Performance analysis of magnetorheological fluid-assisted electrical discharge machining

In this study, a newly developed method of electric discharge machining has been proposed, which uses magnetorheological (MR) fluid instead of conventional oil like kerosene. The paper aims to reveal the process parameters that affect the material removal rate (MRR) during newly developed EDM process. This hybrid machining process showed dual advantage of high-quality machined surface with improved cutting efficiency. The viscoelastic nature of MR fluid is found to give polishing effect as well as high material removal resulting in more stable processing and improved EDM performance. The experimentation has been performed to determine effect of duty cycle, discharge current, pulse on time, percentage concentration of alumina particles surface roughness, and MRR. It has been found that MRR and surface finish improved significantly. The experimental results demonstrated that the EDM process combined with MR fluid resulted in an increase in MRR and surface finish significantly under a certain limit of carbonyl iron percentage (CIPs) in MR fluid.