Taguchi Analysis of MRR and PC for Sustainable Machining of Ti6Al4V Alloy Using WEDM Process

Abstract

Wire-cut electrical discharge machining (WEDM) has emerged as the most important non-traditional machining technique in the recent years due to its exceptional accuracy and capability to produce net near shape components of electrically conductive materials. Ti-6Al-4V alloy is a hard-to-machine material and popularly used in bio-medical, aerospace, automotive, defence applications etc. due to its distinct merits. In this work, Taguchi optimization technique is applied to obtain optimum cutting conditions for material removal rate (MRR) and power consumption (PC) in WEDM of Ti6Al4V alloy. The result showed 16.38% improvement in MRR and 10.36% reduction in PC at the optimal parameter settings compared to initial cutting conditions. ANOVA result established pulse off time and current as highly significant process parameters affecting MRR (I: 56.58%, Toff: 23.57%) and PC (Toff: 43.26%, I: 31.24%). The response surface variation PC and MRR is studied using 3D plots. Surface morphology of machined component using scanning electron microscope images is also discussed.