Non-conventional Machining of Metal Matrix Composites: Parametric Appraisal and Multi-Objective Optimization

Abstract

Al, SiCp MMCs have wide range of applications in aerospace, automotive and electronics engineering due to its excellent properties compared to other conventional materials. The paper presents a case study on selection of optimal machining parameters in ECM of Al/15%SiC composites using TOPSIS combined with Taguchi philosophy and Grey-Fuzzy Logic coupled with Taguchi’s optimization philosophy. The performance characteristics: metal removal rate and surface roughness have been considered for optimizing the machining parameters (feed rate, voltage and electrolytic concentration). EDM is another one of the most advanced nonconventional machining methods specially used for machining of advanced materials to overcome the disadvantages coming in machining by other conventional machining techniques. In this paper, a hybrid optimization technique utilizing PCA and TOPSIS integrated with Taguchi method and MOORA with Taguchi philosophy have been proposed to obtain the optimal parameter setting during EDM of Al-10%SiCp composites.