IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | June 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

Experimental Study on Metal Removal Rate of

Al/Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composite using EDM
Process
Sourav Rana
M. Tech Student
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Green Hills Engineering College, Solan

O. S. Bhatia
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Green Hills Engineering College, Solan

Abstract
In recent times, the revolution in the manufacturing industries is the result of the use hybrid non-conventional machining processes.
Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) is an electro-thermal non-traditional machining process, where electrical energy is used to
generate electrical spark and material removal mainly occurs due to thermal energy of the spark. The present paper deals with the
effect of addition Alumina particulates on the metal removal rate using EDM process.
Keywords: Metal Removal Rate, Alumina, MMC, EDM
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I.

INTRODUCTION

The new concept of manufacturing uses non-conventional energy sources like sound, light, mechanical, chemical, electrical,
electrons and ions. With the industrial and technological growth, development of harder and difficult to machine materials, which
find wide application in aerospace, nuclear engineering and other industries owing to their high strength to weight ratio, hardness
and heat resistance qualities has been witnessed. With the time, a lot of discoveries has been made related to the work on the EDM.
In the EDM process, the metal is removing from the work piece due to erosion case by rapidly recurring spark discharge taking
place between the tool and work piece. G.Dusro et.al [1] worked on the fabrication of micro holes using micro-EDM technology.
The investigation focuses on the influence of different electrodes and workpiece materials on the process performance, expressed
in terms of tool wear ratio. S. Dewangan et.al [2] investigated the influence of various EDM process parameters like pulse current
(Ip), pulse-on time (Ton), tool work time (Tw) and tool lift time (Tup) on various aspects of surface integrity like white layer
thickness (WLT), surface crack density (SCD) and surface roughness (SR). P. Narender Singh et al. [3] discussed the evolution of
effect of the EDM current (C), Pulse ON-time (P) and flushing pressure (F) on MRR, TWR, taper (T), ROC, and surface roughness
(SR) on machining as-cast Al-MMC with 10% SiCp. A. Soveja et al [4] have defined the experimental study of the surface laser
texturing of TA6V alloy. The influence of the operating factors on the laser texturing process has been studied using two
experimental approaches: Taguchi methodology and RSM. Lee and X.P.Li [5] showed the effect of the machining parameter in
EDM of tungsten carbide on the machining characteristics. The EDM process with tungsten carbide better machining performances
is obtaining generally with the electrode as the cathode and the workpiece is anode. Tool with negative polarity give the higher
material removal rate, lower tool wear and better surface finish. Puertas and Luis[6] has define the optimization of machining
parameter for EDM of Boron carbide of conductive ceramic materials. It is these conditions that determine such important
characteristics as surface roughness, electrode wear, and MRR. Wang and Lin [7] discuss the optimization of W/Cu composite
martial are used the Taguchi method. W/Cu composites are a type of cooling material highly resistant to heat corrosion produced
through powder metallurgy. Tsai et al [8] had used working martial of graphite, copper and copper alloys are widely using EDM
because these materials have high melting temperature, and excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. The electrodes made by
using powder metallurgy technology from special powders have been used to modify EDM surfaces in recent years, to improve
wear and corrosion resistance. Sameh S. Habib [9] performed the study of parameter in EDM by using the RSM, the parameter
like MRR, TWR, gap size and SR and relevant experimental data were obtained through experimentation. They are using Al/Sic
composites material and shown the correlations between the cutting rates, the surface finish and the physical material parameters
of this process made it difficult to use. Jun Wang et.al [10] investigates in depth the influence of the alternating current flow on the
tool-material interaction, a pulse counting method based on the detection of the current peak has been proposed to count the number
of effective pulses.
II. FABRICATION OF THE COMPOSITE
The addition of abrasive particle in the aluminum mmc for enhancing mechanical properties is well known fact. The fabrication of
the present composite completes with the use of aluminum as matrix and alumina as reinforcement. The fabrication of the MMC
is done up with the help of furnace as shown in figure 1 (a). The aluminum was heated to around 750 degree Celsius before mixing

