,lourtml~

Materials Processing Techno|ogy

ELSEVIER
Journal of Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) ! 8- 28

Study on modeling of wire EDM process

T.A. Spedding *, Z.Q. Wang
School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, ShTgapore 639798, Singapore
Received 18 December 1995

Abstract

Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) technology has been used widely in production, aerospace/aircraft, medical and virtually all areas of conductive material machining. Its complexity and stochastic nature have stimulated numerous attempts t~ model it accurately. This paper presents an attempt at modeling the process through Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Networks. A response surface model based on a central composite rotatable experimental design, and a 4-16-3 size back-propagation neural network have been developed. The pulse-width, the time between two pulses, the wire mechanical tension and the injection set-point are selected as the factors (input parameters), whilst the cutting speed, the surface roughness and the :,urfr~ce waviness are the responses (output parameters). The two models are compared for goodness of fit. Verification experiments have been carried out to check the validity of the developed models. It is concluded that both model:~ provide accurate results for the process. 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.
Keywords: Wire electical discharge machining; Response surface methodology; Artificial neural networks; Process modeling; Surface finish

1. Introduction

1. I. Wire electrical discharge machinhTg process

Wire-cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM) has grown tremendously since it was first applied more than twenty years ago. Its broad capabilities have allowed it to encompass the production, aerospace/aircraft and medical industries and virtually all areas of conductive material machining. As newer and more exotic materials are developed, and more complex shapes are presented, conventional machining operations will continue to reach their limitations and the increased use of wire EDM in manufacturing will continue to grow at an accelerated rate [1]. Electrical discharging machining is a non-traditional, thermoelectric process in which workpiece material is eroded by a series of discrete sparks between the workpiece and a tool electrode immersed in a liquid dielectric medium. These electrical discharges melt and vaporize minute amounts of the work material, which are then ejected and flushed away by the dielectric. In

*Corresponding author. spedding@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg

Fax:

+65

7911859; e-mail:

mt-

the WEDM process, a small wire is engaged as the tool electrode. The dielectric medium, which is usually deionized water, does not immerse the wire. The workpiece is mounted on the table of the machine and the dielectric medium is ejected to the sparking area. The movement of the wire is controlled numerically to achieve the desired complex two- and three-dimensional shapes for the workpiece. What wire-cut EDM manufacturers and users want is to achieve higher machining productivity with a desired accuracy and surface finish. However, due to a large number of variables and the stochastic nature of the process, even a highly skilled operator with a state-ofthe-art W E D M is rarely able to achieve the optimal performance [2]. An effective way to solve this problem is to determine the relationship between the performance of the process and its controllable input parameters (i.e. model the process through suitable mathematical techniques). Investigations into the influences of machining input parameters on the performance of EDM and WEDM have been reported widely [2-6] and several attempts [7-9] have been made to model the process. In these reports the productivity of the process and the surface roughness of the machined workpiece are taken into account as a measure of the process performance.

0924-0136/97/$17.00 1997 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. PH S0924-0136(96)00033-7

T.,4. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang, Journal af Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18- 28
Table ! Orthogonal and unilbrm-precision rotatable centrag composite design []1] k F Axial points no (up} n, (orth.) N (up) N (orth.) 2 4 4 5 8 13 16 1.414 3 8 6 6 9 20 23 B.682 4 16 8 7 12 31 36 2.000 5 32 10 10 17 52 59 2.378 S(1/2rep} 16 R0 6 10 32 36 2.000 6 64 12 15 24 91 101) 2.828 6( t.,2repl 32 12 9 ~5 53 59 - . _ "~78 "~ 7( l ;2rep) 64 14 14 22 92 I00 9 ~) ~.8,.8 8( 1;2rep' 128 16 20 33 164 177 3.364

~9

k: number of controllable factors; F: number of factorial or fractional factorial experiments; n,) (up), N(up): number ol central and total experiments for uniform-precision design: n() (orth.), N torth.): number of central and total experiments for orthogonal design; x: encoded distance of axial points to the center. To assess the machined workpiece surface profile, however, a measure of surface roughness is not sufficient. A complete measure of the surface profile should provide information not only on the scale of the surface irregularities but also on their shapes and spacings [10]. This paper develops modeling techniques for a wire E D M process through both response surface methodology ( R S M ) and artificial neural network (ANN) technology. In addition to the surface roughness, the skewness, kurtosis and waviness of the wire E D M e d surface are investigated. A measure of the surface waviness (as an output parameter) is included in the process modeling. In the second and third parts of this introduction a brief review of RSM and A N N is provided. In the second section of this paper the detailed experimental design and experimental procedure are explained. Both the R S M and A N N models of the process are developed in Section 3. Results and discussion are presented in the fourth section, followed by the conclusions of this study.

