Experimental investigation of process parameters in Wire-EDM of Ti-6Al-4 V

Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) is a recent technique that is useful in machining Ti-6Al-4 V alloy, which is a material that is preferred in many industries due to its exceptional hardness. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of WEDM process parameters on the machining characteristics of Ti-6Al-4 V alloy. The 4-axis CNC WEDM machine that was used in this study had brass wire as the electrode and de-ionized water as the dielectric fluid. The parameters under investigation were the peak current (Ip), pulse on time (TON), pulse off time (TOFF), and servo voltage (SV) set at 3 levels each. The experimentation was based on Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array design. The material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness of machined ash components were Ra. A total of three Ra results were analyzed using ANOVA. It was shown that response surface methodology, pulse time ton and peak electric current had more significant effects on MRR. Effect-wise results indicated that peak current and time on P ring test allow surface finish to be within MRR levels. It is peak electric current that determines a 72.75% effect on MRR whereas extreme time has an 11.68 balanced effect on peak current. In the case of Ra, peak electric current and extreme pulse time remain dominant factors. The results suggest that higher Ra is favored by less increase in input energy as both peak current and time have been decreased.