Investigation On Material Removal Rate of Al + 6% B C MMC in Wire Electrical Discharge Machining Process

INVESTIGATION ON MATERIAL REMOVAL RATE OF
Al + 6% B4C MMC IN WIRE ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE

MACHINING PROCESS
Shanju Jossian ¹, Dr. S. Gowri ²

1
PG student
Dept of manufacturing engineering
CEG, Anna University, Chennai
Tamilnadu
Email: shanjuneo17@gmail.com
² Registrar
Anna University of Technology Chennai
CPT Campus, Tharamani
Chennai - 600 113
Tamilnadu
Abstract
Aluminum based Metal matrix composites (MMC) are newly developed advanced composite
materials having properties of high strength, light weight and good wear resistance. It is
nowadays widely used in many industries. Metal matrix composites contain certain amount of
reinforcement material, which make it difficult to machine with conventional cutting tools and
methods. The present study analysis the effect of wire electric discharge machining (WEDM)
parameters namely Voltage, Pulse-on time, Pulse-off time, Wire feed on metal removal rate of
Al + 6% B4C composite .An L9 orthogonal array (OA), for the four machining parameters at
three levels each, was opted to conduct the experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
performed and the optimal levels for maximizing the responses were established.
Keywords: Al-B4C, metal matrix composite, Wire Electrical Discharge machining, Design of
Experiments, Material Removal Rate.
1. Introduction
Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been around for a long time, but have only been
recognized as legitimate engineering composite material in the second half of the twentieth
century. From their humble research beginnings, MMCs have gone from “niche” materials to
several high performance applications in aerospace, electronic packaging and automotive
industries [1]. Aluminum based matrix composites with ceramic particle reinforcements combine
the high ductility and toughness of aluminum with the high modulus and tensile strength
ceramics. These MMCs are primarily particulate reinforced aluminum alloys for cast products,
the composite is typically an aluminum casting alloy reinforced with SiC or Al2O3. The
aluminum alloy reinforced with discontinuous ceramic reinforcements is rapidly replacing
conventional materials in various automotive, aerospace and automobile industries [2].
Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a specialized thermal machining process

capable of accurately machining parts with varying hardness or complex shapes, which have
sharp edges that are very difficult to be machined by the main stream machining processes. Since
the introduction of the process, WEDM has evolved from a simple means of making tools and
dies to the best alternative of producing micro-scale parts with the highest degree of dimensional
accuracy and surface finish quality. A copper or brass tool electrode is normally used in the
process and the work piece to be machined is immersed in a dielectric fluid tank. By applying a
switching DC voltage supply to the tool electrode and the work piece, high frequency electrical
sparks will be generated such that the very high temperature of the order of 12,000 DC
developed locally will melt and vaporize the work piece to form the required cavity, which is the
exact replica of the tool electrode. Wire-Cut EDM process uses a thin brass wire of diameter
about 0.1 to 0.3 mm as the electrode and the work piece is mounted on a CNC-controlled
worktable, enabling complex two-dimensional shapes can be cut on the work piece by
controlling the movement of the X-Y worktable[3-5].
Lloyd (1994) reported that vortex mixing technique was suitable for the preparation of ceramic
particle dispersed aluminum composite. The vortex mixing technique for the preparation of
ceramic particle dispersed aluminum matrix composites was developed by Surappa and Rohatgi.
The stir casting involves incorporation of ceramic particulate into liquid aluminum melt and
allowing the mixture to solidify. Here, the crucial thing is to create good wetting between the
particulate reinforcement and the liquid aluminum alloy melt. The simplest and most
commercially used technique is known as vortex technique or stir casting technique. The vortex
technique involves the introduction of pre-treated ceramic particles into the vortex of molten
alloy created by the rotating impeller. [6-7].
2. Experimental Details
2.1 Experimental procedure
Composite samples were prepared by stir casting route. The amounts of the matrix material and
the reinforcements were determined using the relation ρc = ρmVm + ρrVr, where ρm, ρr are the
densities of the materials of the matrix and the reinforcement respectively and Vm, Vr are
volume fractions of the matrix and the reinforcement respectively. ρc is the density of the
composite. The melting was carried out in a muffle furnace. Scraps of aluminum were preheated
at 450°C for 1.5 to 2 h before melting. The B4C particles were also preheated at around 900 to
1000°C to make their surfaces oxidized. The preheated aluminum scraps were heated above the
liquid state temperature to melt them completely. The preheated reinforcements were then added
and mixed manually. The composite slurry was then reheated to a fully liquid state and
mechanical mixing was carried out for about 20–25 min at an average mixing speed of 150–300
rpm. The final temperature was controlled to be within 750°C±10°C and pouring temperature
was controlled to be around 720°C. After thorough stirring the melt was poured into steel moulds
and allowed to cool to obtain composite samples. The samples were then used for the
machinability analysis using WEDM.
2.2 Work piece and wire electrode
The work piece material used in this study was LM 25 Aluminium alloy as matrix and boron
carbide as reinforcement (particle size 20µ). The wire electrode material used in this study was
brass of diameter .25mm
Figure 1. EDAX pattern of the plain LM 25 aluminum alloy.
2.3 Design of experiments
The experiment was designed using Taguchi’s design of experiments. L9 orthogonal array was
chosen. The effect of interactions was not taken into account. Table 1 shows the control factors
and their settings for the experiments. The results of ANOVA were obtained by using
ANOVA_TM package and response graph by MINITAB 16 software.
Table 1 Control factors and their range of settings for the experiments
S.No Control Factor Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
1 Pulse on time (μs) 6 8 10
2 Pulse of time (μs) 6 8 10
3 Wire speed (m/min) 6 8 10
4 Voltage (V) 50 55 60
2.4 Machine details
The WEDM studies were conducted in an Electronica make Ecocut model WEDM machine.
The tool electrode material used is brass. The pulse- on time used is 6, 8 and 10 μs. The pulse-off
time is 6, 8 and 10 μs. The voltage used is 50, 55 and 60 V. The dielectric used is deionized
water.
2.5 Material removal rate (MRR)