1.2. Response smface methodology

The modeling of the wire E D M process can be regarded as a problem of correlating the input parameters of the process with its output parameters. This can be dealt with by means of response surface methodology (RSM), which is a collection of mathematical and statistical techniques tbr analyzing problems in which several independent variables influence a dependent variable or response, the goal being to secure the optimal response. A detailed explanation of response surface methodology is available in many publications on experimental design, for example [11,12]: however, a brief description is given here for convenience.

OUTPUT

Yt

.vl

y,,,

OUTPUT LAYER (

Yk = f(

WjkXj)

w,k
HIDDEN

x'i ( Wo

LAYER

in
NI N, Xn

= f(Zw jx )
i=c~

INPUT LAYER (

Fig. 1. Multi-layer feed forward neural network.

20

T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

If the controllable independent variables are denoted as x~, x2,..., x~,, then the observed response y is:
y - " f ( X l , X 2..... Xk) "1- S

(l)

where ~ is a random error component. If the expected response is denoted as E(y) = q, then the surface represented by q = f ( x i , x2,..., Xk) is called a response surface. In general the relationship between the response and the independent variables is unknown. However, for a system which exhibits curvature, a second-order polynomial model is usually employed. The least squares method can be used to estimate the parameters in the approximating polynomials. The model parameters can be estimated most effectively if proper experimental design is used to collect the data. In the case of a second-order polynomial model, an orthogonal or uniform-precision rotatable central composite design, shown in Table 1, is recommended.
1.3. Multi-layer feed forward neural networks

In contrast to classical computers and computer programs, which are designed to solve problems for which the solutions (although extremely complex) have been made explicit, artificial neural networks are analytical systems that address problems for which the solution has not been formulated explicitly. Artificial neural network technology has been used in many manufacturing processes: for pattern identification, parameter selection, process modeling, monitoring and controlling [9,13-16]. In the present study a multi-layer feed-forward neural network is used to model the WEDM process, which later has an inherently random and complex nature.
Table 2 Fixed factors Factor Setting Brass ~0.25 mm AISI 420 31.5 mm 27.0 mm Vertical At the center of the right of the table 100% -80 V 44.0 0.4 las 8A 2

In this introduction a brief review of the fundamentals of multi-layer feed-forward neural networks is provided: for more detail the reader is referred to [17,18]. A neural network is a logical (and sometimes physical) structure in which multiple processing elements communicate with each other through the interconnections between processors. The knowledge is presented by the interconnection weights, which are adjusted during the learning stage. A architecture of a multi-layer feedforward neural network is shown in Fig. 1. It has an input layer, an output layer and a hidden layer. Each processing element is connected to all of the processors of the preceding layer. No intra-layer or feedback connections exist. However, all processors in the network are connected to a single bias element with unity output. The weights associated with the bias interconnection act as a threshold function on the combined inputs of each processor. Every processor is fed with the weighted sum of all of the outputs of the processors in the previous layer and produce an output through a transfer function, the transfer function used in this research being the Hyperbolic Tangent: e- - e--" f(z) = - - - eZ + e .-(2)

The interconnection weights and the bias weights (called thresholds or offsets) W are adapted using the backpropagation learning algorithm, which uses a gradientsearch technique to minimize the mean-square error between the actual output pattern of the network and the desired output pattern.

2. Experimental design and procedure

The WEDM process consists of three operations, a roughing operation, a finishing operation and a surface finishing operation. Amongst the roughing operations are large radius cutting, standard rough cutting and high-quality direct rough cutting. The performance of different operations are judged by different measures. In the cases of the finishing and surface-finishing operations the surface finish is of primary importance, but for rough cutting the productivity and surface finish are both of primary importance. This means that the rough cutting is more challenging because two goals must be considered simultaneously. Therefore, the rough cutting (standard rough cutting, high-quality direct rough cutting) phase is investigated in the present approach. Consequently the cutting speed and surface texture are included as the measures of performance of the Wire EDM process. In general, the greater the cutting speed and the smoother the surface, the better. Unfortunately however, as pointed out in [8], the goals of high cutting speed and high surface finish quality are, to some

