An investigation on wire-EDM of a biodegradable ZE41A magnesium alloy

Abstract

ABSTRACT The ZE41A magnesium alloy is a propitious material for biomedical applications since it offers a concoction of good biocompatible and biodegradable properties. The wire cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is used for machining magnesium alloys primarily because it can produce products with good dimensional accurateness when compared one-on-one with the traditional machining methods. The kerf width and surface roughness are pivotal response factors heavily impacted by WEDM machining parameters. The current research uses WEDM to machine the biodegradable magnesium alloy ZE41A. The preliminary studies were conducted to identify the range of machining parameters by carefully considering kerf width and surface roughness as the responses. The central composite rotatable design determines the optimal experiments to evaluate the response parameters. Based on a comparative analysis, it is clinched that the flushing pressure is a dominant parameter on both kerf width and surface roughness. The experimental data is further processed to develop an empirical or experimental model for both responses as a function of machining parameters. The corroboration experiments were conducted to test the predictability of the experimental model. The accurateness of the empirical model was examined with the experimental results, and the outcomes were found to be satisfactory.