The output parameter considered in this work is material removal rate and material removal rate
(MRR) was calculated by using the formula,
MRR = K*T*V*ρ
Where k = kerfs width (mm)
T = thickness (mm)
V = machining speed (mm/min)
ρ = density (g/cm³)
3. Results and Discussion
Calculation on S/N ratio for MRR

The objective of this study is to maximize the material removal rate, therefore the S/N
ratio for larger the better was selected and it is given by
η = -10 log 10 (1/yi2)
Where η – S/N ratio
yi – measured value of output parameter

The S/N ratios for MRR were calculated and they are given in Table 2 and the factor
effect diagram for S/N ratio of response variable is shown in the Fig. 2.
Table 2 S/N ratios for MRR

Pulse-on Pulse-off
time time Wire Feed Rate
(Ton) (Toff) (F) MRR
Sl.No (µs) (µs ) (m/min) Voltage (V) (g/min) S/N RATIO
1 6 6 6 50 0.051456 -25.7713
2 8 8 8 50 0.050386 -25.9538
3 10 10 10 50 0.04793 -26.3879
4 6 8 10 55 0.04187 -27.5619
5 8 10 6 55 0.04198 -27.5392
6 10 6 8 55 0.049929 -26.0329
7 6 10 8 60 0.384376 -8.30487
8 8 6 10 60 0.045007 -26.9344
9 10 8 6 60 0.044132 -27.1049
Fig.2. Factor effect diagram
From the graph, it is observed that as the MRR value increases with increase in Pulse-on time
value .The MRR decreases with the increase in pulse-off time value. As the Wire feed rate value
increase up to an optimal level, the MRR also increases. Finally MRR increase with increase in
voltage then decreases after optimum value is reached. The most influencing parameter to obtain
higher MRR is Pulse-on time and voltage. The optimal combination of process parameters for
material removal rate is given below,
 Pulse –on time – 10µs

 Pulse –off time – 6µs
 Wire Feed – 10m/min
 Voltage – 55 V
Table 3. Response table for Signal to Noise ratios