Wire Material used for part Workpiece height Workpiece length (length of cut) Angle of cut Location of workpiece on the table Temporary reduction in frequency (FF) Cutting voltage (V) Servo reli~rence mean voltage (Aj) Short pulse time (Tac) Ignition pulse current (IAL) Injection pressure setpoint (lnj) Strategy (ST) Dielectric (Deionization)

1 15.0

T.A. Spedd#lg, Z.Q. Wang/Journal o[ Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

Table 3 Factors and their levels ~or the rough-cut operation input factor Level/code 1/-2 A B C D Puisewidth Time between two pulses Wire mechanical tension Wire feed speed 0.8 4 0.8 7.8 2.--1 0.9 6 1.1 9.6 3,0 i.0 8 1.4 1~.4 4 +t 1.1 10 1.7 13.2 5 +2 1.2 12 2.0 15.0 Unit ~s ps daN m min

extent, conflicting and no particular combination of machining parameters can simultaneously achieve the best productivity as well as the best surface finish. This is actually a multi-objective optimization problem. To solve the problem, a mathematical model that is able to predict the performance of the process under given input parameters is critical. The random and complex nature of the process of wire electrical-discharge machining make it difficult to accurately model the process theoretically. Consequently empirical modeling methodology is used to describe the process, based on proper experimental design.
Table 4 Uniform-precision rotatable central composite experimental design Exp. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 A (ns) 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 !.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 1 1 I 1 1 ! 0.8 1.2 1 ! 1 1 I 1 1 B (ns) 6 6 10 10 6 6 10 10 6 5 10 10 6 6 10 10 8 8 8 8 4 12 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 C (daN) i.! l.l I.! 1.1 !.7 1.7 !.7 !.7 1.1 i.1 1.1 1.1 1.7 i.7 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.3 0.8 2 1.4 i.4 1.4 1.4 !.4 i.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 !.4 1.4 D (m min-~) 9.6 9.6 9.6 9.6 9.6 9.6 9.6 9.6 13.2 13.2 13.2 132. i3.2 13.2 13.2 13.2 7.8 15 !!.4 !1.4 !1.4 11.4 11.4 11.4 11.4 !1.4 11.4 !i.4 11.4 11.4 11.4 R, (Its) 3.2373 3.3462 3.0012 3.12 3.4999 3.6901 3.0119 3.37 2.9818 3.3605 2.9856 3.3041 3.1061 3.4757 2.8435 3.3405 3.4063 3.2102 3.3051 3.5075 3.5983 3.0672 2.882 3.6382 3.2877 3.3672 3.2748 3.278 3.1763 3.2989 3.2708

To develop a mathematical model capable of predicting the measures of performance of the process for given input parameters, a reasonable set of input parameters has to be selected. Generally, a smaller set of parameters would yield a simpler model, but on the other hand a larger number of parameters might give the model a more accurate predictive power and a wider area of application. Based on experience, literature survey and some preliminary investigations, the following parameters are chosen as the inputs: 1. A--Pulsewidth (~s) 2. B - - T i m e between two pulses (~ts) 3. C - - W i r e mechanical tension (daN)

R,k 0.1494 0.2675 0.2705 0.1055 0.1661 0.0235 0.178 0.1345 0.0385 0.1743 0.2055 0.2184 0.3269 0.2688 0.1945 0.2399 0.3032 0.1944 0.239 0.2338 0.0718 0.2109 0.2725 0.3157 0.2233 0.2464 0.2112 0.1837 0.2695 0.217 0.0985

Rku 2.6834 2.8869 3.0073 2.8237 2.9415 2.9807 2.9214 2.7544 2.8864 2.6782 2.8486 2.82 0.3269 3.0597 2.872 3.2244 30.246 2.9601 2.9415 2.8522 2.6306 3.1184 2.9529 2.9777 2.8908 2.9003 2.764 2.6966 2.7968 2.8945 3.0159

IV,, (Itm) 1.3373 1.5861 0.8845 1.2908 1.1883 1.8394 1.0493 1.262 i.229 1.5581 1.0645 1.114 3.0007 1.4562 0.9642 1.2921 0.9795 !.1027 1.294 i.363 1.2825 0.9956 0.752 !.4443 i.0469 1.0725 i.3515 !.1154 1.2885 1.2507 1.1742

2q (mm) .4113 .7144 .3351 .6474 .5706 .6106 .4758 .3667 .4005 .5728 .4797 .2942 1.3574 1.5241 1.3753 1.3773 1.1219 1.3027 i.3628 1.3152 1.3551 1.3101 !.2227 !.211 !.188 !.4866 !.4186 !.209 !.4138 i.5002 1.3932

