| Summary: | This paper investigates the performance of copper, copper tungsten, graphite and brass
electrode on machining characteristics of aluminium alloy LM6 (Al-Sil2) in the electrical discharge
machine (EDM) die sinking. The relationship between the machining parameters such as peak current,
voltage, pulse-on time, and pulse-off time on machining characteristics was studied. Design of
experiment using orthogonal array of Taguchi technique is employed to design experimental matrix.
The analysis was done by using the Minitab software version 16. From this study, it is found that
graphite electrode produces the highest material removal rate (MRR) and low in surface roughness
(SR) as compare to others electrode materials. Meanwhile, copper electrode has ability to generate
highest Ra but low electrode wear rate (EWR). Copper tungsten electrode shows almost similar result
with copper electrode however its hardness prevents from wear during machining process. Brass
electrode shows low ability to withstand of spark energy that produces highest EWR. Thus, it shows
that the objective of the experiment in terms of MRR, EWR and SR should be identified before specific
electrode materials can be used for machining aluminium LM6 in EDM die sinking.
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