Machining performance enhancement of powder mixed electric discharge machining using Green dielectric fluid

Towards the requirement of sustainable development, manufacturing industries are required to follow ISO-14000 standards. Therefore, it is necessary to follow sustainability criteria for manufacturing processes. Vegetable oil-based fluids have proven their potential towards the various industrial applications and establish themselves as a sustainable fluids as compared to hydrocarbon and synthetic-based fluids. In the present study, the authors have evaluated the practical acceptability of newly proposed Schleichera oleosa (Kusum oil) as an alternative of hydrocarbon-based EDM oil. The improvement in machining performance of MWCNT mixed rotary EDMing of EN-31 die steel using Kusum oil as a dielectric is evaluated in terms of MRR and SR. Response surface methodology along with genetic algorithm is used for the mathematical modelling and optimization of MRR and SR both. The optimization result shows that MWCNT mixed rotary EDM using Kusum oil as a dielectric shows approximately 57.14% higher MRR and 54.57% lower SR, respectively, as compared to conventional EDM using EDM oil as a dielectric. Finally, the surface topography images obtained from FESEM analysis also confirm the superiority of Kusum oil over EDM oil.