Speed (mm min- t) 2.3322 2.8266 1.6917 2.1974 2.4673 2.826 1.7766 2.3487 2.3957 2.8696 1.7368 2.226 1.50352.5311 2.924 1.8333 2.3687 2.4235 2.4235 2.2664 2.5653 3.1029 1.7587 i.8125 2.7728 2.2782 2.3355 2.3609 2.412 2.4682 2.349 2.5518

22

T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang/Journal oj" Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

for Ra
I-..I--" u'" " m'" "l'''l'''i

for Rsk
,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; .... I
I L

for Rkt

A:A B:B C:C D:~ BD I

10.31

3,76 ..3.40 I 2.69 I 2,68 AD CD I R - 2 . 4 0 BC ,,ill-2.26 1.61 AC -1.47 AA 1.09 CC .80 AB -.62 DD BB I -.20
IA| el, ,,i,.,I,,,0, ,,I,,,I

~
[] B

-7.4~

CD '=~,,,,,----------------:~ I 2.25

BB!

c:cF~

AD B:B m A A AC BC AB " ~ D:D i i C:C U DD :m BD | A:A CC

1.o
-.9~
..68

i~
.21 -.11 -.03 ..01

.41 .26

-.67

C D } DD ~ BC ~ AC = AA ~ AD , ~ D:D ,IJ CC R BD IW AB 'B

t.~81 1.12 -1.0 .88 .87

l~Sl

.so .38
.22 .22 -.21

B
a i.,...

.17
.01

I...i..o

l...ll..]

0 2 4 6 8 1012

0 0.40.81.21.6 2 2.4

0 0.40.61.21.6 2 2.4

for Wa
I''''l''''l''''U .... I''1"1''''1

for Lamq
B:B[~'"'""I'"'"'""I'"'-I 3~

for Speed
|,,,I,''l''-I,,,| '''|'''!

A:A B:B CG AD C:C I AB ,B DD BO AC m BB N CD D:D I I BC AA

6.40 r.66

ccL~ AoL~ Be ~ A:A ~

0:0

ACl.~

..... -.99

. l}'
-.x3

468

70

AS'm

-.79

.e3 -.--

4 4
-

.st -.3o
-.20 -.18 .18 -.17 .01
l...l...n ...

.r8

Be i - "
m-

-.41

.I

DD C:C CD AA BD
I .... I....I ....

~'| | |
...

B:B .=A:A i ~ ~ C:C AA 1 -2.20 AB R 1.26 -1.22 DD .| .60 BC ! BD .I -.3e -.34 AC j .32 D:D ,j BB I .21 CD I .lS AO t -.13 CC I -.06
I, ,, I, ..11, ,I,,,I

-20.48

16 ;2

I=.*.h...l

....

I...

l...I

,,,11,.1

0123456

0 0.40.81.21.6 2 2.4

0 4 8 12162024

Note: 1, A--pulsewith,B--time between two pulses, C-- wire mechanical tension, D--wire feed speed
2,

A:A-- linear effect A AA -- quadratic effect A: BC -- linear interaction effect BxC

, The vertical line indicates the square root of Fo05(l,16), i.e. 5% level of significance
. .

Fig. 2. Standardized effect Pareto charts.

4. D - - W i r e feed speed (m min-x) Other factors which may have effects on the measures of the process performance are set to be fixed as listed in Table 2. The experiment is carried out on a ROBOFIL 300 (manufactured by Charm|lies Technology). For the rough-cut operation, the available range of the input parameters is limited on the ROBOFIL 300. Table 3 shows the values of the input parameters that are of interest in the rough-cut operation. These parameter levels, which are used in the experiment, cover the reasonable range of the input parameters available under the fixed conditions as mentioned above. The uniform-precision rotatable ceptral compos,~e

experimental design for the modeling of the Wire EDM process is illustrated in Table 4. This design consists of 16 factorial (coded level + 1) runs, 8 axial runs as well as 7 central runs. The experimental runs are performed randomly (i.e. not following the order illustrated in the first column of Table 4). For each particular run, the specified input parameters are set and the workpiece is completely cut through, the time for the latter being recorded. The cutting speed is then calculated according to the length of cut and the cutting time. A Form Talysurf Series 120L (manufactured by Rank Taylor Hobson Ltd.) is adopted to measure the surface texture of the work;iece. An analysis of the surface profiles of sample

T.A. Spedd#lg, Z.Q. Wang/Journal of Materials Processing Tec/mology 69 (1997) 18-28

