Effect of Wire Electric Discharge Machining Parameters on Material Removal Rate in Machining of Titanium Grade 7 Alloy

Abstract

Titanium alloys are widely used in various fields, including the medical field, the automotive and manufacturing sectors. Traditional machining processes are only useful for a limited number of tasks due to the detrimental effects they have on the strength and stiffness of the machined alloys. However, one of the most favoured post-processing equipment used to obtain a high-quality surface is the wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) technology. The most crucial aspects of WEDM are the rates of the electrical current and voltage, in addition to the pulse-on and pulse-off durations. As a form of wire, WEDM makes use of brass wire that has been zinc-coated. The WEDM method is utilised in the machining of titanium alloy of grade 7 for this project. The surface of titanium grade 7 that had been processed using WEDM was analysed with a scanning electron microscope. The pictures revealed that the material exhibits homogenous solidification and a columnar grain structure along the build direction. As the pulse-on time gets longer, the Material Removal Rate (MRR) also gets higher. When the pulse-on time is set to 60 µs, the greatest MRR that can be achieved is 7.357 mm3/min. As the pulse-off duration gets longer, the MRR is getting lower. At a pulse-off time of 20 µs, the minimal MRR is reached, and it is equivalent to 5.935 mm3/min. At a peak current 6A, the highest MRR is measured is equivalent to 7.795 mm3/min.