Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 Received for review: 2021-03-13 © 2021 Journal of Mechanical Engineering. All rights reserved. Received revised form: 2021-05-28 DOI:10.5545/sv-jme.2021.7161 Original Scientific Paper Accepted for publication: 2021-06-18 *Corr. Author’s Address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Muthayammal Engineering College, Rasipuram-637408, Namakkal (Dt), India, boopasangee@gmail.com. 322 Experimental Investigation of a Cryogenically Cooled Oxygen- mist Near-dry Wire-cut Electrical Discharge Machining Process Sampath, B. – Myilsamy, S. Boopathi Sampath 1,* – Sureshkumar Myilsamy 2 1 Muthayammal Engineering College, Department of Mechanical Engineering, India 2 Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, India In this paper, a novel method of cryogenically cooled (low-temperature nitrogen gas) wire tool is used during the oxygen-mist near-dry wire-cut electrical discharge machining (NDWEDM) process to cut Inconel 718 alloy material. The current, pulse-width, pulse-interval, and flow rate are the controllable variables for response characteristics, such as the material removal rate (MRR) and wire wear ratio (WWR). The Box-Behnken method is applied to design the experiments to collect the observations from experiments. The mathematical models for each response were developed using significant individual, interaction, and quadratic terms by the sequential sum of the square test. The response surfaces were developed. It was revealed from the analysis that 52.92 % of current, 24.63 % of Pulse-width, 12.81 % of pulse- interval and 5.75 % of flow rate contributed to MRR, while 14.89 % of current, 9.75 % of pulse-width, 62.20 % of pulse-interval, and 5.44 % of flow rate contributed to WWR. The pulse-width has more contribution on MRR due to the long period of spark between the wire and work materials. It was also observed that the pulse-interval has more effect on WWR due to the more ideal period (high spark-pause-time) between two consecutive high- temperature sparks in the wire tool. The wear of the wire tool has been analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photographs. The desirability principles were first applied to obtain multi-objective solutions with a combination of process parameters to achieve the optimal values of both responses. The predicted combination of results has been validated by data that were collected from confirmation experiments. Keywords: cryogenically cooled, oxygen-mist, near-dry, wire-cut EDM, MRR, WWR, Box-Behnken method Highlights • A novel method of cryogenically cooled (low-temperature nitrogen gas) wire electrode tool in the oxygen-mist near-dry wire-cut electrical discharge machining (NDWEDM) process was experimented with to cut the Inconel 718 alloy material. • Wire wear ratio and material removal rate of cryogenically cooled near-dry WEDM process was first investigated in this research. • It was revealed that the pulse-interval has more effect on wire wear ratio due to a more ideal period (high spark-pause-time) between two consecutive high-temperature spark in the wire tool. • The wear of the wire tool has been analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy test photographs. • The desirability principles were first applied to obtain the multi-objective solutions to optimize both responses. 0 INTRODUCTION In an unconventional machining process, the relationships between manufacturing parameters and environmental impact are developed to analyse the material removal mechanics, tool change, minimum rejections in production, and the effects of cutting- fluid flow [1]. The environmental impact of machining processes should be analysed for minimizing environmental impacts by the modification of existing technology and the development of new manufacturing methods [2]. In these aspects, research into the modification of EDM and WEDM processes was developed to make a trade-off between machining performance and machining pollutions [3]. The analytical relationship of EDM processes was developed to reveal the wear of the tool and workpiece, the dielectric fluid flows, and toxicity and