Modeling and experiment of material removal rate for cutting single-crystal silicon by electrical discharge wire sawing

Electrical discharge wire sawing (EDWS) is a hybrid processing method that can effectively remove craters and recast layers generated by discharges through the grinding action of abrasive grains. Under the same processing conditions, the material removal rate (MRR) of EDWS is higher than those of wire electrical discharge machining and fixed abrasive diamond wire sawing. A material removal model for EDWS is established based on the material removal mechanism of hybrid machining revealed in this study. An industrial camera was used to collect the wire saw status during EDWS, and image processing technology was used to obtain the wire saw deflection angle. The MRR for different process parameter settings is predicted using the established model. The effects of pulse width, feed rate, and wire velocity on the wire saw deflection angle and MRR were studied. Finally, the predicted results were verified through experiments. Results show that as the pulse width, feed rate, and wire velocity increases, the MRR increase. The order of impact on the wire saw deflection angle is feed rate > wire velocity > pulse width. In addition, the MRR predicted by the established model agrees with the experimental data, with a maximum error of 9.87%.