Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Optimization of machining parameters of wire-cut EDM on ceramic

particles reinforced Al-metal matrix composites – A review
D. Vijay Praveen a,⇑, D. Ranga Raju b, M.V. Jagannadha Raju c
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Srinivasa Institute of Engineering & Technology, Amalapuram, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, A.U. College of Engineering (A), Vishakhapatnam, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Wire-cut Electrical discharge machining process [WEDM] is used in manufacturing industries to machine
Received 29 March 2019 conductive and hard materials like metal matrix composites, ceramic composites and super alloys, which
Received in revised form 6 May 2019 are having enormous applications in space craft, defense, transportation vehicles, micro systems, farm
Accepted 10 May 2019
machinery etc. Aluminum based ceramic particle reinforced metal matrix materials is one of the key fac-
Available online xxxx
tor in producing composites, which enhances mechanical and thermal properties. These Composites (Al-
MMCs) owing to having higher strength and stiffness are suitable for variety of engineering applications
Keywords:
The current paper reviews the optimization of WEDM machining parameters, responses by deploying dif-
Al-MMC
Wire-cut EDM
ferent techniques.
Optimization Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AMMC Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
Taguchi ence on Recent Advances in Materials, Manufacturing & Energy Systems.

1. Introduction analyzed to determine the ‘‘optimal” machining conditions and

achieve cost efficient machining in combination with high process
Researchers nowadays are showing interests into advanced reliability and reproducibility [2].
materials like ceramic particle reinforced composites, hybrid com- Wire Electrical Discharge Machine (WEDM) is a distinctive pro-
posites; metal particle coated ceramic reinforced MMCs for the motion of Conventional EDM process, which uses an electrode to
development of advanced components for the present generation. initialize the sparking process. WEDM is becoming more important
Conventional machining such as turning, milling, drilling etc. in providing a non-contact machining process, which is suitable for
shows inefficacious in machining of ceramic reinforced MMCs effective machining of MMCs regardless of the hardness and the
[1]. Non-uniform distribution of reinforced particles, high hard- complexity in contours over the components [4].
ness, and higher brittleness leads to poor materials removal rate, WEDM utilizes a incessantly travelling wire electrode made of
excessive tool wear and increased surface roughness [2]. Consecu- skinny copper, brass or tungsten of diameter 0.05–0.30 mm, which
tively to attain complex shapes in the composite materials, is capable of achieving very small corner radii, is fed on-to the
researchers are focusing on non-conventional machining tech- work piece, that is submerged in a tank of dielectric fluid like de-
niques which can be successfully employed to machine composite ionized water. The wire that is consistently fed from a spool is held
materials [3–4] Fig. 1. between upper and lower diamond guides. The guides are usually
Non-Conventional Machining processes are classified with the CNC-controlled and move within the x–y plane. Filters and de-
sort of energy used for the machining of the work materials. i.e. ionizing units are used for controlling the resistivity and other
(Ultrasonic machining, Water jet machining, Abrasive jet machin- electrical properties. The water conjointly helps in flushing away
ing, Thermal Electrical discharge machining, Electron beam the rubble from the cutting zone. The flushing also helps to deter-
machining, Laser beam machining, and chemical machining). Most mine the feed rates to be given for a variety of thickness of the
of these non-conventional machining processes are still need to be materials. During the WEDM method, the material is battered
ahead of the wire and there’s no direct contact between the work
piece and also the wire, eliminating the mechanical stresses during
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: d.vijay.praveen@gmail.com (D. Vijay Praveen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.392
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials, Manufacturing & Energy Systems.

Please cite this article as: D. Vijay Praveen, D. Ranga Raju and M. V. Jagannadha Raju, Optimization of machining parameters of wire-cut EDM on ceramic
particles reinforced Al-metal matrix composites – A review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.392
2 D. Vijay Praveen et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig.1. schematic diagram of wire cut EDM [18].