23

specimens according to different cut-off length indicates that 0.8 mm is the most suitable cut-off length to separate the surface roughness and waviness for the surface texture assessment. Both sides of the cut surface obtained from a particular experimental run are measured from the average level of the specimen. The surface roughness parameters (arithmetic average roughness R,, skewness R~k, kurtosis Rku [19]) of the two sides are assessed through the 0.8 mm cut-off high pass filter, and then the average values of R,, R.,k and Rk, are recorded (Table 4). The surface waviness parameters (arithmetic average waviness W, and the rms measure of spatial wavelength content of the surface 2q (Lamq) of the two sides are assessed using a 0.8 mm cut-off low pass filter and the average value are also recorded (Table 4)).

randomly between 0.0235 and 0.3269, and 2.6306 and 3.2244 respectively, close to 0 and 3. This means that the wire electrical-discharge-machined surface profile is approximately Gaussian distributed, this Gaussian nature being attributable to the complex and stochastic nature of the machining process. ]t can be concluded also that R,, W~ and the cutting speed are controllable, but Rsk, Rku and 2q do not change significantly when the inputs are changed. Therefore, in the fol!owing implementation of modeling, only R,, W,, and the cutting speed are taken into account as the output parameters of the model. The response surface methodology model, Eqs. (3)(5), are used to model the process based on the experimental design of Table 4:
4 4 4 4

i=1

Y__.
4
i=i

i=1

2
4
i=1

i=lj=i+l

,2 Z
(31
4
i=lj=l+!

3. RSM and ANN modeling

3.1. R S M model

Z p,x.+ Z
4

/~0x, A) + t:

(4)
4 4 4

Before a model is developed, the effects of the input parameters on the surface texture indices, R~, Rsk, Rk,, W.,, 2q and the cutting speed are investigated through the software STATGRAPHICS (Statistical graphics system by Statistical Graphics Corporation). Fig. 2 illustrates the standardized effects Pareto chart, in which the square root of the variance ratio ( F = variance of effect/mean square error) is provided, for every output. The Pareto chart shows that the output parameters R,,, IV.., and cutting speed, are influenced significantly by the input parameters: however, the effects of the input parameters on the other three output parameters R~k, Rk, and 2q, are apparently insignificant. Further study of R~k and Rk, shows that they fluctuate
R e s p o n s e S u r f a c e for

i=1

i=1

Z Z i=lj=i+l

~,,jx, xj + e

(5)

3.7 3.5
3.3

3.1

Ra(pm)

Response 1 . 1.7 1.5 1.3 9

surface for

Waigm)

2.71 / I 2.5,, ~]~.~______________~ u.o 0.9 1 1.1 1.2

12 /10 8 U

0.9.t / 0.7 0.8 0.9

./10

12

1
A

1.1 1.2

R e s p o n s e S u r f a c e for

Speed(mmlmin)

2.6 2.2

1.8 1.41 / 0.8 0.9 1 A

I 1.1 1.2 4

12 /_10 B

Fig. 3. Response surfaces (Note: A--pulsewidth (Its); B--time between two pulses (las)).

where xi, x2, x3, x4 stand for input parameters A, B, C, D and Yr, Yw, Ys stand for Ra, Wa and the cutting speed respectively. The adequacy of the model can be tested by comparing the variation due to model regression and the variation due to error (calculating the F-ratio). The calculated F-ratios for the three models (15.68, 4.24 and 48.33) are greater than Fo.ol (14,16), which establishes the adequacy of the models. The response surface concerning the relationship of any output with two inputs can be obtained from the model. Fig. 3 illustrates the estimated response surface for R..,, Wa and speed with respect to input A and B. It is obvious that, the greater the pulsewidth A and the smaller the time between two pulses B, the greater is the roughness R,, the waviness W., and the cutting speed. Also there exists curvature in every response surface, whilst the level combinations of control factors for yielding the highest cutting speed, the smallest Ra and the smallest IV., are completely conflicting. Fig. 4 shows the cross-sectional structures of the surfaces of two specimens that were obtained by using different pulsewidth A (0.8 and 1.2 laS). It is well known that EDM machining will result in a layer of melted and solidified material, named as recast, on the machined surface and a heat-affected zone beneath the surface. It can be observed from Fig. 4 that the pulsewidth A of 1.2 gs results in a thicker (approximately 15 l~m) and discontinuous recast layer and a more irregular surface, while the pulsewidth A of 0.8 laS results in a thinner (approximately 8 lain) and continuous recast layer and a smoother surface.

