MULTI-PARAMETRIC OPTIMIZATION OF WIRE-EDM MACHINING ON ARTIFICIALLY-AGED AL6061/B4C COMPOSITE USING RSM AND GREY RELATIONAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Wire-electric discharge machining (W-EDM) is an advanced technology used for machining hard-to-cut materials with high hardness. Therefore, it is critical to characterize and model the Wire-ED machining performance for new materials having remarkable mechanical properties with respect to the multiple control parameters involved in the process. In this light, the present study investigates the multi-parametric optimization of current, pulse-on time (Ton), and pulse-off time (Toff) on material removal rate (MRR), kerf width (KW), surface roughness (Ra) for Wire-EDM of artificially aged Al6061/B4C composite using response surface method (RSM) and grey relational analysis (GRA). The results of the investigation revealed that, Toff has the most significant impact on the multi-parametric response, with a percentage-wise contribution of 38% from the analysis of variance. The optimization results established that a multi-parametric combination of current – 6 A, Ton – 42.5253 µs, and Toff – 10 µs achieved the optimum response of MRR – 1.7036 mg/min, KW – 0.1727 mm, and Ra – 5.6525 µm. The results obtained herewith have practical relevance to Wire-EDM industry for manufacturing applications.