Investigating micro-EDM machinability of Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta (TNZT) alloy

Titanium and its new-generation alloys are widely employed in high-end applications due to their special properties. Modern industries frequently use micro – Electro Discharge Machining (μ-EDM), a non-conventional machining technique that is especially useful for processing hard to machine materials like titanium alloys. μ-EDM can produce intricate shapes with excellent dimensional precision. The main emphasis of this work is an experimental analysis of the μ-EDM of TNZT alloy (Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta) employing a tungsten carbide (WC) electrode. The results showed that with the increase in capacitance (C) 10nF to 100nF at Voltage (V) 80 V, the machining performance parameters such as material removal rate (MRR), overcut (OC), crater area, surface microhardness, and surface roughness increase by 6.38, 1.52, 4.66, 1.07, and 3.29 times, respectively. However, the circularity error of the µ-hole increases by 1.81 times. This study intends to show how the two key machining factors (C & V) influence significant machining performance parameters.