A review on machining of metal matrix composites using nanoparticle mixed dielectric in electro-discharge machining

Abstract

The growth in the new advanced materials that are harder till date have led to the improvement of technologies used to machine them. Nowadays, new materials have been developed to be used in different sectors where lighter and harder materials are in vast requirement. Moreover, materials machined with high precision machine tools have to provide the greatest surface finish such that it catches the pace with other competitive materials. Research has shown that the electro-discharge machining (EDM) is the only machine tool that has created history in machining hard materials. In the recent years, metal matrix composites (MMCs) have an increasing demand in the industries since they are hard materials to machine and a good finish is required in the aerospace, marine, aircraft, nuclear and other similar industries. Thus, EDM has gained fame in machining MMCs. With due course, the powder mixed electro-discharge machining (PMEDM) has created efficient EDM, with the use of powders in the dielectric. The dielectric mixed EDM has been used for efficient material removal rate (MRR). With the change in technologies, the sizes of powders that have to be added in the dielectric fluid go on decreasing. In this review, studies by numerous researchers on the MMCs that are machined with the use of PMEDM are mentioned. The powders used in the experimentation are of nano size. Furthermore, the optimization technique used by the researchers is discussed in the present study.