Cutting quality investigation of Ti-6A1-4V using wire electric discharge machine / Norkamal Jaafar

Over the years, the machining of titanium alloy has grabbed the attention of many manufacturer sector and scientist research community from around the world. Titanium alloy is popular due to its excellent characteristics of high strength to weight ratio and highly corrosion resistant compared to other existed materials. However, titanium alloy has such drawback that limits its utilization, including complexity of the extraction process, difficult in melting and cause problems during fabrication and machining process. Nevertheless, wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) process has been proven to be a versatile and commercially preferred machining process by utilizing titanium alloy raw work piece material. Therefore, numerous research works have been established globally to improve the machinability of titanium alloy in WEDM process. Successes in the machining of titanium alloy can be achieved when the right cutting conditions are applied during the machining operation. This research reviews the machinability of titanium alloy Ti-6AI-4V, highlighting the effect of Wire EDM cutting parameter on machining responses. The mathematical model of the machining response (kerf width and surface roughness) using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) developed. Following an extensive literature survey on the key aspects relating to WEDM process, including operational advantages and challenges, machine tools, equipment, cutting mechanisms. Five main phases of experimental work were undertaken to evaluate the machinability of WEDM of Ti-6AI-4V. The results showed that the average percentage error between the predicted and experimental value was less than 5%. In addition, the developed prediction models can well describe the variation of kerf width and surface roughness response for future analysis. The characteristics of the surface integrity of the WEDM sample and it observed that micro-crack was detected on the machined surface. However, there was a formation of white layer formed on each sample analyzed. It was also found that when peak current increases, the white layer thickness also increases. As a result, an enhancement of the on the principles of machining titanium alloys, the properties that impair their machinability and performance of different machining parameters, that enhance the machining of titanium alloys were able to be comprehended. Thus, will lead to efficient and economical machining of titanium-base super alloys.