KanthaBabu M

ABSTRACT Surface topography of cylinder liners plays an important role in terms of functionality of the engine. The surface is finished by honing process in various stages namely rough, finish and finally plateau honing to have proper plateau portion (bearing area) at the top to resist wear and grooves at desired honing angle to retain lubrication during engine operation. Selection of parameters and their levels in plateau honing operations to achieve required surface topography is found to be very difficult. For the first time, data mining approach is used in this investigation to select significant honing parameters and their levels considering two important bearing area parameters namely core roughness depth (R<sub align="right"> k ) and material portion in the valley zone (M<sub align="right"> r2 ) together. Data mining model was trained and tested using experimental data. The significant input plateau honing parameters have been identified and graphical representation of the decision tree has been also presented for easier understanding.

In this investigation, the effect of wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) parameters such as pulse-on time (T ON), pulse-off time (T OFF), gap voltage (V) and wire feed (F) on material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (R a) in metal matrix composites (MMCs) consisting of aluminium alloy (Al6063) and silicon carbide (SiCp) is discussed. The Al6063 is reinforced with SiCp in the form of particles with 5%, 10% and 15% volume fractions. The experiments are carried out as per design of experiments approach using L9 orthogonal array. The results were analysed using analysis of variance and response graphs. The results are also compared with the results obtained for unreinforced Al6063. From this study, it is found that different combinations of WEDM process parameters are required to achieve higher MRR and lower R a for Al6063 and composites. Generally, it is found that the increase in volume percentage of SiC resulted in decreased MRR and increased R a. Regression equations are developed based on the experimental data for the prediction of output parameters for Al6063 and composites. The results from this study will be useful for manufacturing engineers to select appropriate WEDM process parameters to machine MMCs of Al6063 reinforced with SiCp at various proportions.