The applications of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPCs) in aerospace, automotive, electronics and lab-on-chip devices require precise machining processes. Over the past decade, there have been numerous attempts to machine CFRPCs using both traditional and unconventional machining techniques. However, because of their limitations, these methods have not gained widespread acceptance. In the present research investigation, Electrochemical Discharge Machining (ECDM) process has been employed to produce micro-holes on CFRPC. The experimental strategy was scheduled using L9 orthogonal array keeping applied voltage, electrolyte concentration and inter-electrode gap as input parameters. The material removal rate (MRR) and overcut were selected as output parameters. The technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology was executed for multi-response optimization. The overcut and MRR of machined samples improved from 150 µm to 48 µm and 2.232 mg/min to 2.1267 mg/min correspondingly while using the optimum parametric settings of the TOPSIS approach. The shape of drilled micro-holes produced by the TOPSIS process is indicative of a machined surface of superior quality, with a reduction in the number of micro-cracks and a diameter that is uniform.
Keywords: TOPSIS; Taguchi’s method; carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite; electrochemical discharge machining; micro-holes; morphology.