A study on the influence of WEDM parameters on surface roughness, kerf width, and corrosion behavior of AZ31B Mg alloy

Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) is a nontraditional machining process where the material is removed by the spark erosion technique. This technique is used to machine AZ31B, a biodegradable Magnesium alloy. In the present work impact of WEDM input parameters, namely pulse on time (Ton), pulse off time (Toff), servo voltage (SV), and wire feed (WF) on response characteristics is studied. The response characteristics considered are kerf width (KW), surface roughness (SR), and corrosion rate (CR). L9 orthogonal array by Taguchi’s is employed as the design of experimentation. Taguchi’s analysis implied that TON is the most influencing input parameter on the response characteristics. At a relatively lower TON setting (105 µs), comparatively lesser kerf width (335.894 µm), lower surface roughness (3.069 µm), and lower corrosion rate (0.95 mm/year) are exhibited by the machined specimens. From the main effects plots using signal-to-noise ratios, it is understood that the values of response characteristics increased with an increase in TON value. It is due to the increase in discharge at the more pulse on time duration. It is also understood that a surface with relatively better surface finish exhibited better corrosion resistance. With the help of regression equations, the relation between response characteristics and input parameters is built.