T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang~Journal of Materials Processing Teclmology 69 (1997) 18-28

501~m

(a)
i 50pro
......i

Co)
Fig. 4. Cross-sectionalstructure of WEDMed surfaces:(a) ,4 = 0.8 )is, B = 8 s, C = 1.4 daN, D = 11.4 m rain - ~; (b) d = 1.2 [,s, B = 8 Ixs,C = 1.4 daN. D = 1t.4 m rain - t.
3.2. A N N M o d e l

A back-propagation neural network is also developed to model the process. The experimental results in Table 4 are used to train the neural networks (an average valued input/output set is used to present the 7 central runs). The transfer function used in the processing element is the hyperbolic tangent function. It is found that 4 - 1 6 - 3 is the most suitable size for the neural networks, this size of neural network being shown in Fig. 5. The normalized cumulative delta rule is used as a learning rule for training the networks. In cumulative learning the delta weights are accumulated and the weights are adjusted until a complete set of input/output pairs is presented to the networks. The number of input/output pairs presented during the accumulation is referred to as an epoch. The network is Irained for 30000 iterations. The epoch is set to 25. Different learning rates and m o m e n t u m s are applied to different

training stages, within 5000 iterations 0.9 and 0.6 are used respectively, from 5001 to 10 000 iterations 0.6 and 0.3 are adopted and from 10001 to 30000 iterations 0.3 and 0.15 are applied. Fig. 6 illustrates the Ra, W.~ and the cutting speed responses o f the A N N model with respect to control factors A and B. Compared with the R S M model, which is restricted to be second order, it is found that higher-order components are combined into the A N N responses.
3.3. M o d e l test

Both the RSM and the A N N models have been tested using the training data. Table 5 presents the statistical measures of the difference between the actual outputs and the model estimated outputs, thus verifying the performance of the models. The results indicate that both the RSM and A N N model have successfully fitted the process.

T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wmig/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

4. Results and discussion

Ra Wa
Sp~

Fig. 6. A N N model responses (Note: A between two pulses {.us)}.

pulsewidth (.us}; B - - t i m e

To estimate the sensitivity of the models developed an verification experiment illustrated in Table 6 is carded out, the actual and predicted outputs being plotted in Fig. 7 for verification, whilst the descriptive statistical analysis of the differences between the actual and the predicted outputs are listed in Table 7. The four input factors, for which the levels are changeable, can set up a four-dimensional status space. Any particular experiment can be regarded as a point in the space. In the additional verification experiments, points that have different standardized distances to the origin of the status space are selected in order to investigate the predictive accuracy of the models f-;r experiments located at a different place in the status space.

R e s p o n s e f o r Ra,lpml

R e s p o n s e for W a ( , r n )

3.2
o.e . I A 1.,i 1.2 4~

d2
s

'012

~o"
s A

R e s p o n s e for S p e e d ( m m l m i n )

~ 1.1 1.2 A

Fig. 5. Neural networks for wire E D M .

A uniform-precision rotatable central composite experiment has been carried out to investigate the performance of wire EDM p~-ocess,the pulsewidth, the time between two pulses, the wire mechanical tension and the wire feed speed being selected as the control factors. The performance, cutting speed and workpiece surface texture are studied. Effects analysis shows that the cutting speed and the surface texture parameters R, and ~ , are mainly determined by the time between two pulses and the pulsewidth. They are also influenced significantly by the wire mechanical tension. Only Ra is affected significantly by the wire feed speed, which can be explained by the effect of the time between two pulses and the pulsewidth on the spark discharge power: the shorter the time between two pulses and the longer the pulsewidth, the greater the spark discharge power and consequently the greater the diameter of the crater produced by the spark discharge, and the greater the metal removed rate. None of the ef':ects of the four control factors on the surface profile shape and spacing parameters Rsk, Rk~ and 2q are significant, which means that the shape of the surface in terms of both the height and the spatial irregularities does not change significantly, only the scale of the irregularities being affected in changes of the process. This random phenomenon can be attributed to the random and complex nature of the wire EDM process, which consists of electro-dynamic, electro-magnetic, thermo-dynamie and hydro-dynamic actions. A RSM model and a 4-16-3 back propagation ANN model with Ra, Wa and the cutting speed as its outputs, have been developed to represent the wire EDM process. Test analysis indicate that both models fit the process successfully but that the ANN can achieve a closer fit. Additional verification experiment results shown in Fig. 7 indicate that the models developed can predict the performance of the process accurately when the standardized distance of the experimental point to the status space origin is not greater than 2.5, which covers the reasonable range of the factor levels of the process. When the experimental point goes further, the predictive accuracy reduces. The analysis in Table 6 shows that the predictive errors of the ANN model on Ra and the cutting speed are smaller than that of the RSM model. However, the RSM is able to predict Wa with smaller error. It must be pointed out that the RSM was designed originally for searching the optimal input parameter settings with respect to a response, and the second-order model is usually applied to the vicinity of the optimum. In the present study the investigating area of input factors is not so small that higher-order fluctua-

