OPTIMIZATION OF EDM SMALL HOLE DRILLING PROCESS USING TAGUCHI APPROACH

ABSTRACT Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a process used to remove or cut a material into desired shape through the action of spark discharge between the tool and work piece. The objective of this paper is to optimize the independent variables to achieve better accuracy in EDM small hole drilling by using Taguchi method. The L9 orthogonal array is employed to study the performance characteristics in drilling operations of mild steel (AS3679) as workpiece by using 1 mm copper (Cu) pipe electrode. Three drilling parameters namely, pulse off time, peak current and servo standard voltage are considered to optimize drilling hole diameter. The result concluded that use of greater pulse off time, greater peak current and medium servo standard voltage give the better hole diameter for the specific test range. Further study in this topic could consider different factor such as pulse on time, material removal rate (MRR) and coolants to investigate how these factors would affect hole diameter

Parameters of effects in decision making of automotive assembly line using the Analytical Hierarchy Process method

The automotive industry contributes high income to most of the countries. The assembly line is an essential part of the automotive industry because it combines all the components into a complete body unit. Assembly lines often experience delays in meeting production targets, requiring overtime to complete. Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) complaints among assembly workers predominantly lie in trimming, chassis, and finishing processes. Improvements are needed to reduce complaints according to the priority process. This study aims to prioritize the process on the assembly line with the parameters of work position, workload, work layout and equipment. This study implements the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to achieve the objectives of the decision-making process. Preliminary weighting priorities for chassis, finishing and trimming are 0.6153, 0.2313 and 0.1533; respectively highest weight is in the chassis process and will be a priority for this study in optimizing solutions