flammability [3] and [4]. The inferences of cooling electrode wear and surface roughness of the workpiece have been investigated by changing process parameters, such as voltage, pulse-width, current, and pulse-interval [5] and [6]. The parametric analysis of dry electric discharge machining of mild steel was investigated, and response models were developed using response surface methodology [7]. Generally, the machining performance of the dry EDM process is very low compared to the conventional process. It was revealed that the tool wear of the dry EDM process is significantly reduced by cryogenic cooling of the electrode and workpiece [8]. The mechanism of the gas-liquid-powder mixture in EDM was investigated in both dry and near-dry processes to improve material erosion. The cryogenically tested brass wire produces a 22.55 % greater material removal rate (MRR) compared to an untreated brass wire [9]. A parametric study was performed using a molybdenum wire tool and tool steel workpiece with an air dielectric to investigate the influence of air-mist pressure, voltage, pulse-duration, pulse-width, and current on the MRR and Ra using the Taguchi technique [5] and [10]. Later, the oxygen gas near-dry WEDM experiments were conducted using Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array and multi-objective artificial bee colony (MOABC) Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 323 Experimental Investigation of a Cryogenically Cooled Oxygen-mist Near-dry Wire-cut Electrical Discharge Machining Process algorithm [11] and [12]. Cryo-treated wire electrodes, liquid nitrogen, and zinc-coated brass wires were investigated to reduce the tool wear rate for the green environment [4], [13] to [15]. Recently, the electrical conductivity of cryo-cooled molybdenum wire has been increased by cryogenic treatments [16]. However, no synchronized cryo-treated gas-liquid mixer was found in the near-dry EDM and WEDM process. In this research, the data from 29 observations from cryogenically cooled oxygen-mist near-dry WEDM experiments were collected. The collected data are used to predict the data for better results of the near-dry WEDM process. The significant process parameters were identified to improve the quality of cutting processes. The desirability approach is used to convert the single-objective problem into a multi- objective optimization problem. The WEDM machine manufacturer and operators utilize the optimum results to set the optimal process parameters for the best machining performances. 1 EXPERIMENTATION 1.1 Experimental Setup The cryo-cooled wire electrode setup was developed in numerically controlled (NC) wire-cut electrical discharge machining. Liquid nitrogen was stored in a dewar flask to maintain the cryogenic temperature. The molybdenum wire was cooled on both sides of the electrode movements. The oxygen and dielectric fluid mixture are used as a working medium in the reciprocating WEDM machine. Based on trial experiments, the input parameters and their significance levels are identified. The billet size of 718 is 50 mm × 50 mm × 5 mm Inconel 718 is used as work material for near-dry WEDM machining processes. The experimental setup of cryo-cooled near-dry WEDM is shown in Fig. 1. Sub-123 K of liquid nitrogen was stored. The 253 K temperature and 10 g/s mass flow rate of N 2 were used to cool the molybdenum wire during the cutting process. The oxygen and the dielectric fluid mixture were used as a dielectric medium in reciprocating the WEDM machine. The MRR in [mm 3 /min] can be calculated by the volume of materials removed concerning time using Eqs. (1) and (2). Kerf wire diameter sparking gap    2, (1) MRR thicknessK erfl engtho fc ut time   . (2) The wire wear ratio (WWR) has been measured from the loss of wire materials during the cutting process concerning the time, and the initial weight of wire is to be taken before machining process [17] (Eq. (3)). WWR weight loss of wire initialw eight of wire = . (3) Based on exploratory experiments, the input parameters and their significance levels are identified. The levels of each process variable are tabulated in Table 1. The near-dry