Investigation of material removal rate and surface roughness during electrical discharge machining on Al (6061)-5%SiC-10%B4C hybrid composite

Abstract

Electrode Discharge Mechanism (EDM) is a manufacturing process using controlled sparks that occur between an electrically conductive workpiece and an electrode in the presence of an insulating liquid. The EDM process is commonly used to manufacture metallic matrix compounds that have wide applications in the railway sectors and the aircraft industry. Aluminum metal matrix composites (AMMCs) are one of the important kinds of metallic matrix compounds due to their advanced characteristics, such as lightweight and high strength. This lightweight material was developed and used in various manufacturing processes, like the automobile industry to reduce vehicle weight and thus reduce fuel consumption. This paper discussed the experiments of the EDM that were conducted to examine the effect of machining parameters, including peak current (10, 20, and 30 A), pulse on different times (50, 100, and 200 µsec), duty factors (4, 6, and 8) on the material removal rate, and surface roughness of the Al (6061)-5%SiC-10%B4C hybrid composite as workpiece using copper electrode tool by Box-Behnken design. The analysis data for the dependent and independent variables manifested that the influence of machine parameters whenever Ip and Pon increase, the MRR and Ra increase.