Minimizing maximum height of the profile on stainless steel of 12X18H10T for ECM

Accuracy and complexity on product feature and selection of material for specific application requires matching of manufacturing processes to fulfil the customer requirements with cost effective. Electrochemical machining is a class of NTM (Non-Traditional Machining) widely applicable for machining the precious components like tools and dies. This research is about Machinability Investigation and optimizing Process parameters on electrochemical machining (ECM) for improving the surface quality by reducing the maximum surface peak height in machining of Stainless Steel (12X18H10T). In this investigation the core process parameters like electrode gap, current, voltage and concentration of electrodes were considered as process variables for optimizing maximum profile height on the machined surface. The input variables were varied three levels as minimum, medium and maximum settings. The range of individual process parameters were identified by trail experimentations. The Taguchi L9 experimental design adapted for 3 level 4 factor design to conduct the experimentation and statistical optimization by Taguchi analysis. The optimized parameters were validated by trail experimentation and found acceptable error. The ANOVA used for validate the statistical model identifying theinfluence of process parameters. The optimized values of process parameters suggested and the mathematical model developed to predict the process parameters settings for the required surface quality that is permissible surface profile peak limits.