WEDM experiments are conducted [18], and the MRR and WWR values observed through the experiments are shown in Table 2. Fig. 1. Cryogenically cooled oxygen-mist near-dry WEDM experimental set Table 1. Parameter and Machine Setting level Description Symbol Parameter Units Low High Mean Input parameters C Current A 3 5 4 PW Pulse-width µs 15 25 20 PI Pulse-interval µs 45 75 60 F Flow rate ml/min 10 20 15 Dielectric medium Oxygen gas mixed with water Wire treatment Cryogenic Nitrogen gas during the machining process Output parameters MRR in [mm 3 /min], and WWR Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 324 Sampath, B. – Myilsamy, S. 1.2 Design of Experiments The Box-Behnken method is used to conduct the experiments by design expert software. The Box- Behnken design is a self-determining quadratic design, which does not contain the partial factorial design. The designs have restricted capability related to the central composite designs. Five central points are repeated to avoid bios errors. The design uses 8 trails from (2 × 4 = 8) two levels of k parameters, 16 trails of two factorial design (24 = 8), and five repeated central points to calculate lack-of-fit. Twenty-nine sets of experiments were conducted, and the observed responses are tabulated in Table 2. Based on the analysis of the variance test, the significant individual and interaction and quadratic terms were identified [5]. Insignificant terms are eliminated from the model. Table 2. Design of Experiments and observations using Box–Behnken method Exp. No. C PW PI F MRR WWR 1 3 20 75 15 6.13 0.464 2 5 20 75 15 9.45 0.626 3 4 15 60 20 8.38 0.643 4 4 20 45 10 9.28 0.994 5 4 25 60 10 9.57 0.921 6 4 20 60 15 9.12 0.783 7 4 20 60 15 9.09 0.724 8 4 15 75 15 7.12 0.424 9 5 20 60 20 10.9 0.829 10 3 25 60 15 8.51 0.864 11 3 20 60 10 6.58 0.745 12 4 25 45 15 10.91 0.991 13 4 20 75 10 7.78 0.635 14 3 20 45 15 7.76 0.848 15 4 15 60 10 7.38 0.767 16 4 15 45 15 8.67 0.921 17 4 20 75 20 8.74 0.478 18 5 20 45 15 10.87 1.050 19 5 20 60 10 9.44 0.934 20 4 25 75 15 9.38 0.670 21 5 25 60 15 10.77 0.872 22 4 20 45 20 10.29 0.905 23 5 15 60 15 9.47 0.913 24 4 20 60 15 9.12 0.778 25 4 20 60 15 9.11 0.78 26 4 25 60 20 10.63 0.807 27 4 20 60 15 8.77 0.772 28 3 15 60 15 6.02 0.502 29 3 20 60 20 7.24 0.621 If the response is ‘f(x)’, the independent variables are x 1 , x 2 , …, x n , and the response model is developed by following general Eq. (4). fx xx x i i k ij ij j k i k () ... ,          00 11 1 and i < j, (4) where k is the number of process variables; β 0 , β i , and β ij are the model coefficients; ϕ is the statistical error, which represents variability by other noises. 2 RESULT ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS The sequential sum of the square test was used to select the optimum model for the analysis. Initially, the linear model is selected [12]. However, the model is not significant due to the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 325 Experimental Investigation of a Cryogenically Cooled Oxygen-mist Near-dry Wire-cut Electrical Discharge Machining Process value of MRR and WWR is very low (MRR R 2 =0.072 and WWR R 2 = 0.81). The two factors interaction model (2FI) also did not fit with the solution due to the R 2 value of both models is minimum (MRR R 2 = 0.608 and WWR R 2 = 0.075). Then, the quadratic model of MRR was selected due to the R 2 value of 0.998 of both responses. The insignificant terms of the models were eliminated from quadratic models. The lack of fit of the model is insignificant and thus acceptable. The cubic models of both responses were not selected due to more allies’ terms in the models. The lack of fit tests of MRR and WWR are shown in Tables 3 and 5, respectively. The analysis of the variations of MRR and WWR concerning process parameters are shown in Tables 4 and 6, respectively. The regression models of MRR and WWR were developed to identify the inference of process variables as shown in Eqs. (5) and (6) respectively. MRRC PW PI FC PW        8 241 5 335 04 50 065 0 0575 0 0595 3 .. .. .. .. . ., 51 00 04 0 425 3 2      CP IC F C (5) R 2 = 99.40 %, Adjusted R 2 = 99.14 %, and Predicted R 2 = 98.18 %. WWR CP W PI F         0 529 0 501 0 061 6 161 10 1 727 10 00 33 .. . .. .2 201 5 867 10 2 267 10 1 298 10 4 44 2          CP WP WP I PI FP I . .. , (6) R 2 = 99.40 % , Adjusted R 2 = 99.16 %, and Predicted R 2 = 99.04 %. The insignificant terms are eliminated from MRR and WWR regression models to improve the predicted R 2 and adjusted R 2 . The regression models are used to plot the response surface between response and process variables. The influences of the interaction effects of process parameters have been studied using the response surfaces. The response surface of MRR for flow rate and current is shown in Fig. 2. It is also significantly enhanced by increasing the flushing flow rate due to the quick disposal of debris from the cutting zone. Fig. 3 shows that the response surface of MRR by the pulse-width vs current. The MRR is improved by the increase in spark current between work materials and wire due to high spark strength [19]. It was observed that the large increase in MRR is seen from low pulse- width to high value by enhancing spark strength, as shown in Fig. 4 [12]. However, the MRR is increased by reducing pulse-interval due to an increase in spark ideal time. Fig. 2. Response surface for MRR concerning flow rate and current Fig. 3. Response surface for MRR concerning pulse-width and current Fig. 4. Response surface for MRR concerning current and pulse-interval Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 326 Sampath, B. – Myilsamy, S. Table 3. Lack of fit test for material removal rate model Source Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean sum square F-value p-value > F Comments Linear 2.040 20 0.102 4.383 0.081 Insignificant 2FI 1.513 14 0.108 4.644 0.075 Insignificant Quadratic 0.215 10 0.022 0.924 0.584 Suggested Cubic 0.036 2 0.018 0.775 0.520 Aliased Pure Error 0.093 4 0.023 - - - Table 4. Data analysis of material removal rate Source Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean square F-value p-value > F Remarks Contribution [%] Model 54.491 8 6.811 404.036 < 0.0001 Significant 99.39 Current (C) 29.016 1 29.016 1721.184 < 0.0001 Significant 52.92 Pulse-width (PW) 13.504 1 13.504 801.052 < 0.0001 Significant 24.63 Pulse-interval (PI) 7.023 1 7.023 416.571 < 0.0001 Significant 12.81 Flow rate(F) 3.152 1 3.152 186.962 < 0.0001 Significant 5.75 C × PW 0.354 1 0.354 21.000 0.0002 Significant 0.65 C × PI 0.011 1 0.011 0.654 0.4282* Not significant 0.02 C × F 0.160 1 0.160 9.491 0.0059 Significant 0.29 C 2 1.271 1 1.271 75.369 < 0.0001 Significant 2.32 Residual 0.337 20 0.017 - - - - Lack of fit 0.244 16 0.015 0.656 0.7580 Not significant - Pure error 0.093 4 0.023 - - - - Cor total 54.8281 28 - - - - - Table 5. Lack of fit test for WWR model Source Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean square F-value p-value > F Comments Linear 0.06 20.00 0.00 4.78 0.070 Insignificant 2FI 0.01 14.00 0.00 0.92 0.601 Insignificant Quadratic 0.00 10.00 0.00 0.11 0.998 Suggested Cubic 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.08 0.927 Aliased Pure Error 0.00 4.00 0.00 - - - Table 6. Data analysis of wire wear ratio Source Sum of squares Degree of freedom Mean square F-value p-value > F Remarks Contribution [%] Model 0.7747 8.0000 0.0968 411.8384 < 0.0001 Significant 99.40 Current (C) 0.1160 1.0000 0.1160 493.4670 < 0.0001 Significant 14.89 Pulse-width (PW) 0.0760 1.0000 0.0760 323.2220 < 0.0001 Significant 9.75 Pulse-interval (PI) 0.4848 1.0000 0.4848 2061.8105 < 0.0001 Significant 62.20 Flow rate(F) 0.0424 1.0000 0.0424 180.1662 < 0.0001 Significant 5.44 C × PW 0.0406 1.0000 0.0406 172.6734 < 0.0001 Significant 5.21 PW × PI 0.0077 1.0000 0.0077 32.9337 < 0.0001 Significant 0.99 PI × F 0.0012 1.0000 0.0012 4.9162 0.0384 Significant 0.15 PI 2 0.0060 1.0000 0.0060 25.5181 < 0.0001 Significant 0.77 Residual 0.0047 20.0000 0.0002 - 0.60 Lack of fit 0.0023 16.0000 0.0001 0.2360 0.9842 Not significant - Pure error 0.0024 4.0000 0.0006 - - - - Cor total 0.7794 28.0000 - - - - - The minimization of WWR is one of the goals of this study. The WWR is minimum at the low value of pulse-interval and pulse-width due to fine and soft spark in the