Examination of wire electrical discharge machining of Al2O3p/6061Al composites

The experimental results indicate that the cutting speed (material removal rate), the surface roughness and the width of the slit of cutting test material significantly depend on volume fraction of reinforcement (Al2O3 particles). Furthermore, bands on the machined surface for cutting 20 vol.% Al2O3p/6061Al composite are easily formed, basically due to some embedded reinforcing Al2O3 particles on the surface of 6061 aluminum matrix, interrupt the machining process. Test results reveal that in machining Al2O3p/6061Al composites a very low wire tension, a high flushing rate and a high wire speed are required to prevent wire breakage; an appropriate servo voltage, a short pulse-on time, and a short pulse-off time, which are normally associated with a high cutting speed, have little effect on the surface roughness.