An Investigation into Machining Characteristics of Commercially Pure Titanium (Grade-2) Using CNC WEDM

Abstract

Titanium is present in the earth’s crust at a level about 0.6% and is therefore the fourth most abundant structural metal after aluminum, iron, and magnesium. High strength, low density, and excellent corrosion resistance are the main properties that make titanium attractive for a variety of applications. The major application of the material is in the aerospace industry, both in airframes,engine components,steam turbine blades, superconductors, missiles etc. or corrosion resistance, for example marine services, chemical, petrochemical, electronics industry, biomedical instruments etc.In this study, wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is adopted in machining of commercially pure titanium (Grade-2). During experiments, parameters such as Pulse on time, Pulse off time, Peak current, Spark Gap set Voltage, Wire Feed and Wire Tension were changed to explore their effect on the cutting rate, gap current and surface roughness of the machined specimens. The ranges of process parameters for the experiments were decided on the basis of literature survey and the pilot experiments conducted using one factor at a time approach(OFTA). It is found that the intensity of the process energy does affect the cutting rate, gap current and surface roughness as well as, the wire speed, wire tension and dielectric fluid pressure not seeming to have much of an influence.