Title: Fabrication of tapered micro-pillars on titanium alloy using electric discharge micromachining

Authors: V.K. Jain; Vishnu Suthar; Anjali V. Kulkarni

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India ' C/51, Subro Ltd., Phase-2, Noida 201305, India ' Centre for Mechatronics, IIT Kanpur, 208016, India

Abstract: Titanium and its alloys are in the group of difficult-to-machine materials. These alloys have applications in many engineering fields. Ti-6Al-4V is amongst the commonly used titanium alloy, and the current research is focused on its efficient machining. Electric discharge micromachining can be used for producing features in micro range on titanium. Straight micro pillars have been produced using EDMM process. The main objective of the current research is to achieve array of tapered micro pillars on Ti-6Al-4V work piece material using EDMM process. The effect of process parameters such as gap voltage, discharge current, pulse on-time and duty cycle on the response parameters such as taper angle, material removal rate (MRR) and tool wear rate (TWR) are studied. The experiments are designed using statistical technique.

Keywords: microfabrication; EDMM; electric discharge micromachining; precision technology; titanium machining; tapered micropillars; titanium alloys; electrical discharge machining; electro-discharge machining; EDM; gap voltage; discharge current; pulse on-time; duty cycle; taper angle; material removal rate; MRR; tool wear rate; TWR.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2015.070632

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2015 Vol.5 No.2, pp.97 - 113

Received: 07 Jun 2014
Accepted: 16 Oct 2014
Published online: 15 Jul 2015 *

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