Investigating the influence of WEDM process parameters in machining of hybrid aluminum composites

Abstract

This article presents an experimental investigation to assess the influence of input process parameters of machinability of wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) process for machining of triple-reinforced silicon carbide, graphite, and iron oxide hybrid aluminum (Al-6061) metal matrix composites. The composite work specimens, developed using stir casting process, have been processed through WEDM process by adopting a statistically controlled design of experimentation approach. Furthermore, analysis of variance and regression analysis have been performed to understand the influence of the input process parameters on material removal rate (MRR) and spark gap (SG) width. The statistical analysis highlighted the improvements in MRR and SG by 33.72% and −27.28%, respectively, upon adopting the suggested optimized range of input process parameters. Further, the morphology of the machined composite surfaces has also been studied using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy to report the phenomenon of formation of recast layer.