Level Ton Toff Wire feed Voltage
1 -26.04 -26.25 -26.25 -26.81
2 -27.04 -26.87 -26.87 -20.10
3 -20.78 -20.74 -20.74 -26.96
Delta 6.26 6.13 6.13 6.86
Rank 2 3 4 1
Table 4 ANOVA for mean S/N ratios
Factor DF SS V F S' ρ
Pulse-on
2 7.3808 2.4404 23.6378 4.9118 52.30
time
Pulse-off
2 3.6768 1.2869 4.7779 2.251 8.02
time
Wire Feed 2 3.2227 1.8043 15.6933 2.6127 2.32
Voltage 2 0.4800 0.1900 29.32
Error 2 0.5800 0.2900 2.8231 8..04
Total 8 14.7603 1.4802
(e)- pooled error, Y-pooled factor, DF-Degrees of freedom, SS-Sum of Square, V-Error
Variance, F-Variance ratio, S'-Pure sum of square, ρ- Contribution
Fig. 3 SEM micrograph of the microstructure of Al–6%B4C composite
4. Conclusions
Aluminum alloy-boron carbide composite was developed using stir casting method. Effect of
(WEDM) parameters on metal removal rate was studied. The following findings are reported.
 Pulse-on time μs – 10, Pulse-off time – 6 μs, Wire Feed 10 m/min, Voltage –55V.
 The Pulse-on time is the most significant factor which contributes about 52.30% to get
higher material removal rate.
 Pulse-off time and voltage have contributes of 8.02% and 29.32% respectively in
affecting the material removal rate.
 Wire feed has very less contribution of 2.32% in affecting the material removal rate.
Finally it is concluded that the most significant factors that affect the material removal rate are in
the following order: Pulse-on time, Pulse-off time, Voltage and Wire feed.
References
[1] Garg RK, Singh KK, Sachdeva A, Sharma VS, Ojha K, Singh S (2010),‫ ״‬Review of
research work in sinking EDM and WEDM on metal matrix composite materials”, Int J Adv
Manuf Technol 50:611-624.
[2] Ho KH, Newman ST, Rahimifard S, Allen RD (2004),‫ ״‬State of the art in wire electrical
discharge machining (WEDM)”, Int J Mach Tools Manuf 44: 1247-1259.
[3] Scott D, Boyina S, Rajurkar KP (1991),‫ ״‬Analysis and optimization of parameter

combinations in wire electrical discharge machining”, Int J Prod Res 29 (11): 2189-2207.
[4] R.N. Ahmad, M.N. Derman, M. Marzuki(2007),‫ ״‬Primary study on machiability of

aluminium matrix composite using WEDM”, International Journal of Engineering & Technology
IJET-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 06
[5] A. Riaz Ahamed & P. Asokan & S. Aravindan (2009),‫ ״‬EDM of hybrid Al–SiCp–B4Cp and
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discharge machining of Al–10%SiCP as-cast metal matrix composites”, Journal of Materials
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INVESTIGATION ON MATERIAL REMOVAL RATE OF

Al + 6% B4C MMC IN WIRE ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE

Shanju Jossian ¹, Dr. S. Gowri ²

Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a specialized thermal machining process

2.1 Experimental procedure

2.2 Work piece and wire electrode

Figure 1. EDAX pattern of the plain LM 25 aluminum alloy.

2.3 Design of experiments

S.No Control Factor Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

1 Pulse on time (μs) 6 8 10

2 Pulse of time (μs) 6 8 10

3 Wire speed (m/min) 6 8 10

2.5 Material removal rate (MRR)

3. Results and Discussion

Calculation on S/N ratio for MRR

yi – measured value of output parameter

Table 2 S/N ratios for MRR

 Pulse –on time – 10µs

Table 3. Response table for Signal to Noise ratios

1 -26.04 -26.25 -26.25 -26.81

2 -27.04 -26.87 -26.87 -20.10

3 -20.78 -20.74 -20.74 -26.96

Delta 6.26 6.13 6.13 6.86

Wire Feed 2 3.2227 1.8043 15.6933 2.6127 2.32

Voltage 2 0.4800 0.1900 29.32

Error 2 0.5800 0.2900 2.8231 8..04

Total 8 14.7603 1.4802

Fig. 3 SEM micrograph of the microstructure of Al–6%B4C composite

[3] Scott D, Boyina S, Rajurkar KP (1991),‫ ״‬Analysis and optimization of parameter

[4] R.N. Ahmad, M.N. Derman, M. Marzuki(2007),‫ ״‬Primary study on machiability of

[6] P. Narender Singh , K. Raghukandan , M. Rathinasabapathi, B.C. Pai(2004),‫ ״‬Electric

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