Study of Influence of Process Parameters in Electric Discharge Machining of Aluminum - Red Mud Metal Matrix Composite

The present paper intends an experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of electrical discharge machining (EDM) of aluminium metal matrix composites. The experiments are conducted based on the concept of central composite design of experiments to estimate the effect of machining process parameters on responses. In the present experimental investigation discharge current, open circuit voltage, pulse-on-time are treated as the input process variables and material removal rate, electrode wear rate and radial over cut are considered as the responses. Fifteen experiments with 3 replicates for each experiment are conducted on aluminium metal matrix composites. The work material which is used in the present study consists of Al7075 and 6% red mud by weight as matrix and reinforcement, respectively. During EDM, it is observed that the discharge current and pulse on-time have significant effect on machinability characteristics of Aluminium metal matrix composite (AMMC). The two factor analysis offers useful information with minimum deviation for controlling the machining parameters to improve the accuracy of the EDMed components.