Investigation of Weight Percentage of Alumina Fiber on EDM of Al/Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composites

This paper aims to study the influence of Al2O3 particle addition to Al alloys. The effects of reinforcement volumes in a metal matrix alloy on response variables were investigated towards the highlighting of this process with the goal of achieving high process performance. In this study, the comparison between EDM of Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites with different volumes of reinforcement and 2024 alloys was investigated to determine the influence of weight percentage of Al2O3-reinforced particles on output parameters. The results show that addition of Al2O3 particles in the composites has significant effects on material removal rate, surface roughness and tool wear rate. Tool wear rate and surface roughness were increased with increased Al2O3 ceramic contents. Surface roughness was obviously affected by the discharge current as well as pulse on-time. Rapid increase in tool wear rate was seen when reinforced with higher weight percentage of Al2O3 particles. The pulse on-time and discharge current significantly affect the material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface roughness. Tool wear rate, material removal rate and surface roughness were high if the discharge current and pulse on-time were set at a higher level. In other words, high current and pulse on-time resulted in high tool wear rate, material removal rate and surface roughness. The material removal rate was decreased by increasing the weight percentage of Al2O3 particles.