Experimental Investigations on µED Milling of Inconel 718 with Nano SiC Abrasive Mixed Dielectric

Abstract Micro electro-discharge machining is one of the efficient processes to create three-dimensional micro features of metallic components for various applications. Powder mixed EDM improves the machining rate and reduces the surface roughness by evenly distributing the spark. The present studydemonstrates the effect of SiC nanopowder on the machining of Inconel 718 at different Discharge Energy Regimes (DER). Significant improvement in MRR, reduction in TWR and surface roughness were observed in nanopowder mixed micro-EDM (NPMμEDM) compared with micro-EDM. The nano additive considerably improved the Material Removal Rate (MRR) by163% and reduced the Tool Wear Rate (TWR)and surface roughness by 24%, 17% respectively. Models were created to predict the Surface Roughness in NPMμEDM using two different approaches namely Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Random Forest Machine (RFM). Both SVR and RFM models were able to predict the Ra value with better accuracies.