A study on material removal rate of Cu-Al-Mn shape memory alloys in WEDM

Abstract

Wire Electric discharge Machining (WEDM) is a non-traditional machining process and considered as an important machining method in case of manufacturing of tools, to produce dies and molds. The material is removed from the workpiece only when the spark is generated by electric pulse generators at short intervals between the wire electrode and the workpiece in the presence of dielectric medium. In recent years the use of copper based shape memory alloys is high because it plays a major role in manufacturing industries due to its low cost and ease of manufacturing. The present study is to determine machining parameters of Cu-Al-Mn(CAM) Shape Memory Alloys (SMA’s) in WEDM to achieve good machinability and to know the effect of input parameters on material removal rate (MRR). If the percentage of manganese is more in Cu-Al-Mn SMA’s then the ductility of that alloy will also be more. The rolled samples were subjected to a bend test to determine its shape memory effect (SME). The cylindrical specimens of size 100 mm (L) × 12 mm (D) were used to determine its machinability parameters in WEDM. The specimens exhibiting shape memory effect will be subject to machining in WEDM. The input parameters considered were Pulse off time (Toff), Pulse on time (Ton), and peak current (A) and the output parameter was Material Removal Rate (MRR). The Taguchi method has been selected to reduce the number of experiments to be carried out and to determine the machining parameters of Cu-Al-Mn SMA’s in WEDM. It was found that as Ton and peak current increases, the MRR also increase, but decreases with an increase in Toff.