Title: Study on parametric influence, optimisation and modelling in micro-WEDM of Al alloy

Authors: R. Vijayaraj, S. Gowri

Addresses: Department of Manufacturing Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai, India. ' Department of Manufacturing Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai, India

Abstract: Micro-WEDM is a versatile technique used to machine electrically conductive materials to make components for micro system technologies. This paper presents an attempt to develop an appropriate machining strategy for micro-WEDM of aluminium alloy using zinc coated copper wire of 70 μm diameter. Voltage, capacitance, feed, wire tension and wire speed were taken as input parameters. Surface finish is considered as the measure of process performance. Design of experiments was done using Taguchi L16 orthogonal array and optimisation was carried out using Taguchi S/N ratio technique. The results obtained from the experiments were analysed with ANOVA method to find the significance of each input factor on the surface quality. In addition ANN model was developed and trained.

Keywords: wire EDM; electric discharge machining; micro-WEDM; electro-discharge machining; aluminium alloys; Taguchi methods; signal-to-noise ratio; analysis of variance; ANOVA; artificial neural networks; ANNs; machining strategy; voltage; capacitance; feed; wire tension; wire speed; surface finish; surface quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAT.2010.032841

International Journal of Abrasive Technology, 2010 Vol.3 No.2, pp.157 - 164

Published online: 25 Apr 2010 *

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