A hybrid machining process combining micro-EDM and laser beam machining of nickel-titanium based shape memory alloy

• Main Authors: Al-Ahmari, A., Rasheed, M. Sarvar, Khan Mohammed, Muneer, Saleh, Tanveer
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2016
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/43005/13/43005.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/43005/14/43005-A%20Hybrid%20Machining%20Process%20Combining%20Micro-EDM%20and%20Laser%20Beam.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/43005/; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10426914.2015.1019102

Micro-EDM is a slow process as compared to laser machining, on the contrary laser machining lacks good surface quality. To overcome the drawbacks of both these processes, this paper suggests a hybrid machining process which combines laser and micro-EDM processes for drilling micro-holes in advanced engineering materials such as Nickel-Titanium (Ni-Ti) based shape memory alloy. To achieve the objective of the suggested hybrid process, pilot holes are drilled with laser machine and rimmed out by micro-EDM drilling. The suggested process requires investigation of various combinations of micro-EDM drilling process conditions to obtain optimum machining parameters for the hybrid process. It has been found that the proposed hybrid machining process resulted in 50-65% reduction in machining time without affecting the quality of micro-holes as compared to the standard micro-EDM process.