Electrical discharge machining characteristics of metal matrix composites

This paper reports experimental investigations of the effect of machining p arameters (discharge current, pulse-on time, pulse-off time, voltage) on th e machining feed rate and surface roughness during wire electrical discharg e machining (WEDM) of metal matrix composite AlSi7Mg/SiC and AlSi7Mg/Al2O3. Generally, the machining characteristics of WEDM metal matrix composites a re similar to those which occur in the base material (AlSi7Mg aluminium all oy). The machining feed rate of WEDM cutting composites significantly depen ds on the kind of reinforcement. The maximum cutting speed of AlSi7Mg/SiC a nd AlSi7Mg/Al2O3 composites are approximately 3 times and 6.5 times lower t han the cutting speed of aluminium alloy, respectively. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.