machining. The following figure shows the schematic diagram of regression model for surface roughness height (Ra) of SiC rein-
Wire cut EDM experimental setup. forced Al metal matrix composite during WEDM. An attempt had
been made to optimize the process parameters for surface rough-
2. WEDM process parameters ness height (Ra) and also discussed the possible reasons of various
surface defects. Kumar Dinesh et al. [8] Investigated the effect of
Input machining process parameters can be broadly classified process parameters on the combined objective of maximum Metal
as electrical parameters and non electrical parameters. Electrical Removal Rate (MRR) and minimum Surface Roughness (SR) during
parameters are servo voltage, pulse on time, pulse off time, peak machining of AA7178-10 wt% ZrB2 composite using Taguchi based
current, Gap voltage etc. Non electrical parameters such as wire Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and revealed that peak current and
material, wire tension, wire feed rate, wire size, dielectric flow rate, pulse on time are influencing the machining factors. L16 orthogonal
dielectric conductivity, work piece material and work piece size. array, for the four machining parameters at four levels each, was
opted to conduct the experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was performed to find the validity of the experimental data. Dey
3. WEDM machining features
et al. [9] analyzed the effects of significant machining parameters
on the performance characteristics using Box Behnken of response
The following are the characteristics of the WEDM, which must
surface methodology. ANOVA analysis was imposed to investigate
be optimized for economy and better performance. They are Metal
the influence of process variables and their interactions and con-
Removal rate (MRR), Surface Roughness (Ra) [5,6].
cluded that surface roughness decreases with the increase of pulse
on time.
3.1. Metal removal rate (MRR) Udaya Prakash et al. [10] used S/N analysis for optimizing the
WEDM input parameters of 356/B4C composites for better MRR
MRR can be obtained by the ratio between volume of material and concluded that gap voltage has highest influence on MRR
removal to time taken for the machining. It highly influences the and also studied the effect of reinforcement. Ugrasen et al. [11]
efficiency of the machining process. It depends upon the parame- investigated on estimation of machining performances in the
ters which are related with the machining process. Many authors WEDM of Al-2024-5%TiC-5% fly ash hybrid metal matrix composite
had worked to maximize the material removal rate using different using Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and Group Method of
approaches. Data Handling (GMDH) technique. They concluded that dimen-
sional error can be minimized by low pulse off and low current
3.2. Surface roughness (Ra) and maximum MRR can be achieved at high bed speed and high
pulse on.
The surface roughness (Ra) value of the square block is quanti- Mohinder Pal Garg et al. [12] investigated the dimensional devi-
fied in lm by using a surface roughness tester SJ-210, which is very ation induced by WEDM of zirconium silicate reinforced Al6063
important parameter to be minimized. To attain good surface fin- using RSM. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique is used to ana-
ish, there is need to control the influencing parameters like di- lyze the characteristics and confirmation experiments had also
electric medium, material and electrical parameters. Several been conducted for verification and concluded that dimensional
researchers suggested that to achieve good surface finish electrical deviation impacted by large values of pulse on time, peak current.
discharge current must be controlled. Shubhajit Das et al. [13] used RSM modeling to analyze the influ-
ence of process parameters of WEDM process of Al-6061 metal
4. Literature review matrix composite (MMC) reinforced with 7%SiC/ 3%B4C hybrid
MMCs and the machining characteristics are evaluated using desir-
The following literature describes the research findings carried ability analysis (DA) and suggested that voltage and pulse-on time
out by various authors on different types of MMCs, techniques are more influencing factors on surface roughness. Pramanik et al.
used, their responses, which lead to future research prospects. [14] investigated the effect of the size of reinforced particles on
Harmesh kumar et al. [7] Analyzed the process parameters for Al6061alloy with 10% of SiC reinforced MMCs while wire electrical
surface roughness height and used RSM based Box–Behnken discharge machining in terms of material removal rate (MRR),
design for experimental investigation and developed quadratic surface integrity and wear of wire electrodes (WEs).