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13

Experimental Study on Metal Removal Rate of Al/Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composite using EDM Process
(IJSTE/ Volume 2 / Issue 12 / 004)

with alumina particles. The molten aluminum is mixed with the reinforcement using mechanical stir process. The final metal matrix
composite was prepared using mechanical casting method. The experimentation was carried out on prepared sample according to
design of experiments using EDM as shown in figure1 (b) with copper as electrode to get the values of material removal rate.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 1: (a) Furnace and (b) EDM

III. EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The specimens were prepared from the fabricated composite. The investigation on metal removal rate is completed using the
electric discharge machining process. The table 1 shows the metal removal rate of the different specimens at different levels using
design of experiments.
S.no
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Table 1
Metal Removal Rate of Al/Al2O3 Composite
MRR 1
MRR 2
MRR 3
Average MRR S/N Ratio, (dB)
0.017308 0.015385 0.018077
0.017308
-35.2351
0.025
0.030625 0.030625
0.02875
-30.8272
0.058571
0.07
0.064286
0.064286
-23.8377
0.1225
0.1125
0.11
0.115
-18.7860
0.033846 0.032143 0.030667
0.032219
-29.8378
0.063333
0.098
0.073333
0.078222
-22.1334
0.24
0.525
0.23
0.331667
-9.5860
0.16
0.156667 0.163333
0.16
-15.9176
0.081667
0.088
0.076667
0.082111
-21.7120

S/N ratio graphs were generated from S/N ratio obtained based on experimental data of material removal rate. Figure2 shows
the S/N ratio graph obtained for material removal rate using MINITAB.
M a in E ffe c ts P lot fo r S N r a tio s
Da ta M e a ns
IP

-1 5

To n

M e a n o f S N r a t io s

-2 0
-2 5
-3 0
1

To f f

-1 5

Vo lt

-2 0
-2 5
-3 0
1

S igna l-to -no is e : La rge r is be tte r

Fig. 2: S/N Ratio for MRR

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14

Experimental Study on Metal Removal Rate of Al/Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composite using EDM Process
(IJSTE/ Volume 2 / Issue 12 / 004)

Mathematical Model:
A regression based mathematical model was prepared using MINITAB. Equation (1) shows the mathematical regression model.
MRR = 0.0679293 - 0.0779335 IP - 0.20401 Ton - 0.125558 Toff + 0.305832 Volt + 0.0388092 IP*Ip + 0.0410453 Ton*Ton +
0.038599 Toff*Toff - 0.067789 Volt*Volt
(1)
Analysis of Variance
Analysis of variance is a method of portioning variability into identifiable sources of variation and the associated degree of freedom
in an experiment. The frequency test (F-test) is utilized in statistics to analyze the significant effects of the parameters, which form
the quality characteristics. Table 2 shows the result of ANOVA analysis for Material removal rate. This analysis was carried out
for a level of significance of 5%, i.e., for 95% a level of confidence. The last column of the table shows the percent contribution
(P) of each factor as the total variation, indicating its influence on the result.
Table 2
Analysis of Variance for MRR (using Adjusted SS for Tests)
Source DF
Seq SS
Adj SS
Adj MS
F
P
IP
2
0.116601 0.116601 0.058300 18.40 0.000
Ton
2
0.038662 0.038662 0.019331 6.10 0.009
Toff
2
0.023908 0.023908 0.011954 3.77 0.043
Volt
2
0.049212 0.049212 0.024606 7.77 0.004
Error
18 0.057023 0.057023 0.003168
Total
26 0.285406

IV. CONCLUSION
This study concerns the fabrication and experimental investigation of Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composite. The conclusions obtained
from this investigation are as follow:
The fabrication of Al/Al2O3 was successfully completed using mechanical stir casting process.
The composite was successfully machined using electrical discharge machining process and larger value of material
removal rate was found at parametric combination of current =12A,Ton= 6s, volt=50V and Toff at 200 s.
From the analysis of variance it was found that for material removal rate Current most is significant factors.
For Roughness analysis of variance is carried out and it was found that Voltage and pulse off time are the most significant
parameters.
Mathematical regression model was obtained from experimental data for material removal rate with R 2 value 80.02%.
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