26
Table 5 Model test result analysis

T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

Statistical measures

RSM model Ra (pro) Wa (Bm) 1.3E- 05 0.01982 0.09908 0.00982 0.39329 -0.1845 0.20881 0.00033 25 Speed (mm min-~) - 7 E - 06 0.00847 0.04235 0.00179 O. 19481 -0.1097 0.08509 - 0.0002 25

ANN model R~, (pro) 0.0004 0.00374 0.01868 0.00035 0.08602 -0.0488 0.03721 0.00994 25 W~ (tam) - 0.0003 0.00302 0.015 ! 0.00023 0.05813 -0.0355 0.02267 - 0.0072 25 Speed {ram min -~ ) - 0.0003 0.00402 0.02009 0.0004 0.07554 -0,048 0,02759 - 0,0083 25

Mean Standard error Standard deviation Variance Range Minimum Maximum Sum Count

2 . 4 E - 05 0.01112 0.05561 0.00309 0.20097 -0.1219 0.07908 0.0006 25

tion could be implied in the response. Although the adequacy of the second-order RSM model is verified, higher-order error still remains. To fit higher-order surface model means extending the experimental design to include more points at great expense in terms of time, etc. However, it is verified that the higher-order fluctuation is sufficiently small to enable the model to be adopted. Whilst the A N N model has the ability to fit and predict the process response with higher-order components, it seems not be affected by the input parameter area. ANN models of size 4 - 1 0 - 3 and 4 - 3 2 - 3 have been tried also. It is found that the 4 - 1 0 - 3 model can not achieve a good fit, whilst the 4 - 3 2 - 3 model is able to fit the process better than the 4 - 1 6 - 3 model but is time consuming.

5. Cm,clusions

Response surface methodology and artificial neural networks models have been developed for the wire EDM process, experiments showing that both of the models are able to predict the process performance, such as cutting speed, surface roughness, surface waviness within a reasonable large range of input factor levels. In the investigating area, the ANN model is found to fit the data better and have higher predictive capability to Ra and the cutting speed. From the results presented in this paper it can be concluded that these techniques can be extended to processes exhibiting similar stochastic character and complexity.

Table 6 Verification experiment for the RSM and the ANN model

A (l~s) 0.9 I ! l 1.1 l.l ! l 0.8 0.9 i i. l 1,2 l.I 0.8 0.8 1.2

B (l~s) 8 10 7 9 6 lO I! 5 6 8 6 8 lO 12 12 4 12

C (daN) 1.1 1.4 l 1 1.2 l.l ! l 1.4 1.7 0.8 I. l 1.4 l.l 1.7 0.8 0.8

D (m m i n - i ) 11.4 13.2 lO lO 9.6 9.6 lO lO 13,2 !5 9.6 7.8 9.6 11.4 11.4 7.8 15

Standardized distance to the origin 1.41 1.41 1.62 1.62 1.86 2.00 2.15 2.15 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45 3.00 4.00 4.00

R~ (l~m) 3.0802 3.1093 3.2736 3.1157 3.3874 3.2473 3.0595 3.2511 2.82 2.9597 3.3118 3.3848 3.349 3.1193 2.7779 3.1959 3.3741

Wa (~m) 0.9627 1.0621 1,2131 1.1418 1.4766 i.2662 1,0462 1,2925 0,8849 1.0098 1,1909 I, ! 397 1.1458 1.2059 0.7676 1.1345 1.307

Speed {mm min -I) 1.9334 1.9022 2.6572 2.2281 2.9125 2.1912 1.893 2.9195 2.1872 2.069 2.7169 2.663 ! 2.5613 i .9334 ! .2924 2.2157 2.03

T.A. Speddmg, Z.Q. Wang/Journal q f Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

27

. . . . z_y--- E x p e r i m e n t value

. . . . - - - - - R S M Prediction

---t

.....