Please cite this article as: D. Vijay Praveen, D. Ranga Raju and M. V. Jagannadha Raju, Optimization of machining parameters of wire-cut EDM on ceramic
particles reinforced Al-metal matrix composites – A review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.392
 D. Vijay Praveen et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Chengal Reddy [15] used Taguchi’s grey relational analysis to results obtained by initial parameters setting, response surface
optimize the process parameters on multiple performance charac- methodology and grey relational technology have been compared
teristics such as Material removal rate, surface finish. The results and validated by confirm experiments.
showed that the combination of pulse on time, pulse off time, wire Pragya Shandilya et al. [25] described the response of the sur-
tension, lower flush, wire tension and upper flush is essential to face methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN)
achieve maximization of material removal rate and minimization which are based on mathematical modeling for average cutting
of surface roughness and kerf width. Naga Raju et al. [16] had stud- speed of the SiCp/6061 Al metal matrix composite (MMC) during
ied the effect of machining parameters (i.e. pulse on time, pulse off the operation of the WEDM. To evaluate the model a back propaga-
time and peak current) on Al alloy with 5% SiC while WEDM and tion neural networks has also developed for process model and
concluded with optimal machining characteristics. Ravindranadh concluded that on comparison of ANN and RSM models, ANN pro-
Bobbili et al. [17] had carried out a comparative study between vided more accurate value with the average cutting speed.
AL7017 and RHA steel using Buckingham Pi theorem establish Pragya Shandilya et al. [26] studied the effect of process param-
the relationship between machine variables and performance mea- eters on kerf in WEDM of Sic particle reinforced Al6061 using RSM.
sures. Results revealed that wear rate of brass wire increases with In addition mathematical model was developed. He revealed that
increase in input energy leads to wire breakage. He had shown the for minimization of kerf, input parameters played major role.
dependence of thermo physical parameters on the mechanism of Satish kumar et al. [27] investigated the effect of wire electrical
MRR and Ra. discharge machining (WEDM) parameters on material removal
Ravindranadh Bobbili et al. [18] had performed experimenta- rate and surface roughness in metal matrix composites consisting
tion on WEDM on ballistic grade aluminum alloy material as per of aluminium alloy (Al6063) reinforced with silicon carbide (SiCp
Taguchi technique. He developed mathematical model using RSM with 5%, 10% and 15% volume fractions. The experiments are con-
and determined the relation between machine variables and per- ceded out as per design of experiments approach with L9, orthog-
formance measures. Ashish Srivastava et al. [19] carried out the onal array. It is concluded that optimal combinations of process
experimental study on composite of Al2024/SiC investigate the parameters are revealed to achieve higher MRR and lower Ra for
effects parameters such as current, pulse on time and volume frac- Al6063WEDM process parameters and effect of reinforcement
tion on surface finish and MRR. Response surface methodology was also discussed.
technique applied to optimize the machining parameters for min- Ahmad et al. [28] had proposed a methodology to determine the
imum surface roughness and maximum MRR. He revealed that sur- optimal machining parameters to investigate the machinability of
face roughness increases with the increase of reinforcement AMC reinforced 5% alumina (Al2O3) using wire-cut electric dis-
percentage, pulse on time and MRR increased with increase in peak charge machining (WEDM). It is concluded that lower value of
current and pulse on time. servo voltage can increase the MRR. Nilesh Patil et al. [29] pro-
Babu rao et al. [20] investigated machining performance of SiCp posed a semi-empirical model, developed using dimensional anal-
reinforced Al7075 during WEDM. Response surface methodology is ysis and non-linear estimation technique such as quasi-Newton
used to build up the pragmatic models and Analysis of variance and simplex, for MRR in WEDM based on thermo-physical proper-
(ANOVA) is used to confirm the capability of the developed models. ties of the work piece and machining parameters. To study the
Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II was used to solve the effect of combination of reinforcement, current, pulse on-time,
developed problem and the results were validated by experimental off-time, servo reference voltage etc. are analyzed the use of the
tests. Selvakumar et al. [21] optimized the machining parameters Taguchi’s orthogonal array. It is concluded that Predictions of the
of Al 5083 alloy while WEDM. ANOVA test was performed to deter- empirical as well as empirical models agree with the experimental
mine to level of significance of parameters on cutting speed and responses and revealed that with the increase percentage of rein-
surface roughness and revealed that cutting speed was indepen- forcement causes decreased MRR. Manna and Bhattacharyya [30]
dent of wire tension and surface roughness is independent of pulse focused on the reliable set off parameters that demonstrate versa-
off time and wire tension. Bagherian Azhiri et al. [22] analyzed tility and numerous and diverse range by taking aluminium-
experimental dry WEDM process to enhance the machining envi- reinforced silicon carbide metal matrix composite material.
ronment by replacing the liquid with gas medium while machining Taguchi method is used for experimental design to optimize the
of Al/SiC MMC. ANOVA is used to identifying significant factors and CNC-wire cut-EDM parameters. On the basis of the experimental
to correlate relation between input parameters and responses results, the calculated S/N ratio(dB), the analysis of ANOVA,
Adaptive – neuro fuzzy system has been used. It is observed that F-test values, confirmation test results, the developed mathemati-
brass wire results to higher cutting velocity in the presence of oxy- cal models, and the verification test of the developed models, con-
gen gas. From ANOVA, wire tension also important parameter cluded that wire tension and wire federate are most important
which influences the machining responses. Amalgamation of low parameters for surface roughness. Gap voltage and gap current
pulse on time, high pulse off time, high gap voltage, low discharge are most significant parameters to for controlling gap current.
current, low wire feed and low wire tension can leads to lower sur- Biing Hwa Yan et al. [31] explored the machinability of the
face roughness. 6061aluminum alloy and the 20 volume fraction Al2O3p/6061 Al
Meena et al. [23] performed the experimental work on Al6063 composites by WEDM and studied the effects on machining perfor-
alloy reinforced with SiC, while wire cut EDM to investigate the mance including cutting speed, width of slit and surface roughness.
effect of process parameters on machining characteristics, revealed It is concluded that increasing volume fraction facilitated wire
that with the increase of wire tension, cutting speed and MRR breakage and revealed the effects of reinforcement on wire break-
increased up to some extent and then decreased. Authors con- age, machining responses, craters etc. Z.N. Guo [32] explained how
cluded with optimum values for maximum MRR and minimum electrical parameters have influence the surface roughness and
surface roughness. Sanjeev Garg et al. [24] had carried out an conducted orthogonal experiment and revealed that low energy
experimental investigation on AL/ZrO2 particulate reinforced metal will cause the wire breakage; proper pulse interval should be
matrix while WEDM machining to analyze the effect of various selected. It is concluded that quality machining can be attained
process parameters on machining responses. Multi-optimized when proper parameters are selected.

Please cite this article as: D. Vijay Praveen, D. Ranga Raju and M. V. Jagannadha Raju, Optimization of machining parameters of wire-cut EDM on ceramic
particles reinforced Al-metal matrix composites – A review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.392
4 D. Vijay Praveen et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Please cite this article as: D. Vijay Praveen, D. Ranga Raju and M. V. Jagannadha Raju, Optimization of machining parameters of wire-cut EDM on ceramic
particles reinforced Al-metal matrix composites – A review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.392