Magnesium Alloy and Silicon Nitrides Composite Study: Synthesis and Abrasive Water Jet Machining Behavior and Optimization

Related to traditional engineering materials, magnesium alloy-based composites have the potential for automobile applications and exhibit superior specific mechanical behavior. This study aims to synthesize the magnesium alloy (AZ61) composite configured with 0 wt%, 4 wt%, 8 wt%, and 12 wt% of silicon nitride micron particles, developed through a two-step stir-casting process under an argon environment. The synthesized cast AZ61 alloy matrix and its alloy embedded with 4 wt%, 8 wt%, and 12 wt% of Si₃N₄ are subjected to an abrasive water jet drilling/machining (AJWM) process under varied input sources such as the diameter of the drill (D), transverse speed rate (v), and composition of AZ61 composite sample. Influences of AJWM input sources on metal removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra) are calculated for identifying the optimum input source factors to attain the best output responses like maximum MRR and minimum Ra via analysis of variant (ANOVA) Taguchi route with L16 design approach. The ANOVA analysis revealed that D, v and the composition of AZ61 alloy composite contribute 26.45%, 16.28%, and 20.84%, respectively, to the output response conditions for higher MRR. Additionally, design 7 exhibits a high MRR of 0.017 g/s and a surface roughness (Ra) of 0.84 μm. The optimum AWJM input source of design 7 is proposed for industries to mass production applications.