ANN Prediction

4~

3.5 i
E _L

.<~ .
.,.--_~..~-----<~ . . . .

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.
~~

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.~ eq tO eq tO tO o3 ~l kf) 1.0 kO I.O CO t~ kO LO 03

2 ~

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~4

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tk

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Fig. 7. Verification for the RSM and the ANN model Table 7 Model verification analysis Statistical measures RSM Ra (lam) Mean Standard error Standard deviation Variance Range Minimum Maximum Sum Count 0.00904 0.03559 0.14673 0.02153 0.681 - 0.2814 0.3996 0.1536 17 W.d (~tm) 0.07743 0.0321 0.13234 0.01751 0.4944 -0.1649 0.3295 1.3163 17 Speed (mm min-i) -0.0373 0.02589 0.10677 0.0114 0.3437 -0.1889 0.1548 -0.6345 17 ANN R. (lam) -0.0019 0.02428 0.1001 0.01002 0.4117 -0.1679 0.2438 -0.032 17 W.~ (~tm) 0.13721 0.04441 0.18312 0.03353 0.5837 -0.2112 0.3725 2.3316 17 Speed (ram min- ') -0.0437 0.02891 0.11919 0.01421 0.4931 -0.1914 0.3017 -0.7424 17

References
[1] E.B. Guitrau, Wire E D M - - A n Overview of Technology and Trends, SME Technical Paper, 1991, MR91-519. [2] R.E. Williams, K.P. Rajurkar, Study of wire electrical discharge machining surface characteristics, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 28 (1991) 127-138.

[3] T. Sone, K. Masui, Application of ion nitriding to wire-electrical-discharge-machined blanking dies, Mater. Sci. Eng. A140 (1991) 486-493. [4] J.S. Soni, G. Chakraverti, Machining characteristics of titanium with rotary electro-discharge machining, Wear 171 (1994) 51-58. [5] T. Matsuo, E. Oshima, Investigation on the optimum carbide

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T.A. Spedding, Z.Q. Wang/Journal o.t"Materials Processing Technology 69 (1997) 18-28

[13] S. Sukvittayawong, 1. Inasaki, Identification of chip form in turning process, JSME Int. J., Series 3 34 (4) (1991) 553-560. [14] A.C. Okafor, M. Marcus, R. Tipirneni, Multiple sensrr integration via neural networks for estimating surface roughness and bore tolerance in circular end milling, Part 1: Time domain, Cond. Monitor. Diagnostic Technol. 2 (2) (1991) 49-57. [15] M. Sakakura, I. Inasaki, A neural network approach to the decision-making process for grinding operations, Ann. CIRP 41 (1) (1992) 353-356. [16] M.S. Lan, P. Lin, L.J. Bain, Modeling and control of the lithographic offset color printing process using artificial neural networks, in: Neural Networks in Manufacturing and Robotics, The Winter Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Anaheim, California, 8-13 November 1992, pp. 1-10. [17] J.A. Freeman, D.M. Skapura, Neural Networks, Algorithm, Application, and Programming Techniques, Addison-Wesley, 1991. [18] V.R. Vemuri, Artificial Neural Networks: Concepts and Control Application, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1992. [19] T.R. Thomas, Rough Surfaces, Longman Group Ltd., 1982.

content and machining condition for Wire EDM of zirconia ceramics, Ann. CIRP 41 (1) (1992) 231-234. [6] K.P. Rajurkar, G.F. Royo, R.F. Effect of, Control and orbital motion on surface integrity of EDM components, J. Mech. Work. Technol. 20 (1989) 341-352. [7] K.P. Rajurkar, W.M. Wang, Thermal modeling and on-line monitoring of Wire-EDM, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 38 (1993) 417-430. [8] D. Scott, S. Boyina, K.P. Rajurkar, Analysis and optimization of parameter combination in wire electrical discharge machining, Int. J. Prod. Res. 29 (11) (1991) 2189-2207. [9] G. Indurkhya, K.P. Rajurkar, Artificial neural network apploaeh in modeling of EDM process, in: Proc. Artificial Neural Networks in Engineering (ANNIE' 92) Conf., St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 15-18 November 1992, pp. 845-890. [10] T.G. King, T.A. Spedding, Towards a rational surface profile characterization system, Prec. Eng. 5 (4) (1983) 153-160. [11] D.C. Montgomery, Design and Analysis of Experiments, 2nd edn., Wiley, New York, 1983. [12] R. Mead, The Design of Experiments, Statistical Principles for Practical Application, Cambridge University Press, 1990.