Performance optimization of electrochemical micromachining of Al2O3 reinforced AA8011 composite using Taguchi technique

Micromachining technology plays a significant role in the miniaturization of parts used in aerospace, biomedical and electronic industries. Aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) have emerged as the most promising materials in many industrial applications due to its unique properties. The present work aims to investigate the machinability of AA8011 matrix composite using the Electrochemical Micromachining (ECMM) process. The stir casting technique was adopted to fabricate the AA8011 matrix composite with incorporation of 12 wt% Al 2 O 3 particles. The machining experiments were carried out as per L9 (3 3 ) orthogonal design by taking three input parameters such as voltage (V), current (A) and electrolyte concentration (g/L). The machining performances like removal rate of material (MRR) and overcut (OC) were predicted by using Taguchi technique. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio findings stated that the greater MRR was produced at 15 V of voltage, 1.4 A of current and 15 g/L of electrolyte concentration, whereas the lower OC was exhibited at 15 V of voltage, 1.2 A of current and 10 g/L of electrolyte concentration. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates that current is the most noteworthy factor on MRR, while electrolyte concentration is predominantly affects OC, followed by current. Furthermore, the regression models were developed to predict the responses, and it has been ensured that the experimental values are well correlated with predicted results.