Investigating the Influence of Process Parameters of ZNC EDM on Machinability of A6061/10% SiC Composite

Abstract

A6061/10% SiC composite has been fabricated by mechanical stir casting process. Fabricated composite has also been characterized through optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray techniques (EDX), and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). The composite has been experimentally investigated for its machinability usingZ-axis numerically controlled (ZNC) electrodischarge machining (EDM) process. The effects of the four process parameters, namely, current, gap voltage, pulse-on time, and pulse-off time are investigated on material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR), and surface roughness (SR) by varying one parameter at a time approach. Optical microscopy and SEM analysis revealed the uniform distribution of SiC particles in aluminum matrix phase. XRD investigation corroborated the elemental composition of 6061 Al alloy and reinforcement particles. Thermal analysis shows stability of composite upto 650°C. The machinability characteristics, namely, MRR, TWR, and SR have been interpreted using graphical representations. The study indicates that all the machining parameters affect the machining performance of A6061/10% SiC composite. Optimum machining performance has been realized at the lower setting of current and pulse-on time and the optimum setting of pulse-off time and gap voltage.

Review of Research Work on Performance Measures in Die Sinking EDM

“…The subsequent considered and influencing parameter found to govern the material removal rate of the work material is pulse on duration or pulse on time (Ton). It has also alike trend as perceived for peak current and the material removal rate increase with rise in the level of pulse on time [3,10,11,18,25,31,34,37,43,52,61,62].…”

“…The researcher proclaimed that voltage is the least determine parameter for material removal rate [10,64,65]. A couple of researchers also deduced that when the value of voltage is increased, the extent of material removal rate in decreased [18,34,64,65].…”

“…Moreover, pulse on time has a similar impact on tool wear rate as that of the peak current. Researchers have discovered that larger pulse on time (Ton) results in higher tool wear rate and smaller pulse on time results in lower tool wear rate [7,18,27,29,34,62]. Few researchers have also concluded that tool wear rate reduces with rise in the level of pulse on time [41,48].…”

Experimental Study on Electrode Wear of Diamond-Nickel Coated Electrode in EDM Small Hole Machining

“…e tool is positioned in the heated coating solution at 80°C as shown in Table 2; for the diamond coating solution, the diamond is added and the solution is kept stirring to prevent the diamond from sinking to the bottom [26][27][28][29].…”

A review on machining of metal matrix composites using nanoparticle mixed dielectric in electro-discharge machining

“…Sivasankar S [118] investigated the influence of process parameters (current, voltage, pulse-on-time, pulse-off-time) while machining Al6061/10%SiC MMC and found the results to be in good agreement with other researchers. Singh, Kumar [119] used the artificial neural network (ANN) technique to develop a reliable model in predicting the tool wear rate with the least predictive error. They used graphite powder in the dielectric to reduce the tool wear rate during machining MMCs.…”