Investigation and optimization of wire EDM process parameters for Al 5454 alloy machining

Abstract

In the current research, the use of a wire electric discharge machine (WEDM) to machine aluminium 5454 alloy work material is studied. A zinc-coated brass wire with a diameter of 0.25 mm is used as the tool material, and deionized water is used as the dielectric fluid. In this work, different parameters like pulse on time (Ton), current, power, wire feed rate, wire tension, and flushing pressure are varied for analysis of the performance of material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR). Taguchi L16 is used to design the experiments. Multi-response optimization is done by the multi-response signal-to-noise ratio (MRSN) method to obtain the best combination of parameters. To find the significance of parameters, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique has been used. From the experimental investigation, it was found that current is the most influential parameter and flushing pressure is the least influential parameter for MRR and SR. The optimal level of input parameters obtained using the optimization method for material removal rate and surface roughness are Peak current = 15A, Pulse on time = 32 s, Wire tension = 15 N, Wire feed = 165 mm/min, Power = 25w, flush pressure = 7 bar. The confirmation experiments are conducted to verify the results obtained by the MSRN method. Optimal WEDM settings for machining Al 5454 alloy samples enhanced improvements in material removal rate and surface finish.