Investigations on Material Removal Rate During Wire Electrodischarge Machining of Nickel–Titanium Alloy

Abstract

Nickel–titanium (NiTi) shape-memory alloys (SMA) are being extensively used in high-end and crucial applications in the fields like aerospace, bioengineering, robotics, and automobile, and the areas of their application are growing at a high rate due to their unique characteristics. For all such applications, the machining of NiTi SMA is a crucial task. In this study, the machining of NiTi SMA using wire electrodischarge machining (WEDM) and copper wire as the electrode has been studied for the various input parameters. The quality and the time duration for the machining depend on the selection of input parameters such as pulse on/off time, wire feed rate and servo voltage. The experiments for the study were planned according to the full factorial design (FFD), and then, it was analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM) mathematical models. It was found that with the increase in pulse on and pulse off duration, the material removal rate increased accordingly. In the present experimental studies, for the higher wire feed rate, the MRR increased initially and then decreased thereafter.