cutting zone, as shown in Fig. 5. While Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 327 Experimental Investigation of a Cryogenically Cooled Oxygen-mist Near-dry Wire-cut Electrical Discharge Machining Process the increase in pulse-width, the spark strength is significantly increased with material removal rate and reduced the WWR. The increase in pulse-interval is increasing the WWR due to the high spark pause time [5]. Fig. 6 shows the interaction effects of pulse-width and current on WWR. While increasing the spark current, the WWR value is exploiting due to heave spark intensity [20] and [21]. Similarly, the WWR value is also slowly increased due to the growing MRR by fast flushing debris, as shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 5. Response surface for WWR concerning pulse-width and pulse-interval Fig. 6. Response surface for WWR concerning pulse-width and current The wire wear ratio has been analysed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photograph, as shown in Fig. 8. It was observed that the wear on the wire is linearly along the axis due to the reciprocating wire longitudinally. The crater of materials in the wire is high at the point ‘P’ due to the sudden supply of current to the wire. The path ‘QR’ is sparking a portion of the wire, which is in direct with the workpiece. The high temperature along the ‘QR’ path due to frequent changes of power supply between the wire and workpiece causes to increase the wear ratio. The path ‘ST’ is a non-spark portion of the wire tool, which has the minimum crater of wear. Fig. 7. Response surface for WWR concerning flow rate and pulse- interval Fig. 8. SEM photograph of wire electrode wear 3 MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION A ND VALIDATION OF PREDICTION In this stage, the combination of experimental parameters and their response based on the standard ranges defined for the responses are predicted [22]. Based on the desirability function, techniques were used to predict the best results of both responses. This process detects a point that improves the desirability function [23]. For validating the developed models, some solutions were selected randomly. The optimized predicted values of the output responses were compared to experimentally obtained values [24]. The combination of variables that presents the overall optimum desirability (99 %) of response and contour plots is displayed in Fig. 8. Considering all the quality attributes and using the optimization method with Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 328 Sampath, B. – Myilsamy, S. Fig. 9. Comparisons of machining performances between cryogenically cooled near-dry and conventional WEDM Table 7. Predicted Results from desirability and validation by confirmation experiments No C [A] PW [µs] PI [µs] F [ml/min] MRR [mm 3 /min] WWR Description 1 5 25 75 20 10.91 0.59 Desirability Approach 2 5 25 75 20 11.00 0.62 Near-dry WEDM 3 5 25 75 2 litres/min 17.42 0.83 Conventional WEDM which the quality parameters were put into standard ranges (MRR and WWR), formulation one consisting of 25 µs pulse-width, 75 µs pulse-interval, 5 A current, and 20 ml/min flow rate was selected as having the maximum desirability. The combined optimizing responses are predicted as 10.91 mm 3 /min of material removal rate, and 0.59 of WWR. Confirmation tests were conducted to validate the predicted optimum process parameters for best MRR and WWR, as shown in Table 7. The multi-op- timization results were confirmed by the mean ob- served values of the test. The 5 A current, pulse-width 25 µs, pulse-interval 75 µs, and 20 ml/min flow rate gives 11 mm 3 /min of MRR and 0.62 % of WWR. The desirability principles were applied to obtain the multi-objective solutions to optimize both respons- es. It is very useful for machine operators to select the best process parameters for minimum WWR and maxi- mum MRR. These results are used by WEDM ma- chine manufacturers to fix the best (default) setting for cryogenically cooled oxygen-mist near-dry wire-cut electrical discharge machining (NDWEDM) process. 