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.

钛及其新一代合金凭借其独特的性能，被广泛应用于高端应用场景。现代工业中常采用微细电火花加工（micro-Electro Discharge Machining，μ-EDM）——一种专为钛合金等难加工材料开发的非传统加工工艺，该工艺可加工出尺寸精度优异的复杂异形结构。本研究的核心重点为采用碳化钨（WC）电极开展TNZT合金（Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta）的微细电火花加工实验分析。实验结果表明：当电压（V）固定为80V时，随着电容（C）从10nF提升至100nF，材料去除率（MRR）、过切量（OC）、放电凹坑面积、表面显微硬度及表面粗糙度分别提升了6.38倍、1.52倍、4.66倍、1.07倍及3.29倍；但微孔的圆度误差却增加了1.81倍。本研究旨在阐明两大核心加工参数（电容与电压）对关键加工性能指标的影响规律。