Machinability analysis in turning tungsten–copper composite for application in EDM electrodes

Electro-discharge machining (EDM) is widely used in tooling industry, where it is applied on materials, which are too hard to be machined with conventional techniques. The tungsten–copper is broadly used as an EDM electrode for machining of die steel and tungsten carbide workpieces. As, tungsten–copper electrode is more costly than conventional electrodes, there is a need to understand the machinability aspects in turning of this material. Hence, an attempt has been made in this paper to study the effects of cutting conditions on machinability characteristics such as cutting force, feed force, depth force, machining force, power, specific cutting force, arithmetic average surface roughness and maximum peak to valley height during tungsten–copper turning with K10 carbide cutting tool. The response surface methodology (RSM) based second order mathematical models of machinability aspects are developed using the data obtained through full factorial design (FFD). The adequacy of the machinability models is tested through the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The response surface analysis reveals that a combination of higher cutting speed with low-to-medium feed rate is advantageous in reducing the forces, power and surface roughness, which in turn increases the specific cutting force.