4 COMPARISON OF CRYOGENICALLY COOLED NEAR-DRY AND CONVENTIONAL WEDM The predicted best combinations of input parameters were considered for the comparative analysis. In Fig. 9, the MRR and WWR of cryogenically cooled near-dry WEDM are compared with the conventional process. The range of input parameters of both processes are current 5 A, pulse-width 25 µs, and pulse-interval 75 µs. The flow rate of oxygen-mist of near-dry WEDM is 20 ml/min, and the water flow rate of conventional WEDM is 2 l/min. As per the literature, the near-dry WEDM is an effective eco-friendly process while comparing with conventional WEDM [4], [13] to [15]. The MRR of the near-dry WEDM process was comparatively lower than the conventional process due to the significant flush out of removed material from the workpiece. The WWR of the near-dry process is lower than conventional WEDM because the heat dissipation from the wire is improved by increasing the thermal conductivity of the cryogenic cooling wire [16]. The minimum WWR promotes the life of reusable wire electrode. 5 CONCLUSIONS In this research, data were collected from the experiments of oxygen-mist cryo-cooled wire near- dry WEDM were carried out to maintain enough temperature in the cutting zone to cut the Inconel 718 alloy material. The electrical conductivity of cryogenically cooled molybdenum wire was significantly increased in the near-dry WEDM process. It was observed that pulse-width, pulse- interval, current, and flow rate are significant parameters on the material removal rate and wire wear ratio. The current and pulse-width are the most important factors for material removal rate. Increasing the current and pulse-width, the material removal rate Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 329 Experimental Investigation of a Cryogenically Cooled Oxygen-mist Near-dry Wire-cut Electrical Discharge Machining Process ϕ statistical error R 2 coefficient of determination FI factor interaction F-value Values from statistical “F” table 8 REFERENCES [1] Shabgard, M.R., Seyedzavvar, M., Oliaei, S.N.B. (2011). Influence of input parameters on the characteristics of the EDM process. 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Thus, the optimum process parameters were obtained for the cryo-cooled molybdenum wire electrode used in the oxygen-mist near-dry wire-cut electrical discharge machining process. The desirability technique was used to find the best solution among the conflict behaviour of MRR and WWR. It was observed that the behaviour of the parameters against response variables is the same as with the response surface method. The current 5 A, pulse-width 25 µs, pulse-interval 75 µs, and 1 ml/min flow rate give 10.97 mm 3 /min of MRR and 0.59 of WWR. The multi-optimization results were validated by the mean observation value of confirmation experiments. These results are used by manufacturers and operators to fix the best (default) setting for the cryogenically cooled oxygen-mist NDWEDM process. In near-dry WEDM, the cryogenically cooling of wire significantly contributed to reducing WWR than to MRR. While comparing conventional WEDM, the WWR of near-dry WEDM was very lower. The lowest WWR increases the life of reusable molybdenum wire tools. As per the literature, the near-dry WEDM is an effective eco-friendly process while comparing with conventional WEDM. However, the MRR of near-dry WEDM is lower than that of the conventional WEDM process. 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was conducted in the Bannariamman Institute of Technology, Erode, Tamilnadu, India. for the data collection, and interpretation of results to submit the article for publication. 7 NOMENCLATURES PW pulse-width, [µs] PI pulse-interval, [µs] C spark current, [A] F flowrate, [ml/s] MRR material removal rate [mm 3 /min] WWR wire wear ratio [-] f(x) Function of ‘x’ x 1 , x 2 , …, x n independent variables β 0 , β i , β ij model coefficients Strojniški vestnik - Journal of Mechanical Engineering 67(2021)6, 322-330 330 Sampath, B. – Myilsamy, S. [11] Boopathi, S. (2012). Experimental comparative study of near- dry wire-cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM). 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