Investigation on WEDM Machining of Al/Al2O3/MWCNT Nanocomposites and Parameter Optimization Using MOORA Technique

Process parameters including pulse OFF-Time (Toff), gap voltage (Vg), wire feed rate (Fw), and pulse ON-Time (Ton) in wire electrical discharge machining are optimized and modelled in this work for 15% aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and 1% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) reinforced in AA6063 aluminum alloy matrix fabricated liquid processing technique. To study the composite machinability, L16 array was implemented and for optimization of process parameters over kerf width (KW), surface roughness (SR), and cutting speed (CS), Multi-Objective Optimization Ratio Analysis (MOORA) method is considered. Observation shows that higher Vg lowers the CS and SR but increases the KW due to larger spark gap, higher Ton rises the CS, KW, and SR whereas Toff lowers the outputs as lower spark duration is available for material removal. Increasing Fw lowers the CS and SR but increases the KW. The most significant parameter that maximizes CS and minimizes SR and KW is Vg contributed by 53.25%, shadowed by Ton (23.64%), and pulse off-time (20.89%). Confirmation experiment with optimal condition produces 25.22% higher values of CS, and 4.95 and 5.35% lower than average SR and KW than the average values.