Study on machining characteristics of WEDM with ultrasonic vibration and magnetic field assisted techniques

Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) allows improved machining performance with both high material removal rate (MRR) and surface quality. In this study, a hybrid technique of WEDM using assisted ultrasonic vibration (USV) and magnetic field (MF) is firstly proposed to enhance the machine characteristics, and then to investigate the effects of the main process parameters on the MRR and surface quality including surface roughness (R-a) and surface crack density (SCD) in machining Ti6Al4V. Additionally, analysis is conducted on the pulse discharge waveforms and the morphology of machined surface, the effect of removing the debris between the wire tool and workpiece and the ratio of normal machining states. Comparison of the experimental results of USV, MF and conventional WEDM reveals that when process parameters are selected in the appropriate range, the hybrid process of WEDM with assisted USV and MF can significantly improve the ratio of normal pulse discharge states, increase the machining efficiency, and improve surface quality simultaneously, reducing R-a and SCD. The proposed hybrid process of WEDM presents enormous advantages and potential for applications in the practical machining and manufacturing field. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.