Investigation of Al-7075/Al₂O₃/SiC by swirl casting and WEDM

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, KG Reddy College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, 501501, India.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siddharth Institute of Engineering and Technology, Puttur, AP. 517583, India.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malla Reddy Engineering College and Management Sciences, Hyderabad - 501401, India.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (A), Hyderabad - 500075, India
⁵ Department of CSE, GRIET, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
⁶ Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India.

^* Corresponding author: a.seshappa@kgr.ac.in

Abstract

The research, engineering, military, automotive, sports, and telecommunications industries are just a few of the many that make heavy use of aluminium metal matrix composites. The unique synergistic qualities of these composites, such as reduced weight density, improved performance, and thermal conductivity, make them highly desired. Because of its reputation for small but noticeable structural improvements, Al-7075 aluminium has seen extensive use in the aerospace industry. This research followed international criteria for evaluating specimens in terms of positional stiffness, deformation, impact resistance, and wear. It used the stir casting process to add SiC/Al₂O₃ to Al-7075 in percentages ranging from 2% to 8%. Hybrid Al-HMCs are the product of an aluminium metal matrix composite that was able to include 8% SiC/Al₂O₃via the stirring process. Because it combined aluminium oxide with silicon carbide, this Al-HMC showed improved mechanical qualities and stiffness. Aluminium metal composites with increasing amounts of Al₂O₃/ SiC showed reduced fatigue and frictional strengths. The effect on hardness remained small even when the MMC's SiC/Al₂O₃ proportions grew significantly. To further investigate the Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) process, researchers used the L9 Arrays Design of Experiments (DOE) technique to incorporate new process variables. Our objective was to enhance the rate of material removal from Al-7075/SiC/Al₂O₃ while simultaneously improving the marginal surface roughness. Finding the best WEDM process parameters, including the ideal percentages of SiC/Al₂O₃, to achieve the desired surface roughness while minimising material removal rate was the goal of this investigation. To produce Al- 7075/SiC/Al₂O₃ composite materials with varying additive percentages in a production environment, this study will determine the best and most accurate WEDM process variables to use.