Sustainable Machining of Aluminium Alloys: Experimental Insights into WEDM Process Optimization

The most advanced mathematics transforms aluminum alloys into one of the most highly intricate materials into practically any engineering application based on the mechanical properties of ductility and low fatigue sensitivity. The use of aluminum alloys permeates critical industries like aerospace and automotive, besides being strong contenders in other high-performance applications. Their inherent corrosion resistance certainly gives an edge to aluminum alloys for applications in rigorous service environments. Conventional manufacturing processes would not successfully create components with some geometrical complexity; hence, advanced machining processes are being developed. Among them is Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM), which is increasingly being adopted within the EDM family, as it efficiently machines hard and complex shapes at high accuracy. The present investigation deals with WEDM of aluminum alloy using Taguchi's design of experiments approach, while focusing on environmental sustainability by doing the same with a natural dielectric medium. The primary performance indicators under consideration are material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (SR), and dimensional accuracy of the workpiece. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) method is adopted for this purpose to evaluate the statistical significance of the machining parameters. The findings will likely serve as very useful information for the manufacturers who optimize WEDM processes for making high-quality aluminum alloy components with even better precision while creating minimal environmental footprints.