Influence of Pulse-on-Time on the Performance of Wire Electrical Discharge Machining of Ti-6Al-4V Using Zinc Coated Brass Wire

Abstract

The present paper describes the influence of pulse-on-time on performance features such as Metal Removal Rate (MRR), Kerf width, Surface Roughness (SR) on cutting Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) in wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) using zinc coated brass wire. The deionised water is used as dielectric fluid. The process parameters such as wire tension, wire speed, flushing pressure, discharge current, sparking voltage and pulse off time have kept constant at appropriate values throughout the experiment and the pulse on time is varied at nine different intervals. It was found that pulse-on-time is the most significant factor which greatly influences MRR, kerf width, and SR. It was also observed that taper at the end of cutting zone which is unavoidable occurrence for the machined part. This is due to the erosion of wire material. The surface roughness increases with increase in pulse on time also with higher rate of MRR.