Impact of Electrical Discharge Machining on Al-TiC Composites

Aluminium matrix composites are normally processed by the liquid casting technique, since it is economical, flexible and near net shape with uniform distribution of reinforcement phase can be achieved. For engineering applications, the ceramic reinforced composites are commonly machined using non-traditional machining process compared to traditional machining process. Since, the abrasive ceramic particles in the composites may damage the tool material and surface quality of the product. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) process has the higher capability for cutting complex shapes with high precision, majorly for hard ceramic reinforced Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMCs). Hence, the EDM of AMCs is indispensable in many engineering applications; it is necessary to optimize EDM process parameters for machining AMCs. This investigation proposed a new approach to find the optimal set of EDM process parameters and in future it can be extended to optimize various machining process with multi objective criteria.