RSM-based measurement of cutting performance on Al 7075 T6 aero-structural alloy using WEDM

Abstract

Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is a machining method commonly used in the aerospace, die making, automotive, and biomedical fields for machining complex and challenging shapes of conductive materials. WEDM is used in manufacturing to reduce power consumption while maintaining product quality. The current study used Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to investigate the relationship of WEDM parameters with surface roughness, kerf width, and power consumption for environmental concerns. Cutting parameters such as feed rate, pulse width, pulse space, and wire speed were chosen for experimental studies using 0.18 mm Guangming Molybdenum alloy wire. RSM was used to design experiments, analyze, and optimize WEDM independent parameters to minimize surface roughness, power consumption, and kerf width. The experiments yielded optimal cutting parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine important cutting parameters. Furthermore, a validation experiment was carried out to verify the performance of the optimum cutting parameters, which were found to be in good agreement with the experimental values. As a result, the most effective parameters for surface roughness, cutting power, and kerf width were discovered to be pulse width (67.96%), wire speed (54.96%), and pulse width (63.65%), respectively.