Optimization of process parameters for wire electrical discharge machining of aluminium based metal matrix composite by Taguchi’s approach

Abstract

Aluminum alloy is a common material used in various engineering projects due to its exceptional properties. Due to its exceptional mechanical properties, composites are becoming more popular.Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) showing better properties than aluminium alloy by the addition of reinforcements such as Al2O3, SiC, BC and BN. Due to this, the machining of these materials becomes difficult by conventional methods of machining and there is a need of developing alternate machining practices. WEDM (Wire Electrical Discharge Machining) is one type of non-traditional forms of cutting that was intended for machining harder materials. The various independent variables considered in this investigation are pulse on duration (Ton), pulse off duration (Toff) to study the effects of these variables on various performance indicators, such as surface roughness, material removal rate. Multiple Regression Analysis was adopted to analyze the relationship between the various process variables and the consequent desired output attributes.