Manufacturing Technology 2024, 24(6):940-951 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2024.103

Technological Considerations in WEDM of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Silicon Carbide Composites (Cf-SiC)

Dariusz Poro¶ ORCID..., Hubert Skowronek ORCID...
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroc³aw University of Science and Technology. Wyb Wyspiañskiego 27. 50-370 Wroc³aw. Poland

Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) was employed to process thin-walled, multidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (Cf-SiC) composites. This study investigates the effects of key WEDM parameters, including gap voltage (Vg), pulse on-time (Ton), pulse off-time (Toff), and wire electrode type on material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (SR). All experimental planning, data analysis, optimization, and result visualization were conducted using MATLAB software. Results indicate that using CuZn50-coated wire electrodes increases MRR by 11% compared to CuZn37 bare brass wire. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the inverse thermal expansion-based material removal mechanism, revealing surface defects such as fiber fractures, interfacial detachment, craters, and micro-cracks. Surface roughness, as indicated by 3D topographic measurements was found acceptable with an average Ra between 2 and 3 μm. Overall, WEDM proves effective for machining Cf-SiC, especially for complex geometries such as holes, grooves, keyways, and splines when appropriate electrodes and parameters are applied.

Keywords: WEDM, Wire electrode, Ceramic matrix composites, Cf-SiC, Matlab

Received: September 11, 2024; Revised: December 5, 2024; Accepted: December 16, 2024; Prepublished online: December 20, 2024; Published: December 21, 2024  Show citation

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Poro¶ D, Skowronek H. Technological Considerations in WEDM of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Silicon Carbide Composites (Cf-SiC). Manufacturing Technology. 2024;24(6):940-951. doi: 10.21062/mft.2024.103.
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