Investigation of the Effect of Process Parameters on Surface Roughness in Wire EDM of Titanium Alloy

This paper investigates the Wire Electric Discharge Machining of Titanium alloy 6-2-4-2.Eight process parameters namely pulse-on time, pulse-off time, peak current, spark gap set voltage, wire feed, wire tension, water pressure, pulse peak voltage and servo feed are varied to study their effect on surface roughness and wire breakage. The experiments are conducted using one-factor-at-a-time approach. Moreover, a few random experiments are also carried to study the phenomenon of wire breakage precisely. The study revealed that surface roughness is directly affected by the pulse-on time, pulse-off time, peak- current, spark gap set voltage and wire tension. Wire feed, Water pressure and pulse peak voltage have negligible effect on the surface roughness. Moreover, wire breakage is predominantly dictated by all the parameters except peak current and pulse peak voltage. An optimum range of input parameters has been bracketed as the final outcome for cutting in terms of surface roughness and to minimize the wire breakage frequency.