforming process. J Mater Process Technol 2005; 159: 33–39.

16.

Dimla

Hopkinson

Rothe

. Investigation of complex rapid EDM electrodes for rapid tooling applications. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2004; 23: 249–255.

17.

Tay

FEH

Haider

. The potential of plating techniques in the development of rapid EDM tooling. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 2001; 18: 892–896.

18.

Bai

Wagner

Williams

. Effect of particle size distribution on powder packing and sintering in binder jetting additive manufacturing of metals. J Manuf Sci Eng 2017; 139: 1–6.

19.

Bai Y and Williams CB. An exploration of binder jetting of copper. Rapid Prototyping Journal 2015; 21: 177–185.

20.

Ren

Zhou

Song

, et al. Process parameter optimization of extrusion-based 3D metal printing utilizing PW-LDPE-SA binder system. Materials 2017; 10: 305–305.

21.

Singh

Pandey

. Ultrasonic assisted pressureless sintering for rapid manufacturing of complex copper components. Mater Lett 2019; 236: 276–280.

22.

Singh G and Pandey PM. Design and analysis of long-stepped horn for ultrasonic assisted sintering. In: 21st international conference on advances in materials and processing technology (AMPT), Dublin, Ireland, 4–7 September 2018.

23.

Singh

Pandey

. Rapid manufacturing of copper components using 3D printing and ultrasonic assisted pressureless sintering: experimental investigations and process optimization. J Manuf Process 2019; 43: 253–269.

24.

Singh

Pandey

. Uniform and graded copper open cell ordered foams fabricated by rapid manufacturing: surface morphology, mechanical properties and energy absorption capacity. Mater Sci Eng A 2019; 761: 138035–138035.

25.

Gupta

Sood

Sharma

. Machining parameters optimization of titanium alloy using response surface methodology and particle swarm optimization under minimum-quantity lubrication environment. Mater Manuf Process 2016; 31: 1671–1682.

26.

Noordin

Venkatesh

Sharif

, et al. Application of response surface methodology in describing the performance of coated carbide tools when turning AISI 1045 steel. J Mater Process Technol 2004; 145: 46–58.

27.

Gupta

Sood

Sharma

. Investigations on surface roughness measurement in minimum quantity lubrication turning of titanium alloys using response surface methodology and Box–Cox transformation. J Manuf Sci Prod 2016; 16: 75–88.

28.

ASTM B962-13. Standard test methods for density of compacted or sintered powder metallurgy (PM) products using Archimedes' principle. 2013; 1–7.

29.

ASTM E1004-17. Standard test method for determining electrical conductivity using the electromagnetic (Eddy-current) method. 2009; 1–6.

30.

Myers

Montgomery

Anderson-Cook

. Response surface methodology: process and product optimization using designed experiments, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

31.

German R. Sintering: from empirical observations to scientific principles. 2014. Butterworth-Heinemann. DOI: 10.1016/C2012-0-00717-X.

32.

Kingery

Berg

. Study of the initial stages of sintering solids by viscous flow, evaporation-condensation, and self-diffusion. J Appl Phys 1955; 26: 1205–1212.

33.

Ashby

. A first report on sintering diagrams. Acta Metall 1974; 22: 275–289.

34.

Zou

Wan

, et al. Experimental study on tensile properties of a novel porous metal fiber/powder sintered composite sheet. Materials 9–9.

35.

Kieback

Noethe

Grupp

, et al. Analysis of particle rolling and intrinsic rotations in copper powder during sintering. J Mater Sci 2012; 47: 7047–7055.

36.

Bai

Williams

. Binder jetting additive manufacturing with a particle-free metal ink as a binder precursor. Mater Des 2018; 147: 146–156.

37.

Petzow G and Exner HE. Particle rearrangement in solid state sintering. In: Sōmiya S and Moriyoshi Y (eds) Sintering key papers. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp.639–655.

38.

Alexander

Balluffi

. The mechanism of sintering of copper. Acta Metall 1957; 5: 666–677.