The objective of the present work is to use a suitable method that can optimize the process parameters like pulse on time (TON), pulse off time (TOFF), wire feed rate (WF), wire tension (WT) and servo voltage (SV) to attain the maximum value of MRR and minimum value of surface roughness during the production of a fine pitch spur gear made of copper. The spur gear has a pressure angle of 20⁰ and pitch circle diameter of 70 mm. The wire has a diameter of 0.25 mm and is made of brass. Experiments were conducted according to Taguchi’s orthogonal array concept with five factors and two levels. Thus, Taguchi quality loss design technique is used to optimize the output responses carried out from the experiments. Another optimization technique i.e. desirability with grey Taguchi technique has been used to optimize the process parameters. Both the optimized results are compared to find out the best combination of MRR and surface roughness. A confirmation test was carried out to identify the significant improvement in the machining performance in case of Taguchi quality loss. Finally, it was concluded that desirability with grey Taguchi technique produced a better result than the Taguchi quality loss technique in case of MRR and Taguchi quality loss gives a better result in case of surface roughness. The quality of the wire after the cutting operation has been presented in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) figure.

Nickel based super alloys are excellent for several applications and mainly in structural components submitted to high temperatures owing to their high strength to weight ratio, good corrosion resistance and metallurgical stability such as in cases of jet engine and gas turbine components. The current work presents the experimental investigations of the cutting parameters effects (cutting speed, depth of cut and feed rate) on the surface roughness, cutting force components, productivity and power consumption during dry conditions in straight turning using coated carbide tool. The mathematical models for output parameters have been developed using Box-Behnken design with 15 runs and Box-Cox transformation was used for improving normality. The results of the analysis have shown that the surface finish was statistically sensitive to the feed rate and cutting speed with the contribution of 43.58% and 23.85% respectively, while depth of cut had the greatest effect on the evolution of cutting force components with the contribution of 79.87% for feed force, 66.92% for radial force and 66.26% for tangential force. Multi-objective optimization procedure allowed minimizing roughness Ra, cutting forces and power consumption and maximizing material removal rate using desirability approach.

Powder mixed electro discharge machining (PMEDM) is a hybrid machining process where the electrically conductive powder is mixed into the dielectric fluid to enhance the machining efficiency. In this investigation, PMEDM is performed for the machining of AISI 304 stainless steel when silicon carbide powder is mixed into the kerosene dielectric. Peak current, pulse on time, gap voltage, duty cycle and powder concentration are considered as process parameter while material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR) and surface roughness (Ra) are considered as response. A face centered central composite design (FCCCD) based response surface methodology (RSM) is applied to design the experiment. A hybrid optimization technique like desirability coupled with fuzzy-logic method is performed to get the optimum level of the multiple performance characteristics. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed for the statistical analysis. The result shows that peak current is the most significant parameter for MRR, TWR and Ra. The optimal setting for maximum MRR, minimum TWR and Ra have been obtained by desirability coupled with fuzzy-logic method.