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Arc Sawing of Nickel Based Alloy

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Proceedings of the Thirty-Second International Matador Conference

Summary

Arc sawing (AS) is a non-conventional machining process which utilises a low voltage, high current arc to melt and vaporise workpiece material. The process is not affected by the material hardness and hence offers a fast alternative to conventional methods of cutting superalloys and can be used to machine delicate structures. The paper details the design and development of a disc based arc saw rig with a servo control system. Process material removal rate and workpiece surface integrity have been analysed with variation in sodium silicate electrolyte concentration, servo control parameters and generator voltage. Surface roughness perpendicular to the lay of the sawn component ranged from 5.67 to 10.23 μm Ra which is comparable to that of commercial machines. When rough cutting a 225 mm2 Nimonic 80A block, a material removal rate of 4.8 cm3/min was achieved with surface roughness of 12.6 μm Ra and heat affected zones exceeding 165 μm in depth. Submerged cutting is shown to improve the surface roughness of the sawn workpiece (3.2 μm Ra), as well as increase the material removal rate up to 6.2 cm3/min.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Birmingham, UK

    M. A. Paul, D. K. Aspinwall, C. F. Wong, D. J. Angell & D. Mitchell

Authors
  1. M. A. Paul
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  2. D. K. Aspinwall
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  3. C. F. Wong
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  4. D. J. Angell
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  5. D. Mitchell
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Editor information

A. K. Kochhar (Lucas Professor of Manufacturing Systems Engineering)J. Atkinson G. Barrow M. Burdekin R. G. Hannam S. Hinduja P. Brunn L. Li

Copyright information

© 1997 Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology

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Paul, M.A., Aspinwall, D.K., Wong, C.F., Angell, D.J., Mitchell, D. (1997). Arc Sawing of Nickel Based Alloy. In: Kochhar, A.K., et al. Proceedings of the Thirty-Second International Matador Conference. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14620-8_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14620-8_41

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-14622-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-14620-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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