Title: Effect of reinforced particle size on wire EDM of MMCs

Authors: A. Pramanik; A.K. Basak; M.N. Islam

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia ' Adelaide Microscopy, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of the size of reinforced particles on wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) of metal matrix composites (MMCs) in terms of material removal rate (MRR), surface integrity and wear of wire electrodes (WEs). It was found that larger particles significantly reduced the MRR, as they were better able to protect the matrix material from EDM sparks compared to smaller particles. The machined surfaces were full of solidified melted matrix, splashes of melted material, cavities and blisters, which are not significantly affected by particle size. Spattering and splashing might have contributed to the transfer of materials between the WE and the MMCs. The diameter of the WE was reduced nonlinearly with the increased size of the reinforced particles after machining. The smallest reduction in electrode diameter occurred in the unreinforced matrix material.

Keywords: machinability; wire EDM; WEDM; electrical discharge machining; metal matrix composites; MMCs; reinforcement size; reinforced particle size; electro-discharge machining; material removal rate; MRR; surface integrity; electrode wear; wire electrodes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMM.2015.070918

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2015 Vol.17 No.2, pp.139 - 149

Received: 11 Dec 2014
Accepted: 03 Feb 2015
Published online: 31 Jul 2015 *

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