PERFORMANCE OF WATER AND HYDROCARBON DIELECTRICS IN WEDM OF CEMENTED CARBIDE

Giovani Conrado Carlini — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 12, the global manufacturing industry continuously seeks productive, responsible, and sustainable solutions. In this context, the electrical discharge machine has shown strong potential for processing materials with low machinability, such as superalloys and conductive ceramic-based materials, due to its ability to remove material without tribological contact. Among these, cemented carbide stands out for its high wear resistance, consisting of tungsten particles in a non-oxide ceramic phase (WC) bonded by a metallic phase (Co), resulting in elevated hardness and mechanical strength at high temperatures. However, literature presents limited studies on the WEDM of such materials using a reciprocating molybdenum wire, and even fewer when considering the influence of different dielectrics. This study aims to evaluate the behavior of deionized water and hydrocarbon-based dielectrics in the WEDM of WC-Co, focusing on their effects on process performance and surface integrity. Five levels of lateral infeed (Δy) were tested under constant discharge energy and fixed machining parameters. The results demonstrated that increasing the lateral infeed led to a reduction in material removal rate. The hydrocarbon dielectric achieved the highest wire feed rate at Δy = 100%, resulting in an 88.5% increase. Conversely, when Δy was reduced, deionized water yielded superior productivity, with a 53.5% improvement. Additionally, surface texture analysis showed a reduction in average roughness (Sa), indicating greater process stability and reduced morphological distortion with deionized water at Δy = 10%, representing a 10.3% improvement over the hydrocarbon-based dielectric. Future work will explore the effects of the recast layer on distinct grade discharge energies to optimize performance across broader machining conditions.

HIERARCHICAL MASS BREAKDOWN FOR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT WITH TRUSS BRACED WINGS

Murat Taflan, Mert Gulum — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper proposes a hierarchical mass breakdown for transport aircraft with truss braced wings. The contribution is not another standalone mass formula, but an integration framework that shows how empirical, semi-empirical, and physics-based mass-estimation methods can be combined without gaps or double counting when an aircraft contains components that are not represented well by conventional handbook mass statements. The need is strongest in novel configurations such as truss braced wing configurations, where the wing box, strut, jury members, and offset often require deeper structural sizing than conventional cantilever wing groups in preliminary design level. The proposed hierarchy maps aircraft mass from takeoff gross weight down to detailed items and, at the same time, visualizes the fidelity level at which each mass method operates. This makes it possible to blend existing aircraft methods with newly developed methods and still roll all results back to operating empty weight and takeoff gross weight in a traceable, accurate way during conceptual and preliminary design phases.

MATTER: International Journal of Science and Technology

PERFORMANCE OF WATER AND HYDROCARBON DIELECTRICS IN WEDM OF CEMENTED CARBIDE

HIERARCHICAL MASS BREAKDOWN FOR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT WITH TRUSS BRACED WINGS