EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING OF AL/SiCp COMPOSITES
Abstract
Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) have proved to be extremely difficult to machine using conventional machining processes due to certain amount of secondary reinforcement. Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a promising nontraditional machining technique that is used for machining such difficult-to-machine materials. This paper presents the effect of ECM process parameters such as applied voltage, electrolyte concentration, electrolyte flow rate and tool feed rate on the material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra) of LM25Al/SiCp composites with 10% and 20% of SiC. This has been done by means of the technique of design of experiments (DOE), which allows us to carry out the above-mentioned analysis performing a relatively small number of experiments. Increase in volume percentage of SiC resulted in decrease in MRR and increase in Ra.
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